Real Estate Drama

In which we spend a stressful day trying to sort out our house closing/condo purchasing snafu:

Yesterday:

1. The condo has not been started - not even ground breaking.  They are waiting for a permit from Garfield Township.  We had expected construction to begin as soon as the ground was not frozen.  Didn't happen.

2.  The buyer will let us stay in our house after  the June First closing for $1500/month through December.

3. We consider not closing, backing out on the deal,  and just staying here and wait for the condo.  Another option would be looking for another condo.  We know from experience that there are limited appealing condos available.

4. Laurie calls with great news about substituting, and asks about the condo.  She suggests that if we want to back out of our purchase agreement with the buyer, we should consult a lawyer.  This is  based on the fact that the buyer is a billionaire and really has nothing to lose.

Today:

5.  Dick calls Susan before 8 a.m. to make contact with John concerning Laurie's suggestion that we contact an attorney.

6. John emails us with the name of a local lawyer.

7. Dick calls lawyer, and explains everything.  The lawyer is acquainted with the buyer, and doesn't want to lock horns with him because of the buyer's unlimited resources.  Dick will consult with the lawyer tomorrow.

8. Dick calls Lynne to pick her brain about scenarios for finishing the condo.  She expects to get the permit next week, and said she would call us on Wednesday with the news.  If the permit materializes, she expects the condo to be finished by September 1, or the 15th at the latest.  Both of these predictions seem more optimistic than realistic to me, but let's just say I hope she's right about both of those.

9. We have several discussions about how to proceed.  I think our decision is to stay with our original plan - pay rent to the buyer for the summer, and bet everything on the timely completion of our new digs.

10.  I'll call Kelly after we find out about the permit to give her a clue about our possible move in September.  I'm really counting on her to be a big help with everything.

11. Whew!