Friday, August 29, 2008

Its a Though She's Trying to Kill Me

This house thing is getting to be too much. It's 1 am, I can't sleep, and I should be celebrating right now because our offer was accepted. However, the seller's realtor seems to put a monkey wrench in anything she can to get us to not get this house...but has no problem selling it to others. I'm starting to think it's a race issue and I'm getting pissed.



Here's the deal. We put in a low offer on this house a few weeks ago, expecting a counter, or even a rejection. We get nothing. NOTHING. So we talk about it and decide that since this sale requires Third Party Approval, that we'll put in our high end offer and just wait. Ok, so this is what we do. All of a sudden, the seller accepts it and says we have 30 days to close. We gently remind her that we need the Third Party Approval (TPA) and she signs an addendum saying that we don't have to do all this stuff (appraisals, inspections) until the bank approves. DUH. So on Wednesday I get a call from our Realtor saying that they approved the sale on the house for our asking price, but that they would not cover closing costs. We look at our finances and decide, you know what, we want this house, so we'll accept the Bank's offer, good to go. Our Realtor calls theirs and has to leave a message to accept. Then our Realtor goes online and looks at the listing. The Seller's agent has posted online that the Bank has approved the sale for "Blank" dollars and won't cover closing. Hurry up they want to close now. I'm sorry, but isn't this our offer to respond to since we have a contract in? Fast forward to Thursday morning, when she calls our Realtor who asks her why she has changed the price of the home, as well as volunteering our offer to others. Their Realtor says, "Oh, if they want it, just give me an offer of "5K less than Blank" and we'll get it ratified, etc. Our Realtor says that we accept this price and we'll send the paperwork. We get the stuff signed and then Mircea says to me "why would they offer it to us at 5k less than what they offered yesterday?" Good question. So our brains are just spinning right now. Of course I signed the papers yesterday that said the 5k less amount, because that is what the Realtors discussed, but why the heck would that even be the case? Why would they give that to us? I really think she made us do a counter offer to wait for another offer and start some bidding war. Why would she do this? I mean, am I supposed to trust a woman who it appears really doesn't know how to do her job? Why do we get a special deal? Why the hell couldn't we have just said "we'll do the full price", but who in their right mind would do that when she made that offer to our Realtor?



Ok, I know that I probably sound like a ranting lunatic, but what the hell is this? This is already the most stressful thing I've ever done in my life, I'm borrowing from my retirement to do it, I'm taking a huge step with my boyfriend, and I can't get straight answers from anyone. If we lose this house because of this 5k difference, I am going to fall to pieces. To pieces. I'm already there because I have no idea what is going on, and in a great turn of events we're coming into a long weekend so I shouldn't expect anything until at least Tuesday, and oh wait, their realtor is a psycho so who knows what this whole set up is.



So that's why its Friday morning, 1 am, I'm on the verge of tears, I can't sleep at all (this is several days now) and I'm putting all my trust in a woman who it seems doesn't want us to have this house. I don't know if I need a hug, a drink, or someone to just tell me what the heck is going on. I know that it's going to be "ok", but if it's "ok" without us in this house because of a measley 5 grand, I think I will curl up in fetal position and not come out until Mircea finds some other house for us to buy. I'm done. I have expended everything I have into this and I'm pulling from reserves to get my work done at the office because that has been really stressful as well.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Movie Review Monday

Into the Wild

3 stars

This movie was really interesting, just seeing how a person can give up all their worldly possessions and follow their dreams. Based on a true story of a young man who graduated college and “threw it all away” to travel across country with a backpack and a dream that lead him to Alaska for the winter. The cinematography was amazing, but the story was touching as well. Very good movie and lots of big name actors in it. Some nudity, but nothing sexual. There was just something about this movie that I can't describe. There was nothing exciting or thrilling about it, but there was just this feeling that you were "witnessing" something special.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

