Well, we found a house we wanted a few weeks ago.  We loved it not because of what it was, but because of what it could have been.  It just needed a lot of paint and carpet type stuff, but we saw the potential.  The owner was there when we went to see it and she loved my daughters.  She took my three year old by the hand and promised her the "purple room" would soon be hers.

Can you see what's coming here?  We wrote up the offer... the only thing that needed to be tended to was the sale of our own home.  The offer was above asking price, but there was the issue of our home.  They sold the house to a buyer with no home to sell.

This is where Realtor Christina and buyer Christina split and make a disconnect.  As a Realtor, I would have advised any seller client of mine to do the same thing.  As a buyer and a mom, I was crushed.  My little girl cried those bitter tears of a broken promise for the first time in her life, and there was nothing I could do about it.

So we did what many buyers would do.  We took down the "For Sale" sign in the yard and we settled back into our cozy home for the winter.  We decided to stay where we are, for now.  I understand why buyers and sellers with children are so tentative.  Showing a house with little kids is just one small step away from a nightmare.  Add my two dogs to the mix, and you've got trouble.  I decided it just wasn't worth it right now.

Plus, to quote one of my favorite childrens' books:

I love my house,

I love my nest.

In all the world,

My nest is best.

But once you've made that step to envisioning yourself in another house, you can't go back.  We'd been bitten by "the bug."