Hurry Up and Wait Redux

Well, here we are again, waiting to hear whether an offer we’ve submitted will be accepted.

First, The Prince is no longer available. It went into escrow last Saturday evening. Apparently an investor bought it, because it’s already been listed on Craigslist as a long-term rental, available November 1.

But, the girls and I viewed a newly-listed condo in the complex this past Sunday. It was no Prince, but neither was it a Pauper. It was an upstairs unit and had those lovely open-beam ceilings, and all the right things had been updated: kitchen, bathrooms, and painting. It had a screened-in lanai and tile floors throughout. I especially liked that there were still plenty of opportunities to add our own touches. The thing I had liked least about The Prince was that everything had already been done; it might have always seemed a bit like we were living in someone else’s home.

We submitted what we feel is a solid offer for the Lesser Prince on Tuesday morning (it took us a day and a half to get everything pulled together with Brett back on the mainland), and we are biting our nails as we wait to hear back. There’s a strong chance we may be in competition with someone else as there were more showings on Monday, and supposedly at least one of those was going to submit an offer as well.

Even though we weren’t getting The Prince, it was somewhat depressing to know that what could have been an affordable housing option for someone will now become a high-priced rental. I am hoping that if we end up losing out on the Lesser Prince it’s because another family outbids us, and not someone looking to turn it into yet another over-priced rental unit. Housing options for families even at the median income range here on Kaua’i are extremely limited, and I’m starting to understand why so many locals feel so frustrated, left out or forgotten these days when it comes to affordable housing.

Anyway, if we don’t hear anything by Thursday evening then we will assume our offer was not accepted. We’ll take a deep breath, and then continue to watch the real estate listings, and be ready to pounce if something appropriate and affordable comes available. We still have plenty of time to find our new home.

(By the way, our current house has now been listed for two weeks and there hasn’t been even one showing! Zip, nada, nothing.)