House Update: Frustration Edition

Yeah, so I missed Movie Monday. I have a lot of other things on my mind right now, namely that we put an offer in on a house that we LOVE. We put the offer in last Thursday and gave them 48 hours to respond. They didn't and on Monday we called the Realtor again. Turns out, it is a "short sale". By definition that sounds like it will be fast. Nope. The exact opposite. Short sale means that the bank is willing to let the owner/seller come up short on their mortgage just to get it off their hands. So its like a foreclosure in the sense that the bank has to approve the purchase, but it's a little better in that the owner hasn't destroyed the house out of anger and malice out of losing their house (they destroy it because if they can't have it, no one can). After doing a lot of internet research on this thing, it seems like it will take awhile to get an answer back from the bank and they could jerk us around for awhile. We really want it so we're willing to wait a while, but in the interim we'll continue working the renovations in our house and also keep our eyes out for other stuff. You'd think it wouldn't be that hard to find 3 bed, 2 1/2 bath, 2 car garage, with a basement...but you haven't been to Southern Maryland. That is practically an anomoly, but my Midwestern friends can attest to the fact that its pretty much the only option.

So we're frustrated, still hopeful, and focusing on our own house for the next few weeks. This is definitely trying my patience, but we'll get through it and we'll get the house of our dreams-this one or something else we haven't seen yet.

I have a lot of other posts I'd like to make, but I have been so busy that I don't have the time to update them. I have a recipe for schnitzels to share that I think people will enjoy, and I've tried some new vegan treats that I'd like to share with everyone-the non-vegans will love them for sure.

Friday, August 15, 2008

Words Cannot Express

The anger, the hurt, the sadness over this story on CNN. The article describes how a little baby was killed by his father when he violently shook him. It goes in detail to describe the extent of the injuries, including blindness, that the infant sustained. The baby was 3 months old.

You know who shook him? His father. Because he'd had an argument with the mother and she left to attend an AA meeting because she was upset. Leaving her son with his father. Who shook him to death. Who after further investigation revealed that he had squeezed him to the point of bruising ribs.

I have nothing else to say other than 1.) this man is a royal ______ and 2.) How could someone ever lay their hands on an innocent child. Especially one who is so small and was crying because he cannot communicate any other way.

Rot in hell you bastard.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Movie Review Monday: A Day Late

Definitely, Maybe



I am giving this a 5 star rating. I’m not saying this is an epic film, but this was just a great movie to watch by yourself or with pretty much anyone. There wasn’t any bad language and no sex scenes, which I can always do without, so it was good. The premise of the movie is a little girl’s parents are getting divorced and she asks her Dad why they even fell in love in the first place, and why they were out of love now. He replies that it is complicated and she demands to know the story, so he tells her about his past relationships, but he doesn’t tell her which one of the women in the movie is her mom and she spends the movie trying to figure out who it is through his story of love and loss. It was just a really cool movie and I thought it was not very chick-flicky at all. I definitely recommend this movie, and it’s even worth paying the full outrageous Blockbuster rental fee. Plus, I have a strange love of Ryan Reynolds. I always thought he was a doofus and then I dated a guy who looked a lot like him (not as ripped, don't you worry) and realized that he too was a doofus, but I just have an affection for him. He plays a good "average joe".

Monday, August 11, 2008

He's a Tawny Kitaen/Prehistoric Fish




Our little boy thought he was in a Whitesnake video a couple of nights ago. I thought he was adorable and had to share a picture. When I get close to him with the camera he has started yelling at me like "Mom, stop embarassing me".

This picture is of what appeared to be a fish with legs. When we went fishing yesterday we caught all kinds of crazy stuff, including flouder (which look nothing like Ariel's friend). Does anyone have any clue what this fish is? It is kind of hard to see, but the fish clearly has legs and a weird mouth. Thoughts?

We're busy with house stuff so I haven't been blogging as much. I have done some movie reviews and will start posting those as fillers. Tomorrow the realtor is coming over to give us some ideas, we're still waiting for an estimate to get the repairs, and we're looking at a very promising house. Wish us luck. We're stressing.