let the games begin!

i hate playing games, always have, always will. and i'm not talking about "games" like monopoly or PS2, or stuff like that. i hate games in dating, in business, and, as i'm finding out, buying a home.

buying a home really is like a game, you know. you see something you like, determine your strategy for determining what you think you should play versus what the seller thinks the house is worth, then you sign a bunch of papers and dance around some dollar amount that is loosely determined by the "market", i.e. people like me and canuck. sometimes it's a gamble, especially if a home is in competition and you're basically set in a bidding war. someone always winds up winning, either the seller who holds out for what he or she perceives to be a fair (profitable!) price, or the buyer, who held out and waited for that perfect home, the perfect deal. i know there's a need to bargain and haggle, which in and of itself i've never been comfortable with or good at, but i've got canuck on my side and he's a pro at these sort of things. now, i may not be good at bargaining, but i won't take crap from people and i know when to walk away. like i said, i hate games.

i fell in love with a house in a great neighborhood, walking-distance to parks and schools, nice community, close to our best-man's house, and, to boot, fully rennovated and in practically move-in condition. the house had a couple of glitches; it needs a new roof and central AC, but things like that do have negotiating power. now, this house had been on the market for over 2 months by the time we saw it, a telltale sign that it's a wee-bit overpriced. so we put in our offer, lowball at first, but certainly willing to negotiate up it by at least another $10-20K. the seller basically laughed at us and told our agent that she didn't know anything about buying or selling in this neighborhood and we should just get lost. when our real estated agent politely mentioned that there was a reason why the house hadn't sold (esp because a house down the block had sold for over $40K less than what this guy was asking and this house was not as perfect as the seller thought) he turned up his nose and said, "tell your clients that this is 'insert snooty community name here' and that they should get over it." well, then. okay, forget making a deal or negotiating. fuck you, fuck your house, and good luck trying to unload it. shove it where the sun doesn't shine.

later that night, i told me mother about our adventures in house-hunting, and how discouraged we were. she gave me some practial, motherly advice: bury a statue of saint joseph upside-down in the backyard, it will give you luck in house-related endeavors. apparently, my nana did that when she bought her co-op (in a flower pot, since new yorkers rarely have backyards), and my aunt did that when selling hers and when buying her condo. so on saturday, i went to honest ed's after work and found the last remaining statue of "s. jose", 12 inches of solid wood with coordinating halo and shepherd's crook. canuck was game for the idea, until he found the receipt for my little superstitious investment. "i can't believe you spent $25 on a statue that's going to be covered with dirt!" yeah, but if it saves us tens of thousands of dollars, why the hell not, what's another $25??? grumbling, he managed to find a spot and into the ground went "s. jose," covered in plastic to protect him from the elements in case my mother-in-law wants to mount it on her mantle later on. so, we'll wait and see how this works....

until next time...