This last month has been another 180. We visited a house on a whim, and actually liked it.
Of course, because it is us, it couldn't just be a normal house. No, of course the only house that we have seen that we actually like couldn't be simple. Oh no. Not us.
This house is a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
A bankruptcy sale is complicated. You need a judge to approve you buying the house. Instead of the seller, you have a trustee who has to take the best offer on the table. Once your offer is accepted, due to some arcane as fuck laws, you have to wait 21 days with your offer listed publicly and during that 21 days, a random person could come in and be like "oho! I like this!" and outbid you. Once you make it through the 21 days, you have to get the judge's approval and it proceeds from there mostly like a normal sale.
Pros:
Long time to actually purchase the house (for us)
Complicated so it keep a lot of competition at bay
Potentially a good deal on a home because the court who became the seller just wants to get rid of it
Cons:
The house almost definitely has something wrong with it
You could get your offer accepted and then get outbid in the 21 day period and you're out like $1k because you spent money on inspections
You have to wait 21 days
You need court approval
This process doesn't sound too complicated. I'm keeping it simple here. But just figuring this out was hell. There is almost no information on this process online. I spent 2 weeks attempting to understand the basics. The most helpful thing I found was a 2 page pdf from some random nobody lawyer in the middle of the US that gave a short sort of overview. We even spoke to a lawyer type person who was literally no help to us at all. In fact, I could argue that he gave us false information.
The Fiancee and I have given three whole extensions, and written two counter offers for this place. The trustee takes 7 billion years to get back to us, even exasperating the listing agent.
I would love to be able to sue the court system for the emotional, mental and physical stress this process of their has placed on me.
The truth is that I thought I would be able to continue to enjoy my current neighborhood for basically another year. I am not ready to say goodbye to where I live. I love my neighborhood. It's perfect. There is a library and a park basically across the street, it's close to public transit, it is around the corner from an elementary school, and a senior center. the street is a bike boulevard.
I love it here. I love it so much. I broke down at work on my lunch break and cried my eyes out in a bathroom stall, trying to be quiet because my coworkers are allowed to shit in peace.
I am aware that it isn't like I'll never come back. I even like the neighborhood that this house is in. It's cute and up and coming. It has good restaurants. There isn't a library though, and the parks aren't very close. But there are a couple of good elementary schools, and it has like 6 bus lines the pick up on the corner. The houses in the neighborhood are nice.
But it isn't here. It isn't the place I got engaged in, or where I hosted my first family Thanksgiving. It isn't where I said goodbye to my best friend when he moved to New York. It isn't where I've hosted countless games nights, and parties, where I completed NaNoWriMo for the first time, where I ran my first 5k, where I started to find myself, to be comfortable with me.
But the house, if we get it could be a new place for memories. I could own a pet, grow a real garden, my mom could move out of her shit hole neighborhood, I could be a landlord.
No it wouldn't be the same, and I know I won't stay here forever. But I don't know how to say goodbye.
I don't want to.
I'm not ready.
But who ever really is?