Friday, other than a lot of talking with our real estate agent and various lenders, I tried to get some billable hours in. I did not really succeed. Amanda was in clinic all day.
We went to a party later that evening at Heather and Zubin’s (their apartments are right on top of each other). It was a fish and chips party with “other ethnic food like Guiness”. Heather was having issues with frying up the fish as she did not have a fryer with a thermostat and kept heating the oil past its smoking point. Her apartment was getting quite the fish oil treatment; she went on vacation, but I don’t think the smell will go away.
Heather also had an “Irish Car Bomb” which consists of a shot of whisky and irish creme submerged in a pint of Guiness which is promptly chugged down. It allegedly tastes like a chocolate shake. I would have tried one, but I had to take Amanda to the airport later.
We left a bit early to meet with with our real estate agent Jim as Amanda wanted to see the actual townhouse that she and I put an offer down on. We also took a brief look at the others that would be coming on the market later as it was likely that we would not get the one we offered since a comparable offer was received before ours with an earlier proposed closing. It was good of Jim to meet us on a Friday night at 9:45pm or so. We also met his partner (who is also named Jim).
I drove Amanda to the airport as she was taking a red eye back east at 12:55am. She will be back Wednesday night.
Saturday, I spent yet more time talking with our real estate agent. We eventually got a counter offer on one of the townhouses being constructed at the builders tentative price… tentative in the sense that he was not really going to accept offers for these units until they were done. He was impressed with us, our offer, and our persuasive agent as he does not so presales for a variety of reasons and he expects the actual price of the units to be even higher once they are done.
I accepted that offer and signed all the various changes required. Apparently, only one person needs to approve changes, so Amanda did not have to be there. Jim and I trekked back to the townhouses again to verify that the address was correct for the unit that we wanted before faxing the our agreement back.
It turned out our first choice was not the one on the counteroffer; our second choice was. Our first choice is not as far along in the building timeline than our second, so the builder did not want to commit on it. It did not matter to me, so we went ahead and faxed the new purchase offer out. I will have to drop off the earnest money check on Monday.
I did walk through the unit, and it was interesting. The layout, of course, was the same, but they pretty much just had the walls up. I dunno if they were finished with the plumbing and wiring yet. I should have taken pictures for fun as I am now not allowed to return unless “accompanied by Seller or Seller’s representative” prior to Closing.
I came home and collapsed. I have not been sleeping well, perhaps because of all the ibuprofen I had been taking plus all the house crap plus Amanda has been all amped up all the time during all the house crap. I did see a bit of the men’s NCAA basketball tournament before passing out.
Now, of course, it is three in the morning and I am wide awake.