The first house we found, we really loved. It was pretty cheap (as these things go), cute as a button with a HUGE lot and a nice little outbuilding that I could use as a studio. But, it was teeny tiny, and in a pretty far out neighborhood where homes basically don't sell. If we bought it we would have to stay there forever, and although it was a good candidate for an addition (huge lot, simple house) we wouldn't have been able to afford to do so for a long time. So, with the invaluable guidance of my brother Eian we got ourselves a realtor (a woman named Dephanie, excellent and highly recommended. We endorse her services wholeheartedly) and decided to look at a bunch more places before we made a decision. I am really glad we listened to him, because we very quickly realized that there were serious drawbacks to that little house, and that for similar money we could do much better. We looked and looked and looked. We found a house that we like, cheaper than the first house. We went to make an offer on it, but it had literally sold that morning. That was a good house, but apparently not ours. The next day, battered but not beaten, we started looking some more. We found another great house. A better house, even. 3 Bedrooms, 2 baths, cathedral ceilings, fireplace. Swimming pool. It was listed just on the high end of what we could afford, we figured that with the market the way it is here, they were asking more than they figured to get (every house that has sold in the neighborhood this year has sold for ~$10,000 less than the asking price). We made an fair offer. The seller came back and said, nope. no deal. This property is priced FIRM. Hmmm, we thought. We soul searched. We talked to Eian, we talked to Dephanie, we talked to our mortgage guy. Ultimately, as Eian said, the person who loses is the person who doesn't get the house they want, not the person who compromises. And, if we loved that house and were on the fence as to cost, likely someone else would be. AND we knew that we'd be happy there. So we offered him what he wanted, $130,000. Actually, $134,000 and he gives us $4000 back to help with closing costs (we have savings for closing costs, down payment, etc, but then we would be tapped. And we have NO furniture or furnishings, we moved here in a station wagon, remember? We figure a cushion is worth a slight increase in the principal). He accepted our offer. We just had to have the house inspected. No worries, we think, he must have been asking for full price because he knew that there was some stuff that would need repairing and he needed a bit of wiggle room. We put together a list of repairs that literally NEED to be done (electrical work, furnace venting and the like. Just getting the house to CODE) and figure it is going to cost maybe 8 or 10 grand. And, of course there is still the OTHER stuff, the cosmetic and less urgent stuff ($4000 pool resurfacing coming soon, water damaged soffets, garage door issue, acrobat ants, etc etc etc) He says he'll pay $2500 at closing, and that is final. So, as my other brother said, you can't deal if you aren't willing to walk away. So, with heavy hearts, we walked away. We are very disappointed. It is a really nice house, and we'd love to live there. But we came as far as we could in our offer, and although the differences of maybe $5 or $6 thousand seems minor when dealing with numbers above $130 thousand, we just couldn't do it. We made compromises at every turn: location, price, style, lot-size. Ultimately, although we really would have loved that house, by being forced to walk away from it we get the bonus of walking away from many compromises as well. For the time being, anyway. Ted and Rebecca, who own the house we are staying in, are coming back in a few days. They've encouraged us to stay as long as we like, and as kind (and sincere) of them as it is we really can't stay not in our own place any longer. Imposition, even imagined imposition, is uncomfortable. So, we went, nearly overnight, from owning a suburban paradise compound with a pool and a fireplace, to scrambling for a short term lease on a cheap apartment. And boy did we find one. Our new home, where we move tomorrow, is a little, old, funky, cinderblock bungalow. So weird, so ugly, so cute, so cheap. More than a thousand dollars LESS than our place in Brooklyn, for the same size place, roughly. Back porch, front garden, GREAT neighborhood. We are delighted. It's funny, we went from moving forward into some sort of maturity that we really want but have some reservations about, to moving backwards into ease and kookiness of youth that we have some reservations about but really want. It's funny how things go, isn't it? I'll post pictures of our new lair when I can. Soon. And we are still in the hunt for a house to buy.