Making the Right Decision

I found the perfect house the other day. I want it so badly I can't stand it. I could probably stand it, but I'd rather not. I'm actually putting in an offer, but it's a short sale, so there are no guarantees and me not getting it is an extreme likelihood. But it's exciting to be pre-approved and moving forward. And it would be great to get it, though expensive. It's in the perfect location, 9th East and about 13th South, and is less than any house normally would be there; but still it's my upper limit and the first few years would be uncomfortable. It has the most magnificent front yard with foliage and porch, wide open living space, 2 rooms, large attic, unfinished basement I could see turning into a pottery studio, and a decently sized backyard with deck and much potential for a garden among other things. The whole thing screams potential. It's not perfect, and it would require a lot of cosmetic work over the years, but the guts are good. I think it very much could be me. And I very much want something to devote my time to lately. I need a project, because just right now I don't want a life. I'm not ready to be happy yet, just productive. I don't know why it feels so right, but even my sister who is extremely critical of homes has a good feeling about it. We'll see. I suspect it might not be the most important thing I ever do or deal with, but it is important.

There are of course other houses I'm looking at, and that I will hopefully go see tomorrow and Monday, so if I do find something else amazing I'm not going to pass it up for a pipe dream...but I'm not in a hurry here. I can spend some time on this. I'm okay with being homeless in the meantime, so I won't rush into something I will regret.

I've been looking into different real estate agents subsequently. I ended up going with someone who was a friend of my brother-in-law's father. I think he'll do, but I don't know how crazy I am about him. He's a nice guy and people like him, I think he'll do an okay job, but he does have a habit of rambling off the subject sometimes and of being more busy (with other clients) than I'd like ; it makes me wonder if I'll be able to look at things as quickly as I'd like. But honestly, I think most people would fall short on how quickly I'd like to look at things some of the time. My schedule is hard to ascertain in advance. I think I'm okay with making my own meetings and going to them just with my sisters if I have to. I had a million recommendations for realtors, but I wanted to act quickly on a few properties, and I didn't want to have any more initial meetings before looking at them. Also, I would feel badly making a bunch of people potentially think I'd be working with them, and then not. And of course there's the lazy factor. As cautious as I am, I'm also more timid than I'd like, and I don't want to be an adult that much. If I chose the wrong realtor all on my own, that would suck. As it is, all my family was there with me and felt fine about him, so whatever. I think he's an honest guy, and I guess that's pretty important. I could be wrong, but I've never had a realtor before, and thus have no idea of what to expect of one.