In position at the starting line...

Yesterday, at the office, the phone rings.  It's my real estate agent.

"Do you time to talk?"

"If it's something good, yes."

"We got an offer on your condo."

Yes, I think I can find the time.

She tells me the price of the offer (which is in a range we can work with), that the buyer is already pre-qualified, various and sundry other information, and it all sounds good but I sense a "however" coming.  I almost hold my breath waiting for it.  And then...

.... "they want a 21-day escrow."

Thud.

21 days.  I got the offer on the 6th.  Assuming we reached an agreement within a few days, that would be ... that would be out by New Year's.

My agent is still talking.  She's trying to arrange a time we can meet and go over the offer but I'm still trying to deal with the reality-shift that comes with the idea that a prospective buyer would like to wrap this whole thing up before the end of December.  I tell the agent "I need a moment to ..."  I'm about to say "wrap my brain around this," but that doesn't quite express my level of gobsmackedness.  I instead say, "... soil myself."

She suggests that maybe she could ask the buyers' agent if they're really glued to taking title by the end of the year (like maybe for some sort of accounting reason) and if they'd be willing to give me a couple weeks rent-free thereafter.  (I mean, I always knew that by putting my condo on the market before looking to buy a house, that there'd be a good chance that I'd have to move into an apartment in the interim.  But I'd been envisioning a 60-day escrow in which I'd have an actual chance to find a house.  Not to mention a little more time than three weeks to pack up my life and relocate it.)  This seems reasonable to me.  We plan to meet later that night.

My agent comes over that night.  She said the buyers weren't too keen on letting me keep possession after title changes (which is totally reasonable -- and not to mention all karmically correct since when I'd bought this place, the seller wanted, like, two days to get his shit together, and I was all, "No -- you get my money; I get the keys.") -- er, anyway, they want possession with title, but she doesn't think they're absolutely wedded to the 21-day escrow thing and would probably go for just closing later.

Armed with this knowledge, we draft up a counteroffer.  Small increase in price and another two weeks for closing.  (Five weeks.  I can do five weeks.  Five weeks gives me a coupla weeks to try to find a house, and, if not, a little more lead-time on getting into a rental.)  We submit the counteroffer.

This morning, when I get to work, I find out the buyer (well, the wife half of the buyer) wanted to come by my place again this morning.  Cool.  (Glad I took the extra time to vacuum before work.)  I therefore expect a response to the counteroffer, like, by lunch.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Nothing.

I call my agent around 2:00.  She's got a call in to the buyers' agent but has heard....Nothing.

I try to focus on my job but it isn't easy.  Half of me has already jumped into the mindset of "ok, we've got less than five weeks to get a house or move into a temporary rental" and I'm ready for it -- but that really won't happen until we've got an actual signed agreement to sell this place.  I didn't think there was anything unreasonable in the counteroffer so couldn't figure why it wasn't immediately accepted, with cautious celebrations (contingent on the inspections...) to follow.

Before I leave work, around 6:30, I check my home answering machine.  Message from agent.  Apparently Mr. Buyer -- actually, Dr. Buyer -- was in surgery all day.  He and the Mrs. will go over the counteroffer tonight.

Oh.  Well that's good.  Can't blame the man for fixing people.

I'll just quietly go nuts in the corner over here, while I wait to hear from you tomorrow.