Potential

Usually, when scrolling through real estate listings, I avoid this word like the plague.

Potential.

As in, "This house has incredible potential." I've come to understand this is realtor code for, "This house needs a ton of work."

Keith and I have already done so much work on the house we currently live in. We are tired and we do not want to do more work. We just want to move in and start living.

I've also avoided any houses built before 1970. This is really tough to do on the East coast. Everything seems to have been built in the 1800s. Homes that old, in our price range, are going to be full of dry rot, old electrical systems, old heating systems, black mold, and a plethora of other problems. Avoid. Avoid. Avoid.

Until yesterday.

I went to view a home that was built in the late 1800s. This house was very well maintained and had recently been updated quite a bit. There's now central air and heat, and municipal water to start. The cabinets are all easily opened, there are no stains, no apparent water damage, definitely no mold, and despite the wet, rainy weather I did not smell any dry rot.

A quick aside about my sense of smell: My family thinks I might be a "nose". A "nose" is an affectionate name for a perfumer, someone who creates perfumes. The "nose" can distinguish and identify hundreds, maybe thousands, of different scents and can mingle them together to evoke an emotional reaction. I do not think I am a nose. I admit I do have an excellent sense of smell. And I do use this sense of smell to create masterful flavors in my kitchen. Perhaps I'm a perfumer of the pallet.

I really liked the cozy feel of this Cape Cod style home. So much so that we put in an offer yesterday.

Here in New York, the real estate market is very different from that in Texas or California. I have bought property in both of those states and am much more accustomed to the way things work there. Things are so different, here.

Here, if one wants to buy a property, the first step is to put in an offer. The seller often sets a date when they will look at all of the offers and decide which offer is the most attractive. At that point, they accept the offer outright or make a counteroffer. Once an offer/counteroffer is agreed upon by the seller and the buyer, the buyer must provide good faith money and proof of funds. Then the contract goes to the attorneys. there will always be a seller's attorney and a buyer's attorney. The attorneys hash out the details of the contract and when everything looks right, the seller and buyer sign on the dotted line and move into closing.

It seems overly complicated to me. Less paperwork than California, but more moving parts.

Yesterday after viewing, we had our realtor put in an offer on the house. The seller will receive the offers at 2:00 pm this coming Sunday and review all the offers at 8 pm on the same day.

We won't know anything until Monday.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That is my anxiety screaming in my head! I suppose all I can do is wait it out, cross my fingers, and hope for the best. The worst that can happen is they reject our offer. In which case, nothing changes for me. I keep looking.

Wish me luck!

Lead and first image photo by Jonica Bradley