O.K., so we have our ball park estimate. I don't know what I was expecting, obviously the house needed much more help than John and I could ever do but the estimate was more than I could actually relate to, it was more than we paid for our current house. I'm starting to rethink this thing, remember the goal? I experienced sticker shock twice, once with the home estimate and the other with the asking price for the property. I didn't think there was much I could do about the repair estimate but maybe with the price of the property?
I am probably frugal to a fault and I like to find a deal. I think this had a lot to do with my upbringing. I grew up in an average American family, we had more than some and not as much as others. My parents did a good job of instilling the value of the dollar in me. I remember when I started to drive my Dad getting me a credit card in my name. This did two things, it started to establish some credit for me and provided some security in case of an emergency. He was very clear that the only reason I should ever use the credit card at the mall was if I was naked IN the mall. He also told me to never charge anything unless I had the money in the bank to pay for it. Those are some pretty tough rules to live by. Well, not the first one, I typically don't rull around the mall naked. Considering this upbringing it made it very difficult to really consider the risks involved with buying this place. I had to crunch some numbers and it didn't look good. Adding a whole new set of bills to the current ones with no new income coming in would be a challenge. So I did a lot of "if this, and if that or we could do this" kind of stuff. It was going to be tight. If we sold everything we owned and maybe a kid or two we might just be able to make this work!!! The only area for possible flexibily is the property. John and I talked about the price, what should we offer? What if we get started and there is a problem and the house can't be fixed, how much will we lose if we have just a lot? SO many questions! At one point I became conviced that the owners should pay us to get the mess off their hands! O.K., that was wishful thinking. Time to employ my barganing skills.
After college, I joined the Peace Corps. I was sent to Ghana, West Africa for a little over two years. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life and I'm so glad I was able to do it. During my time there I learned a new language (sort of) and new culture. Part of the culture in bargaining. My frugal nature embraced this and I soon became quite skilled in my bargaining. I would be specifically asked to go on shopping trips with my friends to help them shop. After using all my techniques with the local seller, and being called names, we would both walk away satisfied and feeling good. Now was the time to dust off my bargaining skills and try to buy this house. I had skills!
I had my first offer ready, remember this is the starting point, and I called up the Mrs. We exchanged greetings and I said that we were ready to make an offer. We are doing this at considerable risk but we would like to offer $xxx. After only half a second pause she curtly replied that the starting price was firm and that she would not consider our offer. Wait a second, that's not how it's supposed to work. You see she was supposed to counter and then we go back and forth for a while and in the end we both walk away happy....I was speechless. I didn't know what to do. In a softer tone she suggested I talk to my husband about it, I said thank you while choking back tears and hung up. I think I just messed it all up. My husband was kinder that I would have been if the situation was reversed. We didn't have much else to say that night.
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