House-Hunting Misery

Some say that it is better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all. I, for one, never thought this old adage would apply to house-hunting. Kenney and I have been looking for a house on and off for the past year and a half. Just recently, we decided to move forward a bit more seriously with our nuptials just around the corner. Light-hearted were we as we began looking at more open houses and even enlisting the aid of our realtor-friend in our house search. Never did we think that we would stumble on our perfect house so soon after enlisting her help. On Sunday, we went to a showing of the house and absolutely fell in love with it! It was a beautiful ranch in Bon Air, just down the road a bit from Stony Point Fashion Mall. The property was so verdant and park-like, the rooms were large and airy, and the floor plan was well laid out and open. There was an open entry-way, large living and dining room, den, three bedrooms and two baths. Our favorite room was the Florida room just off of the den- never did we know that a Florida room was even something we were looking for! As soon as we left the house, we knew that we wanted to put a bid on it. We started getting our pre-approval that night, met with the mortgage person the next day, and made an offer on the house. With some trouble with the seller's realtor, we finally got a counter-offer the next day, but with only $1500 of the $5000 in closing costs that we asked for. We countered again, this time upping our offer to $2500 over asking price and asking for only $2500 in closing costs. This time, instead of asking if we were willing to go any higher, the agent and the sellers decided to go with a full-price offer on the house. Both Kenney and I feel that it was unethical of the woman to not come back to us first... one would think that it is just common courtesy. I am hoping that the deal falls through with the inspection, as is sometimes the case. I am going to keep an eye on the house and the area in general. We are very sad about losing the house, and we are very angry about how the negotiations went. We really loved the house, and we now compare every house to that one. We know it isn't right to do that, and it will only make it harder to find a "replacement" house, but that is where we are right now. We looked at two houses yesterday, neither of which really could compare to the one we made an offer on (which, by the way, was on Domino Road... I know, how perfect is that?!?). I will cross my fingers and hope that everything will work out in the end. *sigh* We will miss that house.