Worst Waiting Game Ever

We sold our house.  That's definitely exciting.  HOWEVER...now we begin one of the most miserable waiting games in the history of mankind.  To sell your house, you actually have to close on it to finish the deal.  That will not happen for another 30 days (actually, October 27th for us). 

There's a number of things that can go wrong in the meantime that can cause the contract to fall apart.  We have to have our house inspected.  Once that happens, the buyers will create a list of things they want taken care of before the option period is over.  That option period is 10 days.  Then we have to have an appraisal to ensure that we are selling for what the house is worth.  Really, what our house is worth is up for interpretation.  The first person might say something and a second person will suggest it's 10K higher or lower than the first person.  Either way, whatever the appraiser says can cause things to fall apart.  Then there's also the fact that the buyers can just change their minds.  Isn't that a bunch of sh......poop? 

All in all, things look good.  These buyers are getting the house a great price and in great condition.  Still, jumping through hoops to be sure the house is acceptable and constantly waiting for update phone calls and emails is not my idea of fun.  One thing this does afford us, though, is the opportunity to get serious about where we want to live up here in Maryland.  Some of you may know that we have been considering living with Steve's parents.  It would help us pay down some debt by having a smaller housing cost and it would help them afford a bigger (IE nicer) house.  Our other option is to look at housing in our own price range. 

The market here is very different from Texas.  You get less house for your money, but there are different amenities that come with a house here, as well.  You may be buying a townhouse and it may have smaller rooms in general, but you also tend to get a deck and a basement (many of them actually are finished).  There's also more affordable housing on the water, although I'm pretty certain we aren't really interested in living on the water.  Also, taxing is different, so while we'll buy a more expensive house, our monthly payments won't change very much.  So, tomorrow we will go look at some houses in the area to see if it is worth buying our own house or if we will go forward with living with Steve's parents for a couple of years.

Even still, buying a house here is contingent on closing on our house in Texas.  And so, we wait.