Another One Bites the Dust

I now have 21 posts worth of disappointment. Twenty-one posts about the five offers we've submitted and the five houses that we will not be closing. 

All five houses have had different methods of sale: foreclosure auction, foreclosure law owned, short sale, direct sale, and blind offer. 

The latest home we made an offer on was perfect. I know you're not supposed to say that about homes to avoid getting too attached. This house had four bedrooms in addition to a dedicated office, solving our space issue without having an impossibly huge house with a matching sale price. 

Knowing that the house could fetch a premium price, the owners created a deadline. The house was listed on Thursday, and on Sunday night at 8pm, they would take the highest and best offer. No negotiating. There were six offers on the table, and four of them out bid us, even though we offered $5,000 OVER list price. Congratulations, those peeps are now the owners of the most expensive four-bedroom house in that neighborhood.

We bid at the top end of our budget, so nothing more could be done, even if we were given the option. I think it was smart of us to know our limit, and not to overpay in that neighborhood. Despite how perfectly this house fit our criteria and our style, we will have to move on. 

And what of our fourth bid, the house the awesome Great Room+Wetbar+Sunroom? 
Those home owners are still wanting more than we can afford, for only a 3-bedroom house. I feel more comfortable stretching ourselves for a house that we know will fit, instead of overpaying for a house that doesn't meet our immediate requirements.

This is five months of house hunting. We've seen 41 houses. Even by my strict standards, that is way beyond the border of ridiculous. 

Wish us luck that our 6th bid might be the one...