Roller Coaster

A large part of our being able to buy a bed and breakfast is dependent on the sale of our current apartment in New York. When we put our apartment on the market in late September it was not exactly an ideal time, given the economy. And so, it took what seemed to be an interminable schedule of open houses before we finally received a valid offer. As luck would have it, a second person came forward with a competing offer while we were in the midst of negotiating with the first party. We ultimately decided to honor the first-come-first-serve principle and had a contract drawn up with the original prospective buyer. However, no sooner had we received the signed contract, was another, significantly higher offer made. 

Now at this point, we were in a sort of legal-limbo. After much back and forth with our lawyers to try and determine whether or not we could go with this new offer, we decided that there was much (money) to gain by taking the higher offer and that, though risky, it was legal. Due to some surrounding legal issues, our lawyers planned to reject the original contract the next morning rather than immediately. And then we received a call from our real estate broker. Apparently this second buyer--who yesterday "LOVED" the apartment and was "seriously committed" to purchasing it--had woken up with a change of heart. WHAT?!? A quick scramble to contact our lawyers ensued as we had only until the end of the day to sign the original contract before it expired. Thankful that we still had this option, our hearts were racing. 

But wait, there's more. In the middle of signing the contract with the first buyer, the second buyer called back yet again with another change of heart. She was still interested, but now too late. You snooze you lose. I guess these are the things you learn when you're 25 with more money than you know what to do with (as this second buyer is).