For me, 9 months have just flown by….one day blurring into the next….And even though I know I am getting older, I feel like I haven’t changed. The quickly passing time for an adult is meager in terms of development (or even decline, if one is fairly healthy). But compare to a baby, and it’s astounding. In 9 months, I have given birth to my second child, who couldn’t do anything but eat, pee, poop, cry, throw up, sneeze…..oh, and sleep. Lots of it. But NOW…….I’ve got a real child who, in the past couple days, has proven to me that he can take 4-5 steps to me without falling down! I’ve witnessed tonight a real child that, while eating crackers in his high chair, clapped when I said, “Ohene, clap your hands!” and he did (which means he’s more aware, linguistically speaking, than I realize. And I also experienced him for the first time in the last day or so him reaching out to feed me when I have said, “Ohene, give Mommy a bite.” Amazing! And all in 9 months!
I wish I could hold it all in my head, and never forget any of it. Thus the reason for this blog, and the reason for the extensive number of pictures I take. I am almost paparazzi-like with the way I snap shots. But if you can believe it, it actually helps me to remember events. I don’t want to forget a thing.
I feel a bit guilty, though. When I think about Kwabena at this age of 9 months, I was sooo involved with him! He rarely cried, because he had a Mommy that responded immediately–everything must be put on hold if my little Kwabena is crying! But with Ohene, I am wrapped up in other things–cooking dinner, cleaning up (mostly for potential showings because the house is on the market), or really, anything. And so, it feels like he’s taken a back seat. Also, I hate the fact that we have everything, namely, toys he could be playing with, packed away down in the basement storage area. I often wonder if I am stifling his development because of a lack of enriched environment. Could that be true? I just don’t know.
And many times I feel like my mind if off in other directions when it should be focused on my kiddos, my family. Well, it is family -related; for example, thinking about home stuff. I sometimes get so focused on that, that I feel like I don’t have the quality, ever-present interactions that I used to have with the kids (or rather, more so with Kwabena when he was this age).
I guess it’s just harder when you have (1) two kids, (2) less free time, and (3) a home on the market that hasn’t yet sold!
Speaking of which….We have since lowered the price to $195,000. And in that week, we’ve only have 1 couple come through. The couple like the place, but is wondering if they would like to get a single family home. I don’t know what their budget is, but I know that in that in this area, it’s doubtful that they will get a single family for any affordable price; not compared to my $195,000. But according to their Realtor, they like this place and it’s their #1 choice at this point. Just hope that we hear something soon, even if from another person. I hope!
So to update you, we submitted a contract for a short sale here in Silver Spring.
When we went to visit the place, we didn’t realize it was a short sale. Our agent, Vanda, has always dissuaded us from looking at short sales, so when I told her I think it was a short sale, war broke out. She told us (1) that she never would have shown the home to us [how can she say she never would have shown us?!], (2) that it will take forever, like 4+ or more, possibly [which is okay to us since we need time to find a buyer for this place], (3) we would lose $1,000 between the inspection and appraisal [that’s a risk for any real estate, really, because an inspection may show something that you just don’t want to deal with, so you move on and forfeit your money, etc. etc.
I won’t get into all the details about it now, but let’s just say that everything she said to us was negative and dissuasive about short sales, not taking into account that we are okay with the conditions. We need time, as I said. We don’t have a contract yet, so we can’t move on to anything else until that time. But I am still unsure whether I will keep her as an agent, to be honest with you. We are the client. Educating us and dissuading us because short sales can be a pain in the ass are two separate things. I bet you that her commission is the problem. From what I have heard, she would have to split the 3% commission with the listing agent. And it still cannot be guaranteed; she could get screwed on the commission. Sooo….not an idea situation for her, I’m sure. But it is what it is…..
Also, the contract process was so long. She didn’t have anything printed out when we got there. And she was taking other calls while we were there. I know she’s got a life, too. But when we are meeting with her, we’re on OUR time. It took us 2.5 hours! I even had to leave work early to do it. And after taking that time, plus other time to go look at homes, my supervisor (Olivia) is noting that I’m asking for lots of time off. I am trying to mitigate that, ’cause Lord knows I ain’t messing up my cushy, independent job. I don’t need someone looking over my shoulder, or negative points against me because I am trying to do this and that during work hours. We’ll just have to make sure whatever we do home-wise, that it’s done nights and weekends. Unfortunately we will have to do these things with the kids, but hey– it is what it is.
Our agent got pissed at me because I wanted to ask for 1.5% of closing help. She said that our offer was going to be weaker than the other 2 offers that were already submitted on the property. She was really irritated with us because we didn’t just “do as she said.” I still think that it can’t hurt to ask. The worse that could happen is that that the listing agent doesn’t accept our offer. And if that happened, at least we can go find something else, possibly something that wasn’t quite as expensive, since this house is at the top of our price point.
Anyhow, the listing agent for the home was supposed to make her selection this week and then submit it to the seller to be signed. And then the package would go to the bank. At that point, it is supposed to take 90 days for a response, possibly less. We shall see what happens…..
Here are some latest pictures. There are so many more to upload, but because I am exhausted, I doubt it’s going to happen tonight.
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