Awe :(

So, the news you've all no doubt been wondering about is here: We went back to the unit on Monday evening and signed the offer to purchase. Yesterday we found out that they didn't accept our offer. I was pretty bummed at first, yesterday morning when The Trucker messaged me. But the more I think about it, the more annoyed I get. I thought this would be a tough one to let go, turns out not so much. Shew.

We had to message the Estate Agent yesterday to ask what the status was. She said she had "just" received and email from them saying the offer was too low so they were not accepting. I think it is unlikely we were that timeous.

Last night, when we were both home, we discussed it. I had felt out offer was too low in the first place ... 100K lower than what they were asking. And they'd already dropped it 200K from the first time they posted it on Private Property (as a private, no-agent sale). But, I also felt, them declining and not coming back with a "can you go up x amount and then we can accept" and just leaving it open is a bit too much of a fishing game on their part.

On one hand, they do seem to need a very specific amount (or have one in mind) and on the other they are quite happy to let it stand empty indefinitely. I gather we are only the 2nd offer ... in the 2 months the agent has had it and they've declined both as too low.

Then we managed to get our hands on a report on the property and what other houses in the area and complex had sold for. I had already calculated that what their (in my view exorbitant) asking price is listed as is R1000 more per square meter than I paid for mine 2 years ago. And there was a unit of the exact same size as theirs, in the same complex, sold in Feb this year, for only 20K less than we were offering.

So now, I really don't feel that our "low" offer was that far off the realistic mark at all. Especially with all the extra money we'd need to spend doing it up.

If they came back and said they'd sign for maybe up to 40K more, I reckon we'd probably do it. But this whole "guess the magic number" game is no fun.

We already had another look thru Private Property and have a few more, to go look at. PS. Private Property, I hate your new website. And more than anything (like that I have to select an area and you don't offer "inside the highway"), I hate that one of the things you were most useful for (seeing where on the map the places were) seems to no be loaded for 90% of the properties we've looked at. I have a very specific area in mind and now we have to keep phoning and saying "which road is that in?". Tedious.

What else has happened this week ... well I guess pretty much everything has been overshadowed by the house debacle. I went to SCM on Tuesday.

Also, I made it to Boot Camp on Monday in the rain, but I haven't managed to get back there this week yet. On Tuesday after work, instead, I went to buy all the goodies for the Dog and Cat Xmas Boxes I'm putting together. Found out about Santa Cause for Paws on Monday and after doing Santa's Shoebox last week (and for the last few years), this felt like an obvious addition. Reminded so much of how different my Gypsy Cat's life could've been ... and am so looking forward to the little Schnauzer puppy we're planning on getting (well, in the new house, when we find one!). Anyway, they're still looking for quite a few contributions ... I promise, it makes you feel all warm & fuzzy inside :)