AOL journals used to have a feature at the top -- which I never used -- which allowed you to answer "how I'm feeling" at the top of every entry. I'm feeling frustrated.
Found a house I quite liked on Sunday. Not only that, it is conceivable that I could afford it. (Shock.) Rarely have these two concepts existed in the same house.
Planned with my agent to see the house again Monday night. Was bringing a friend to look it over, too. There were about three things I needed to do before putting in an offer. I needed to get another look at the master bathroom; I wanted to find the A/C unit and water heater; and I wanted to speak to the next-door neighbor (with whom the house more or less shares a driveway) to make sure they were nice, sane individuals that didn't torture kittens.
Got there a bit late (if I buy the house, I'll definitely need to figure out a faster way to get there) -- at around 6:30. Looked at bathroom (check); found A/C and water heater (check again); and basically took my time to get a closer look at everything. Of course, it wasn't as shiny perfect as it had seemed on my first walk-through, but it was still a really good house. Was all set to meet the neighbor and -- if that went well -- write an offer. Would've done it right there, too, assuming my agent had brought the paperwork.
So, on the way out, I said I wanted to meet the neighbor. Agent said she'd seen the neighbor while she was waiting for me to get there. "Perfect," I thought. "Did you tell her I wanted to speak with her for a few minutes?" No, says my agent. She was unpacking her car and looked like she didn't want to be bothered. "OK," think I, "let's go knock on the door." Agent said no. It was a little after 7:00. Too late to knock, now. They might be eating dinner; wouldn't want to disturb them. If you want to talk to the neighbor, she said, we should do that on the weekend.
Really, really annoyed.
Agent says she'll talk to me tomorrow about the house. I express my frustration by saying she should talk to me on Saturday, because I'm not putting in an offer until I meet the neighbor. (And I thought she freakin' knew that.)
I come home and stew over this. I have a meeting Saturday morning, which I can't miss. Of course, we have no idea what the neighbor's schedule is. She could have a meeting Saturday, too. Or even be taking a vacation. It isn't like we can make an appointment to meet the neighbor. We'll have to show up on Saturday and hope she's there. Oh man, I haven't even put an offer in on the place yet and I'm already stalking the neighbor.
It continues to annoy that my agent saw the woman last night. How freakin' hard would it have been to say, "Excuse me; I have a client who is interested in buying the house next door. Do you mind if I bring her by for a few minutes to talk about the neighborhood?" Seriously.
And now I sit around waiting till Saturday, wondering if someone else is going to put an offer in on the house in the meantime, and thinking that there's no guarantee we'll even see the neighbor on Saturday.
Damn it.
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2 comments:
You should drive by there on your own and knock on the door and talk to the neighbor. What could it hurt?
It is rather odd how obtuse your agent appears to be on this issue. I suggest a little bit of background checking - local PD to see if there have been any altercations ("domestics") or other calls to either address in the past few years. Use a reverse look-up directory (available at your public library if you don't want to use the office copy). Perhaps a CBI or similar background check conducted by your own private hire investigator into the neighbor will turn up something. Or not. If you buy this place, you will have some kind of relationship with the next door folks for years to come. Given how serious you are about the house, I suggest you make haste slowly and conduct the necessary investigations now, while they can only cost you money. Peace of mind is such a rare and valuable commodity...
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