Four days till closing

This week is advancing like the clink clink of a roller coaster working up that first hill. I've got a mix of anticipation and nerves as we close in on settlement set for the end of the week. Tonight is our final walkthrough. I've checked with the mortgage company, and it looks like they are all set in terms of the forms they need from us. We've made plans fro the movers, and the pets.

As I walk the dog this week, I've been thinking about all the time I have spent on Capitol Hill, and in the city. I think its going to be strange to live somewhere else.

Are You Ever Going to Use The VCR Again?

Our apartment has become a maze of boxes, leaving little tunnels for us to move around in and live out the remainder of our cit lives. Jennifer and I took a break from packing up the apartment over the weekend to go for a walk around the Capitol.

On the way back we found a bunch of computer boxes thrown away by the DSCC. We knew who they belonged to because nobody had removed the packing list. But they were big, Dell computer boxes and I thought they would be perfect for transporting the components.

As I was packing them, Jenn asked if I needed to take the VCR. It took me back a moment. I remember when I got it. A stereo VCR. STEREO. I thought it was hot shit. It was the beginning of my home theater. Now, here I was, trying to decide if I ever would use it again.

The Drama

We presented an offer on Tuesday afternoon, and waited to hear back. Wednesday came and went, and most of Thursday. Thursday night, our agent called us to tell us that she had received a counter to our offer. They had offered to give us the closing costs we wanted, but had raised the asking price of the house. I was furious. I wanted to tell them to keep it, but instead we managed to put together another counter, raising the price we were willing to pay closer to the original asking price, and reducing the amount of closing assistance we were asking for. We also stated that this would be our best & final offer, and that the offer expired after 24 hours.

We submitted the offer to them at noon on Friday. At 4:00 we got a call from the seller's agent asking for an extension on the time limit. Apparently they were anticipating another offer and wanted to compare the two. This was too much, and I told the agent that our deadline was firm. We were also nervous that this deal was over, so we made arrangements with our agent to look at the other townhouse in the community that had come down in price during the week while we were negotiating. We would see that one Saturday morning.

When we arrived at the other townhouse, our agent notified us that our offer had been accepted.