My condo has been on the market for five months. I have two bedrooms and two baths which is really just fine for me and my baby. I work out of my home, and currently my office is in the soon-to-be nursery, but I've figured out where my office will be after the nursery is done. While this place is just fine, we will grow out of it quickly, I have stairs to climb, I have a dog and no yard, and I have a neighbor that isn't the quietest. It's not the ideal place, but at what cost does one get out of a not ideal place but one that is easily affordable, comfy, has enough space right now, and has neighbors who are excited about the baby and want to help?
I was going to take my condo off the market at the end of the month. I've had a good amount of lookers, but no offers. Yesterday I had a showing, and while I was registering for baby things, I had a missed call from my real estate agent. When I called her back, I learned that I had an offer coming in!!!! The woman LOVED my place!!!! Panic completely set in while I waited for 2 1/2 hours for the contract to arrive because I was going to have a big decision to make. I'm upside down in my mortgage right now, so I knew that I'd have to come to the table with money. Based on the offer, I would have to come to the table with $23k! Yikes! As much as I would love to get out of this place, I was fighting the "need vs. want" battle! I don't need a house. I want a house, but at what cost?
I was on the phone with friends and family for hours asking their opinions/advice. Some said counter offer so the money I had to bring to the table would be less while others said don't do it because I should hold on to that money. As a SMC, I have to make sure that I can provide for my baby and not live paycheck to paycheck and have debt. So, the "needs vs. wants" battle continued for 18 hours! Could I financially do this? Could I find a new home in time? Would I have the energy to move in my third trimester and get an entire house ready instead of just a nursery? While I thought all of this is possible, I was still hung up on taking such a large chunk of money out of my savings while still needing to take some more out for a down payment.
In the end, I sadly turned down the offer without making a counter offer. I didn't even want to bring $15k to the table if I could get a higher offer (which didn't seem possible), so I didn't want to play the negotiating game. I am worried that this might have been my only chance to get out of this place, but I'm trying not to look back. I'll try to sell in one year if I feel the need to get out. In the meantime, I'm going to sit tight, get the nursery ready, nest, and raise my baby in my manageable condo.. That's the way it should be, right? So, now my condo is officially off the market. It's sad that I had to let that dream die, but I've got a bigger and better dream to focus on, and my dream of a house will be on the back burner for a while. Hopefully when I pursue that dream again, I'll have more money in the bank thanks to a bonus check (let's hope!), more equity in my condo, and the possibility of being able to get a little higher of an offer. Wishful thinking, I know, but it's what makes me okay with this very difficult decision that was complicated by hormones.
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