After my despair on Saturday, when I sat down and had a good cry...it turns out I just needed to hold on a little bit longer.
Funny, isn't it? How many times in life, where you're at the point of giving up, and the light of dawn turns out to be just around the corner? Guess it's all part of the lesson and the learning curve, to be at that point of breaking, before help arrives.
On Monday, the couple who really wanted our home, and had already made several offers, raised their offer by another $10,000.
This brought the total amount to a level that we'd already decided we'd be willing to seriously consider.
After some negotiation with the real estate agent, who managed to raise the price another $2500, we accepted.
To be honest, if someone had told me in the beginning that we'd get this price, I probably would have been a little bit disappointed. But after seeing the market first-hand, I'm happy with the price we got. I don't think we could have done better, and with the economy set to slow even further, I think the time is right to get out.
After paying the real estate fees, paying off every single one of our debts, and upgrading our car, we'll be left with around $80,000 to start again somewhere else. How can I complain about that?
All this time, I was thinking about us. Our debts, our plans, our budget. The buyers were just a nameless, faceless entity...
Until I found out that they've recently moved to Australia. Their two children are still back home in Beijing, and they flew out today to bring their children back with them.
Suddenly it wasn't all about me, anymore. What was the point of trying to squeeze every last cent out of the process? They were people, too. I wanted to do the right thing by them. What if we kept forcing them to make higher offers, knowing they were in a tight situation and getting desperate, and in a few years they too found themselves in the same situation as us? A mortgage that they simply couldn't afford, and drowning in debt? I couldn't feel good about that...
So, it didn't come to an end with tears, or celebrations, or high excitement, in the way I'd pictured. It was simply relief. I sat quietly and said a little prayer of thanks, and hoped that I'd also done right by the people on the other end of the deal. That they'd be happy here in this home.
Finally, after nine months, I can now turn my focus to bringing a new life into the world. And not a moment too soon, either. I can feel it's very close now. Maybe just a few more days.
And then a whole new roller-coaster will begin... :-)
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