Day 37: The most anticipated lunch hour of 2011

Earlier today, my plan was to post this headline along with a Part 1 label just before I left to go look at a couple houses on my lunch hour. Last night, I scrolled through the photos of another Alger Heights home I was itching to look at. (The one with the beautiful door I posted about last week.)  I actually  screamed a quiet little yay as I looked at the photos over and over and over. This was going to be the one, I thought. I could feel it in my bones. I felt like a little kid waiting for Santa to come. It was 1:00 a.m. and I was too excited to sleep. Seriously.

This morning, I opened a text from my realtor. I screamed again. “Noooooooooo!” This time it was louder and more or less inappropriate since I was sitting in my cubicle. “The house is sold. They’re already doing inspections,” the text message read.

I threw my head back, my hands up and pouted – quite dramatically. If only I’d pounced on it the second I saw the alert.

I met my realtor to look at the other houses without much of a hope. The first one was big, old and beautiful. Exactly what I’d love. But it needs a lot of TLC and the heating bills would have been astronomical.

I looked at another charmer. I loved it. But the toilet was leaking through the dining room ceiling. A random slab of drywall was hung in an upstairs room. Who knows what else was lurking behind those walls. Not to mention, the renters (who were home!!!) smoked inside the house. Candles covered it up well, but once I got back to work, my hair had trapped the stench and I was stuck with a nauseating headache.

I found a dead bird hanging out of the attic fan in another home. Come on, people. You’re trying to sell a house.

And then, a few doors down, I found something amazing. Nearly perfect. I turned every corner hesitantly, expecting to find a deal breaker. But I only found more to love.

The only thing that has me wary is that it’s a flip. A horror story I heard this past fall left me scared silly.

While my most anticipated lunch hour of 2011 didn’t turn out the way I expected, it did have a hopeful ending. Stay tuned…

Wanna play Match that House?

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