buying a home...

So, everything else that you do in life, you say to someone, or some organization, "You have x. I like x. Actually, I would like to buy x." And, in response, you hear (or read), "I am glad you like x. I am indeed selling x. I will sell you x if you pay me y." You say, "Sure, I will pay you y in exchange for x." Then, you give y and you get x. End of transaction. Yeehaw, yippee-ky-ay, go have a beer (read "iced tea" if you are under 21 :) ) and call it a day.

Not buying a house, though. Now, you say, "You have x. I like x. Actually, I would like to buy x." You hear, "I am glad you like x. I am indeed selling x. I will sell you x if you pay me y." You say, "Sure, I will pay you y in exchange for x." Then, about a dozen things need to occur involving a dozen other people who all need to be in agreement about you giving y for x after communicating via a mountain of faxes, an obscene number of e-mails, and hours of phone calls. And then, if all of the previous goes okay, just maybe, you will sit down at a hardwood table and proceed with exchanging y for x. The whole process is mind-numbing at times.

So, today, Sara and I sat for 5 hours in "our" house waiting on and meeting with two different guys to evaluate just how poorly the HVAC system was installed in "our" house, and how much it is going to cost the sellers and/or us to get it fixed and in what time frame. Fortunately, it looks like a resolution is at hand...

In other news, Sara and I step out of "our" house, get in our car (actually, ours, purchased entirely in a matter of a couple of hours), turn the key, and...hmmm...that's funny. One hour later, the AAA guy comes (roadside assistance was so fun with last week's flat tire, that I couldn't wait to have it again), uses his hand to remove some corrosion and battery acid that accumulated around one of the leads to the battery, and jumps the car so we can get it back to Greenbelt. This car is now outside in the parking lot of our apartment complex, and won't start again...so, guess what I'm doing tomorrow. Meanwhile, my other car is already in the shop as the A/C decided to die for summer, and it sounds terrible...so, hopefully, we can get Sara's car back on the road quickly.

The good news of all this is that I got two ratified contracts for two different buyers in the last two days...just in time to pay for car repairs. Argh.

Sleep for me.

Peace,
Greg