Rollercoaster

I am posting this photo at the beginning so that you will know that this story ultimately has a very happy ending.

At the end of the school year my sister randomly showed me a townhouse that was for sale.  She drove by it every night and thought it would be perfect for me.  I looked at the website every day for weeks but didn't do anything about it.  Just when I had made up my mind to make an appointment, the house went off the market.  I was so upset but, mostly, I was angry with myself for not taking action.  I knew that I really needed to sell my house in South Jordan (I had been unhappy there for years) but I only complained instead of doing anything about it.  Suddenly, the house came back on the market because the buyer's financing fell through.  I made an appointment to see it within the hour!  Once I saw it, I immediately fell in love with it and made an offer.  However, even though my offer was an aggressive one, it was contingent on my house selling.  The sellers didn't want to take a chance and accepted another offer (I understand this decision now).  I was upset but decided to focus on selling my house first so I would be in a better position to make an offer on another property.  

My agent thought my house would sell very quickly because South Jordan is a prime location and, once it was on the market, I immediately had requests for showings, sometimes four and five a day.  At first this was really exciting but it got old quickly.  I had to be ready to vacate the house at a moment's notice and it was sometimes hard to find a place to go, especially if I had showings back to back.  I ended up at the library a lot!  After six days on the market my house went under contract!  I was thrilled because I didn't really believe my agent when she said it would sell quickly.  

Now it was time to find me a house.  My agent spent an entire day taking me to showings and I found another townhouse that I really liked.  The next day I decided to make an offer and I found out that my offer was accepted several days later when I was on the bus to a Leadership Conference in St. George with my students.  They all cheered when I found out!  On the last day of the conference, my agent called me to tell me that the buyers of my house had backed out of the contract.  I really wanted to cry but I was with my students so I had to keep it together.  My agent immediately put my house back on the market and I had several showings scheduled by the time I got back to town.  I had an offer the next Saturday and I accepted it but, after thinking about it over the weekend, they backed out on Monday.

The sellers of the townhouse I was under contract with decided to put it back on the market but they would give me 72 hours notice to counter if they received another offer (which I thought was very generous of them).  I really hoped that my house would be under contract again before they got another offer but they had one within days.  I ended up losing it.

So my house went back on the market and, after some interest, I had two weeks go by without any showings.  I decided to lower the asking price.  I had quite a bit of equity in the house and stood to make a substantial profit any way so at this point I just wanted it sold!  After the price reduction, I had so many showings scheduled that I decided to join my parents on a week-long vacation to Southern Utah.  While I was there I had multiple offers and accepted one of them.  I signed the paperwork on my phone while waiting to see a play at the Utah Shakespeare Festival!

I didn't want to rush into making an offer on another house until my buyers reached some important deadlines in the contract but my agent started to panic because school was starting and I wouldn't have much time any more.  She called me one day because a townhouse that she thought I would like had just gone on the market that morning and I would be the first to see it.  Of course I fell in love with it and made an aggressive offer (at the very limit of the amount I was pre-qualified for) that afternoon.  By that evening the seller had multiple offers and didn't accept mine.  I was starting to feel really dejected.  The weekend before school started my agent decided to take me to see every house I had liked on her website.  One particular townhouse was one I had looked at online several times but I was very lukewarm about it.  As soon as I walked in, I noticed that the entire house had recently been painted a soft gray with new carpet throughout and new travertine tile in the kitchen and bathrooms.  There were all new fixtures and new stainless steel appliances.  This townhouse had been on the market since early June (longer than mine) without an offer so the owners decided to do some upgrades and that made all of the difference.  I fell in love with the loft above the living room because I thought it would make a nice library!  I made an offer that same day and, even though there were multiple offers, mine was accepted!

Things were proceeding with both sales and I anticipated closing on my old house the second week in September and the new house shortly after that.  I took one weekend and packed my entire house to be ready to move.  Then my agent called to say that the people buying my buyers' house had their financing fall through so my buyers couldn't proceed until their house was under contract again.  This would most likely put the purchase of my new house in jeopardy because I obviously couldn't proceed unless my house was under contract.  It was a domino effect and it was the last straw.  I cried for days but I had to make a decision.  Should I give my buyers two more weeks to get their house under contract again or should I put it on the market and start all over?  Instead of thinking logically I reacted very emotionally and decided to cancel the contract.  My agent wisely decided not to do anything so I could think about it over night.  Luckily I came to my senses and decided to give them an extension and their house went under contract two days later.  The sellers of my townhouse agreed to extend my contract as well!  My agent did some fast talking on that deal, I am sure!

In the end I am actually glad that everything was postponed for two weeks!  Even though it was difficult living with all of my possessions in boxes, there is no way that I could have moved during Homecoming!  I also locked into a better interest rate on my loan by waiting two weeks!  My agent kept telling me that I would end up where I was meant to be and now I really believe that.

This whole process was definitely challenging, with lots of ups and downs, but I am so glad I did it!  I got the keys yesterday and I can't wait to move in next weekend!  Definitely a happy ending!