Frustrated.....

Here's a mini-vent just because I am so sad and discouraged right now. Okay, maybe not mini!

Kent and I have talked for about six months that the design of our home is no longer ideal.

Several reasons:

* With a pre-teen girl and a nearly pre-teen boy, sharing the bathroom is an issue. I so wish we had a bathroom for them where the toilet and shower were separate from the vanity.
* When the kids were babies, bedrooms all together and super close were great! Now that they kids are older, they want more space and so do we. If anyone is listening to music, we all are. Kyle shares a wall with our bedroom- not a good thing. Karly requires less sleep so she stays up later and rises earlier than Kyle, who she shares a wall with-it's just getting complicated with the bedrooms.
* Our home has fabulous flow. All rooms come together, great for the whole house fan but a SERIOUS issue for private conversation. Just last week Kent and I were discussing Kate Gosslings new hairdo and both kids are suddenly at the top of the stairs, "Kate who?" "John and Kate plus eight, Kate?" You get the idea-this is one of many instances. So Kent and I in our family room cannot have a private conversation unless we whisper or our new strategy is to turn on the hall bathroom fan once the kids go to bed-which is across from their bedrooms. Mind you this is also with a sound spa in our bedroom. Soon we'll be taking drives just so we can talk without teenagers listening.

So add the timing....

* Karly will go to Middle School next year and as of right now we are NOT thinking our neighborhood school is the best fit for her, mind you it is convienetly right down the street. She will likely be changing school & friends anyways.
* Kyle is cool with whatever. Not a social bug, so he's cool. Only one year left at current school anyways.
* FHA loans are fabulous and available in our range.
* Federal home buyer credit and talk of a state credit should "the terminator" get his way.
* A great home, in an amazing community with top notch schools within our budget.
* There are almost NO HOMES for sale in our area that our not "short sales". Our home would likely sell for a price we could walk away with a down payment with. We would be the choice option for buyers not wanting to deal with 6-9 months of bank issues that happen with "short sales". Realtors want to work with people like us. They do not want the pain of "short sales".

So..........where does this leave us?

Financially - good interest rate, great home price and would only be about $80 more a month than we pay now in mortgage. Space would be fab and allow for privacy for everyone. Middle School would meet Karly's needs, HS is amazingly new and not too far for walking to and surprisingly both kids want to move. No one freaked out when we mentioned the idea. Commute change would not be too significant for Kent.

The bad. These "short sales" will make an appraisal near impossible at a price that gives us anything for our down. When all that they can compare homes with is "short sales" it kills our appraisal price. So even if a buyer wants to pay what we wish to get, they can't get a loan for that price. It's not the house selling that is the problem with time and the right buyer, it's that these stupid bank owned homes have killed the value by the books. Appraisers are going extra conservative after all the new mandates have fallen upon them and some blame too. The difference isn't a huge amount, but it is the difference of walking away with a little down payment and nothing.

My "it's not fair" stubborn side is just fuming mad. Now we sit, wait and watch. Unless we win the publisher's clearing house or lottery that is. Heck, actually, we'd just need a small piece of either of those! Grrr......