Secular Confessions

[daylilies]

Have a nice day off!
Josh has no school. We went outside for a bit, but I think I left my boots at the gym We made snow ice cream--I can't remember if I learned about that in this thread or somewhere else. I just took a snowball, soaked it with milk and topped it with chocolate syrup.
We watched 2 movies yesterday, so I hate to have another tv day today. Hopefully we'll keep busy.

[3andMe]

Enjoy your day off, Bridget!

I have a playdate today with Japanese triplets that are one day older than Claire and Ronin. I haven't seen them since I got pregnant with Soren--mostly because their mom has a really hard time getting out, and not anything to do with my schedule.

I'm getting really stressed out about getting the house ready to try to sell it. We've emptied it out quite a bit, and still have a ton to go in the next month. I woke up at 4 AM this morning, just worrying about it. And my realtor keeps telling me to list it lower and lower and lower, because prices are dropping more, and she doesn't think it will sell. If we sell it for the list price, we will have enough to pay off the loan but not much cash in hand. I know that's better than a lot of people, but it's still really depressing.

It's not really an option to hold onto it until the market recovers, because it's too small for us and we don't have years to wait and the market is more than likely going to continue to go down for a while in this area.

[missychrissy]

Would renting it out be an option Lydia?

I don't think our area is great for selling houses right now either, but I've gotten the impression from my broker and Realtor that offering less than asking price for our first choice house is not a good idea. Neither seemed to think the sellers would go for it.

[daylilies]

Ah, that stinks. I wish I had some advice for you but I don't know anything about those things.

[Cosmosmom]

I don't think our area is great for selling houses right now either, but I've gotten the impression from my broker and Realtor that offering less than asking price for our first choice house is not a good idea. Neither seemed to think the sellers would go for it.

Don't listen to them....of course they will try to talk you into higher...more commission for them. Mine tried to talk us into going higher than we wanted and we didn't. We didn't get the house but after we turned down their counter, they came back to us with another counter. We likely could have gotten the price we wanted but at that point decided against that one.
Offer what you feel it's worth to you, if the sellers don't go for it, oh well. If it sits another month, you can always try another offer and maybe they will rethink it depending on how much they want out.

[Cosmosmom]

Enjoy the day off Bridget! Maybe even decided to stay home because of the cold? Not sure how cold it is by you but we were at something like -24 this morning BEFORE wind chill. So a lot of schools were either closed or on 2 hour delays.

[Bridget]

Thanks ladies! I'm enjoying it very much so far. I love delighting Savana and Kai with surprises because they get so super happy. We made pancakes with cat faces this morning from a recipe in one of Savana's magazines. It was so fun! I took pics so maybe I'll post them later.

I guess while I was gone last night they watched a national geographic special on volcanos so I'm thinking of trying to do that old school vinegar/baking soda volcano project with them today.

Yeah, Chrissy, I don't think it ever hurts to offer low. We offered low on this house originally and they counter offered us to high so we decided to look elsewhere. When we couldn't find anything else and found out my mom had cancer so I was moving back whether we found a house or not, we came back to this one and actually offered even less if you can believe it and they accepted it.
Rarely is a seller going to flat out say no. They'll counter offer and you'll still get it for less than asking price.

[daylilies]

I love surprising Josh. Even if it's something not really different, like going to the library, I think he just likes the element of surprise. I love that he doesn't remember things for a long time, so I can tell him on Monday that Grammie (my mom) is coming over on Thursday, and by Thursday he has forgotten

[missychrissy]

Thanks guys. Now I have to decide how much less to offer. If it were 10,000 less, we'd easily qualify but honestly, the house is worth what they're asking in and of itself. Unless a house inspection shows something...then that would make it easy to offer low or walk away. But if it's in as good condition from top to bottom as it appears to be...ugh. It's harder to justify low-balling them at all. Maybe I'll offer 5,000 less after a positive home inspection and just see what they say.

[Cosmosmom]

chrissy how long has it been on the market? Markets are changing FAST these days and it really depends on how much they need/want to move. So what a house is worth can change for week to week. If a home isn't selling, than chances are it's priced too high for the most current market conditions. Really a home is only worth what someone else is willing to pay for it......

[missychrissy]

It's not been on the market long...barely a month. They're just anxious to sell because the dad got a job out of state and the family wants to join him.

