House? What House?

Let me tell you all, house hunting sucks. SUCKS. And sadly, I've only been doing it for the past two months.

Why does it suck so badly you ask? Let me tell you why it is not my favorite thing to do right now.

A month ago, after seeing 12 places, after having a mini-meltdown and having my bff and uncle look at it with me (again), I put in an offer on a two-bedroom, two-bathroom townhouse. The second-floor unit over looks the community pool, and has a fireplace and cathedral ceilings.

This unit is also a short sale.

What does that mean you ask? Well, here's what wikipedia says:

"Short sales are different from foreclosures in that a foreclosure is forced by a lender, whereas both lender and borrower consent to a short sale. However, this consent may be revoked at any time as short sales are entirely voluntary transactions for both parties. The borrower may decide to remain in the property and attempt a refinance or modification of their mortgage loan, or may refuse to cooperate with the lender's demand for financial documentation or a cash contribution, and thereby ensure foreclosure. Similarly, lenders can refuse to evaluate or approve a short sale offer, generally due to disapproval of either the buyer's offer amount or high closing costs, which reduces the lender's net proceeds. All short sale contracts should include a contingency clause specifying that the contract is contingent upon approval of the seller's lender(s)."

I put in the offer knowing that it could be auctioned off two days later. My realtor even forewarned me not to get emotionally attached to any place that I see or bid on.

I listened to him, but not fully apparently.

Since I made my offer over a month ago, I haven't heard a single thing.

But I have had the chance to tell friends and family about my potential place. And seeing them get excited and offer me decorating tips conversely made me have some positive outlook and hope that this might become reality.

Until yesterday.

Yesterday, I was stalking  perusing the county assessor's site, and noticed that the mortgage company had put an initial bid of $96,000 on it. I was concerned, since previously, that box has been blank. I called my realtor and he called me back later in the day saying, he was disappointed and that the property was going to auction today.

I was a mix of emotions.

Frustrated- check.
Disappointed - Check.
Sad - Check.
Angry - Check.

I didn't understand why the bank never countered or at least said, hey, no thanks. Instead I HAD NO RESPONSE UNTIL THE DAY BEFORE THE AUCTION, cuz that's smart. *rolls eyes*

The thing that also made me angry was that they rejected my bid, which was almost 15K more than what the bank's initial bid was.

My realtor simply said they (the bank) found it easier to "pull the plug" on it and let it go to auction rather than take the time or manpower to counter my offer or at least respond to it. This boggles my mind. Seriously. I mean, you'd think that any bank who is owed money, would like to find a buyer for said property so they get their money repaid. DUH.

But apparently banks don't think logically.

So yesterday I spent all night upset, kinda crying, and really just not in the best of moods. At one point I even passed out on my bed with my head using my stuffed teddy bear as a pillow. Not pretty, my friends, not pretty.

What added insult to injury was my mother's pesky voice saying all these things. "If you had just bid what they were asking for, you probably would've gotten it..." and, "you know, if you can't handle offering more money next time, maybe you shouldn't buy. Maybe you should rent and get a roommate somewhere."


I WANT MY OWN PLACE DAMMIT!!

I would have never even started this process if I wasn't serious about it because the last thing I want to do is waste anyone's time.

That said, I do freak out about the money aspect of it. Not so much the mortgage part, because that's comparable to paying rent, but more or less the other parts of it. The HOA monthly fees, the utilities, and the mortgage/homeowners insurance I have to get.

Luckily, a family friend's daughter recently moved home and wants to move out. She's reached out to me already but I haven't discussed anything roommate-related yet because I don't have a place yet. Again, I'm logical.

So today I came into work feeling emotionally drained and just irritable.

Out of curiosity, I checked the county assessor's site again because I wanted to see if in fact, the property was sold for the $96,000 that the mortgage company offered....

...and you wouldn't believe what I saw.

IT DID NOT GO TO AUCTION TODAY, and the sale date has been postponed till July 13th.

Seriously? THIS MAKES NO SENSE!

As of now, I'm waiting to hear back from my realtor to see what the heck the deal is. I don't know if they received another (better) offer or if they just are behind on the paperwork. The listing agent did say that the lady who's working on this listing has 600 foreclosures sitting on her desk. That sounds like a miserable job, but at the same time, I'd be great if she would actually do her job.

I'm also taking every offer now with a grain of salt and am not going to become attached to another property...even though I saw a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom unit in the same complex this weekend and can completely imagine the third bedroom as my reading/comfy room.

Readers, I'll keep you posted, but in the mean time, share with me one of your frustrating stories. It'll help me feel better.