Housing Search Redux

Several months ago, my wife and I decided to buy a house, thinking the market was just right. Between an $8k government subsidy, a large supply of houses, and very low interest rates, it was a fucking trifecta of reasons to own a house.

In the end, we are renting a bigger condo.

The reasons are many, but let this part of my tale give you an idea. The townhouse in Sully Station, VA that we put an offer on sold for over $400,000 in 2005. The person who owned it lost it in June 2008. Since then it was vacant, owned by IndyMac, who went bankrupt. The house was not even on the market until early this year, around March.

It was originally listed at $289,000 and appeared to be in great condition. We offered 280 and lost it. It came back on the market a week later, and dropped to 276. We again offered 280 and got it with 4% towards closing costs.

What followed was several months of working with our realtor, their realtor (Greendot, who I recommend avoiding any deal with), and their asset manager. To make a long story short, a water leak was discovered pre-inspection, and someone, and it is not clear who, fucked up so badly that the house became a haven for mold, mildew, and probably other pathogens.

We walked away, got our deposit back, and the house was dropped in list price to around $225k. So, much to my surprise today, the house closed for 282k, with NO SELLER SUBSIDY.

They say a sucker is born every minute. I think in the real estate industry, it happens more often than that.