[Cosmosmom]

Ok so it hasn't been on the market all that long but they are motivated. Are there a lot of foreclosures in the neighborhood? For example, my MIL has a really nice house. I would say that it easily SHOULD be worth around 200K. It's in good condition, decent location, good sized, nice yard. However, their area has been hit pretty hard (chicago burb) and there are many foreclosures going on. Agent said they could list for 189 but would be realistically looking at 150-160 just because of the foreclosures going on. Well since they still over a bit over 190, they are stuck living there or foreclosing themselves and for now they are just waiting...not ideal since they are not together any but are still legally married. If she finds a job back home in Milwaukee with insurance, she basically plans on walking away and going to foreclose and screw what he wants (he doesn't want to do that).
Since they are motivated, if I really liked the house, I would offer on it at what I was willing and able to pay. If they say no, so be it. Times in most markets are very different from the days of not wanting to insult the sellers or bidding wars.

[Cosmosmom]

Oh do you know when the sellers bought their house and what they paid for it? Are they trying to make a lot of money or is the price the true lowest they can accept in order to break even themselves?

[missychrissy]

They did extensive renovations. It was an old farmhouse (I guess it still is) but it looks like a masterpiece now, complete with tiled flooring, granite counter tops, stainless steel appliances that all come with. It's everything. It's hard to find comparables because most other houses are old farmhouses that haven't been renovated to that level, or they're just raised ranches or split-level homes.

So whatever they paid for it is really irrelevant...they've put a ton of work and money into it.

[Cosmosmom]

That does sound nice. BUT you have to remember that really what they spent is not your problem. It's not your fault they have to sell because Dad took a job out of state or that there are not really any comps around to compare to.
If you like it, put in an offer that you can afford. If you don't try, someone else might and they probably will go in below asking too. Sometimes just being able to close sooner, might be worth a little less money to the seller. Or the fact that you don't have to sell your place in order for the deal to go through could be a huge plus in your favor.

Do you know if they have had a lot of interest in the place and showings? At least by me, this is a horrible time of year to be trying to sell a place. And every month that they are apart from the dad, they are probably paying for two places (dad has to be living somewhere). So say you go in a bit lower....they probably would counter. You accept or walk away....they know that if you walk, it's a gamble because who knows how long it will be for the next offer and if that one would be more. Even if they get say 5K less than they want, if they don't, they might be stuck for months paying for two places. If they decline and it stays on the market...they might be more willing to go down in a few months.

And if it doesn't work out...it usually is for the best. I'm very happy that our offer was not accepted that we made. It was hard at the time to walk away because I did really like that one....but a year later and I think that we made out so much better.

[Cosmosmom]

Wow, thought we were supposed to get at least to zero out today...still -8 right now. My poor car is going to be really annoyed when I start him up after work at 4:45.

[The10Eels]

so I need some help from you guys...

For my english class, we had to do this assignment where we research the meaning of our name, and then we had to state how we live up to our names......

Mine is Ashley, which means from the ash tree (or a million variations that mean about the same thing)

How the F am I supposed to relate that to who I am?

[missychrissy]

I dunno about Ash trees, but could you say you're strong like a tree, yet flexible and can bend in the wind?

[The10Eels]

chrissy. you are amazing.

[missychrissy]

Nah, I actually think I heard that analogy somewhere. Maybe in a book or movie once. It's not an original thought, I assure you!! lol

[AmeriBrit]

Yeah, I was thinking making yourself like a metaphor to a tree, roots, branches, leaves falling/changing, that sorta thing.

[Cosmosmom]

That sounds like a sucky project though at least your name gives a few good possibilities. I would have to do something about being white and fair and smooth. And my poor dad...well his name means wagon maker and he doesn't make wagons and never has.

[daylilies]

My name, Katherine, means pure, which I always get a kick out of

[missychrissy]

Mine would be fun. Christina. I can't remember its exact meaning, but I'm 99% sure it had something to do with Christ. I'd have to say I'm the antithesis!

[Bridget]

Strength.
And knowing that has made me feel obligated to be.

[Gwenn]

Mine means beloved. That's easy. My mommy loves me!

[The10Eels]

I confess I found a copykat recipe for olive gardens chicken gnocci soup.

I am making it tomorrow and cant wait!!!

[daylilies]

Sounds yummy! I'm not sure if they have that one at our Olive Garden. I got the new seafood stew last time we were there and it was pretty good.

[Cosmosmom]

DH got olive garden gift cards for his b-day today. I love olive garden so maybe we will go next weekend if it doesn't snow.

[Cosmosmom]

If I have a boy, our plan has always been to call him Theodore...probably been like 6 years we have had that name. Means gift from god...and if I did turn up pg, I really might have to rethink this whole god thing because it would feel like a miracle to us.