Now the fun begins!

Well, they accepted my counter offer and I will be closing in late May. The owners may want some of this furniture, or they may have said so just because they didn't get the price they wanted for the house.

This was pretty funny, the joke was on me. I saw 4 large ducks on the lake, not swimming anywhere, just kind of hanging out there in the middle.

They were plastic floaters, put there to mark the end of the sprinkler intake pipes. Well, they weren't there the last time. Live and learn, city slicker.

Waiting on pins and needles

I offered a low (really low) price, they came back with a counter offer, and I came back just $5k above my original offer. Now I wait to see. This house has been for sale almost a year.

The location is wonderful, but it smells really bad. At the rate the people are going here in So. FL the lake will be tiny before we get any rain.

For those that asked in person, no it's not a natural lake. It's a storm water retention lake, complete with fountain. In nature, lakes aren't rectangular. LOL.

If they say no, I'll move on to the next house. There are lots of them out there.

This is more like it.

Isn't this pretty? I am absolutely in love with this house. It looks marvelous on the outside and inside. It has 2 bedrooms and a den, and a patio on the east side overlooking the lake. OOOO let's talk about that lake view. It is the thing that made me suck in my breath and go OH when I first walked in.

Of course I wished I hadn't sucked in my breath when I got a lung full of the smoky odor that lingers there. I know, I know, that can be fixed. More $ on that $ later.

Isn't it funny how much more you see each time you go back to a house you are interested in? My first impression of this place is that it's lovely and kind of dirty in the corners. Cobwebby dirty, dust on the textured ceiling dirty, not food in the sink dirty, KWIM?

So I took my particular friend with me, the one with construction experience, and she pointed out how much love this hou$e will need to suit her specs. My expectations have been systematically lowered over the years, but more on THAT issue later...

Among other things, it will need all new appliances, flooring in the bedrooms, tile cleaning/renovation in the master bath, an accordion shutter on the picture window, new kitchen counter/backsplash, painting throughout, and removal of some seriously wrong trimming.

My second choice house in the same development has a less spectacular view, but it won't need much work. (Just a little paint and replacement of the pink carpet.)

I'm so excited! And scared. Woah.