Excited but Grounded

Our house has been on the market just shy of a week and I have to say that I am disappointed. Here I was secretly hoping that it would sell inside of three days. No, as a matter of fact I am not on crack. I figured that we set the price low enough that we would be out of here quickly. And although anything under three MONTHS is considered quickly, I was holding out hope for something miraculous. No go.

So - do you know what we did? We went and made an offer on a house in Austin. Yes, you read that correctly. We can get out of the contract for any reason inside 20 days, which means if our house doesn't sell, we will have to terminate the contract...but still - A HOUSE. Nice, huh? This is the house and although the house itself is nothing special, the land is incredible. It is on a few acres and backs up to a protected area that is all trees. It is very close to the lake, has a seasonal stream on the property and is in the hill country.

While the views are amazing, the house is a disaster. It is smoke-filled, pet-stained, horribly-decorated, and generally worn out. There is water damage in the master bath requiring us to pretty much gut the shower and tub and replace them. The carpet has to go STAT. Everything needs painted, as the owners have ruined EVERYTHING with smoking. And even though it is THAT BAD - it is still a bargain. The fact that our best friend is an interior designer means that we have a fairly inexpensive yet messy project ahead.

IF we get the house we will replace all of the carpet, existing tile, and flooring with blasted tile, repaint the interior walls and ceilings, repaint all cabinetry, and replace all appliances immediately. We will then add a pool and replace their fence (chain link around a small part of yard) with wrought iron, expanding the area and closing in the pool separately.

20 days and counting.