No Sale

April 21st, 2008

After a grueling few days of deliberating, I decided to rescind my offer on the place today. I went back and forth several times, but in the end, the overriding factor was that I wasn’t convinced that after two years of construction, it was a place I’d want to live in for perhaps the rest of my life. It’s a dream property… just not my dream property.

It also helped that many people I talked to told me they “sensed” it wasn’t the right property for me. This could only be because of the way I spoke of it, and it’s good to have others tell you that you don’t sound as excited as you may think you are.

Another trick a friend suggested was to get two pieces of paper and write “Buy” on one and “Don’t Buy” on the other and then crumple them into balls and pick one at random. If you are disappointed when you unravel your ball, chances are, you should make the decision that is written on the other sheet. If you are happy, then vice versa. I ended up picking “Buy” and I indeed felt not quite right.

Even though the results of this near-transaction were disappointing in the end, it’s never the last house, and I expect more properties to start coming on the market as the weather in Seattle gets warmer.

UPDATE: A week later the house went on the market and got four offers on the first day. Not a surprise at all to me. If anything, it makes me more confident that I can spot value in this transitional real estate market. Best wishes to the buyer and I hope they shine it up with a nice remodel.

One Response to “No Sale”

  1. LB Says:

    This “friend” (aka your life guru) sounds positively, amazingly insightful.

    #1 - August 18th, 2008 at 10:17 pm