past negotiations.

in the year that i've been looking, it's inevitable that i would have been in negotiations at some point. well, i've been in negotiations three times, yes three...

the first place gave me that "it" feeling. it was a 1-bedroom, fit all of my criteria (even totally updated), and i just about made it into contract. but the day before it all went to the lawyers, someone else offered more money than the price we had settled on. it was obviously significant enough that they chose to go with the other buyer. but in the end, it was their loss, because i was ready to close whenever they wanted, i had nothing to sell, and i was ready to go with 20% and mortgage approval. even though they think they got a higher price, they probably spent that "profit" continuing to live in their condo, while waiting for the other buyer to sell their house/condo.

the second and third times were on the same property. it was 2-bedroom, 2-bath, and also fit all of my criteria. it happened to be in the same community as the 1-bedroom, and was essentially the same model, just the 2-bedroom version of it. however, this had no updates (which i'm fine with, because i have big plans). the first round was after this condo had been on the market for over a year (that is CRAZY, even now in a bad market). he refused to go low enough, so i walked away when he wouldn't budge. he then removed his condo from the market, and after about a month, it was back on the market with a different realtor and at a lower price. so i tried again, and he still wouldn't budge! so i walked away again. good riddance. he was never able to sell it, and was forced to rent it out. ha!

i've learned that when money is involved, common sense is not so prevelent. even when it's painfully obvious!