The History of Honey Hill Farm, Part 2

Chrissy kept us informed about what was happening. We were still in the running--we had a good offer and others were dropping out. Then the selling agent "discovered" that there was a 2nd lien on the house. Still, not really OUR problem... We were so sure things were working out, we got married on October 3 and went on our "honeymoon", a driving trip to Minnesota and other points. Debbie met Steve's parents, and visited many of the scenes of his life. We were sure things would be moving when we got back on October 18. No. The sellers accepted our contract October 30, nearly TWO MONTHS after we made it. Surely things would go smoothly from here! Until... The selling bank's assessor came back with his property valuation. "They can't get a loan for $350K on that property," he said. "It's only worth $300K." Anxious to make the deal go through, the sellers DROPPED THE PRICE TO $300,000. Shaking our heads in confusion and disbelief, we rewrote our offer for $300,000, which was accepted November 13. We were going to close on December 30. Everything was fine now, right? The first lienholder offered the second $3,000 against an $88,000 mortgage. The second said, "No. We want $22,000, minimum." So the first sent the second an offer that went like this: "We'll give you $3,000 from the loan, and the BUYER will give you another $19,000." The second lienholder agreed. We said, "We'll do WHAT? We're tapped out with the down payment and closing costs!" And the seller's realtor replied, "Well, just ask your family for some money!" We responded, "NO. We made our offer; you accepted it. Make it work, or YOU will be in breach of contract." So they couldn't sell it to us for MORE than $300K; they couldn't sell it to us for LESS than $300K; and they couldn't sell it to us FOR $300K! On December 28, we extended the settlement date to January 22. The sellers delivered a promissory note for $14,000 for the second lien. The HUD figures were jiggered and tweaked. Everything was set. NOT. The lienholders sent notice that foreclosure would begin February 1. On January 20, we extended the settlement date to January 29. Our final walkthrough was scheduled for January 28. After a hectic day at work, being forced to work late on the ONE day he needed to leave on time, Steve rushed home to pick up Debbie. She met him at the door and said, "Slow down. We're not going anywhere." The lockbox on the house was missing. There was no key. We couldn't do walkthrough. Chrissy called the selling agent, who said he had hidden the key under a brick by the front stairs. We rescheduled walkthrough for morning of the 29th. That was one of the coldest nights of the winter.