It's funny how everything can change in a day... less than a day. A moment.
This morning we received the official short sale approval letter from National City (our second) and then I wrote the post about inventorying our life and getting ready for the big move. Not long after that we found out that our buyer was withdrawing the offer.
Why? We're not sure exactly. Cold feet. Perhaps they realized that the house was more than they could afford even at the deal they were getting. We can't say for sure.
Were we surprised? No. We were disappointed but not surprised.
Why not? Because we've been dealing with this for nine months. Nothing is real until it's real. The floor is there one minute, the next it's not.
But we really thought this buyer wanted the house, right? That's true. We did think that. It did seem that way. And yes, I even blogged about that in You're Just Having a Moment. I wrote:
"...we found a buyer who truly loves this house. He will take care of it. He'll be a good neighbor. He'll enjoy living here as much as we have. I know. I could see it in his eyes when he was here. He's already mentally moved in."
Well, yes. Yes. Obviously I was wrong. The thing is, though, today we received a piece of mail addressed to the buyer. Yep. Sent to our house (the house he's no longer buying) in his name.
What do you call that? Irony. You call it irony.
What does this all mean? It means that it will take a little bit longer. Still.
Is there an upside? There's always an upside. And here it is: We have official approval on the short sale from both lenders- Countrywide and National City. This means that whoever puts the next offer in won't have to wait too long. We're half way there.
AND we already have interested buyers. We could get an offer by the end of the week. Most likely tomorrow we'll change the status of the MLS listing to say "Active" and we'll start showing the house again. Perhaps another open house. We'll know more tomorrow.
Did I pack any boxes today? No. I did not pack any boxes today.
Are we okay? Yes. We're better than okay. We're great, in fact. We've grown accustomed to change and waiting and things falling through and not knowing and being up one day and down the next... I've gotten used to hanging upside down. That's how it feels. Not like a roller coaster ride. I like roller coaster rides. This feels like being stuck upside down on a ride and all the change has long since fallen out of my pockets. I've been hanging there so long that the world seems right side up like this. Truthfully, I only feel like that some of the time.
What I keep thinking is this: "Well, here we go again."
And if these buyers got cold feet, they weren't the right buyers for the house. This could very well be a blessing in disguise. One thing we know for sure is that opportunity can be found in the most unsuspecting situations and places. Lurking. Waiting for someone to grab hold. So that's what we're doing. Again. Do I sound like a broken record yet? We're all about the opportunity in every situation and we're getting very good at remembering that.
What does that mean? It means we really are fine. That we've already downshifted and are drafting our new plan.
In pencil.
That's Life by Frank Sinatra
That's life, that's what all the people say.
You're riding high in April,
Shot down in May
But I know I'm gonna change that tune,
When I'm back on top, back on top in June.
