Buying and Selling

So.....
84 days and finally we have sold our house.  The couple who showed up on our doorstep have finalized the contract.  We have just received the inspection report and the fixes are fairly minor.  Unfortunately, now comes the difficult searching of homes for us.

If I haven't stated before, we have very tight criteria for buying a home.  We are moving my father in with us.  So we need a 4 bedroom with one bedroom on the first floor with a connecting bathroom.  We need an area that my father can call his own.
We wanted a neighborhood that had a pool.  We wanted a house that has flat property and few stairs to enter.  We hoped for a fenced yard for the dogs.  A house that has busing to my daughter's high school and better base schools for when my son enters middle school.

We went house hunting with our agent on a Sunday.  We had about 14 homes to view.  Some houses had a first floor master others a "guest" suite.  Some were in established neighborhoods, some near friends.

Lord.  You can never trust what you see or read online.  Some houses were dumps.  Some were in horrid locations.  Some the property itself was a nightmare.  Examples:  One house was located literally on an expressway.  Yeah, no.
One, the floors were like a fun house.  Another home had a driveway that appeared to be at a 90 degree angle.
My husband and I picked out our top 3.  2 were in the same neighborhood in Wake Forest, the other in an established neighborhood in Raleigh.  We left with our heads spinning!

I went back with our children and my father to check out our 3 favorites.  Our number 1 was still number 1 and my dad and kids agreed!!!
We let our agent put in the initial offer.

The response was not good.   "We are not dropping the house any more and will consider renting the house out if we don't get our asking."

Really?  I just dumped my house and you are going to be this way?

We counter offered again, receiving less than stellar response.
As I sat on the beach, visiting my college roommate, my husband and I decided to give one final offer and if they didn't take it, walk away.
I was angry and a bit depressed over the whole experience.  I was frustrated with the loan process and I just wanted something to go MY WAY!
We finally received the call that said our offer was accepted.  We were able to drop the price 2K and get 5K in closing.  
The house is move-in ready and really lovely.  They have done a lot with the yard, which is fenced in, and it's in a large growing neighborhood.
Dad has his space and we have ours.   I will be stuffed in a small bedroom for the time being but that's ok. My daughter doesn't have neighborhood bussing but I will deal. My son will be in a great school district when the time comes.  Things are definitely moving in a better direction than before.

Wow.  I'm moving!