Hi everybody! You all know that Les and I love changing house. And that I particularly am addicted to houses. We've had a long string of houses, generally moving (or at least thinking about it!) every 2 years. Well, here we go again. En route to Sicily, we accepted an offer on our Campagnan house, and after the 7 day cool-off period, we went out looking seriously for what we hope will be our next French house. We hope you will enjoy our account of what happened yesterday afternoon.

12:45 pm: We went to the realty office to sign our "sell" papers for our present house in Campagnan.

1:15 pm: Then we went on to lunch at the little cafe where we always meet our realtor, Berangere (we call her "B").

2:10 pm: B showed up with an entire bag of keys (maybe 250?), which we dug through in order to find the 5 houses we wanted to see. Each key is labeled with the town name and the listing number, and we couldn't find the key for the house we'd looked at and liked 2 weeks ago. B called her boss (the man with whom we'd signed our papers a half hour earlier) to find out (you should have seen her face!) that it had been pulled that morning because the owner decided to rent it. B was as disappointed as we were. She went back to the office to get the key, in the event the contract wasn't signed yet. She was quite angry, and we agreed, because there is a clause in the seller's contract that says the agency needs 2 months notice to cancel a listing.

In the meantime, B's live-in boyfriend (with whom she's having a baby in Jan.) and fellow realtor (same company) kept calling, frustrated with his clients, who had led him on a wild goose-chase and were insisting that they, too, wanted to see the house that had been withdrawn because it was now supposedly rented.

3:00 pm: We went on to view 2 houses that we didn't like at all in another small town.

3:30 pm: Then we drove to Laurens, and arrived at the door of "the rented house". When B opened the door, we were all aghast to see a sofa and 4 chairs! Obviously, the owner had allowed the renter to move stuff in. B decided we shouldn't go into the house (we agreed) and we all mentally wrote it off. Of course we were all grumbling that it seemed sort of underhanded, because obviously the owner (or HIS realtor) had pulled the listing AFTER the furniture had been delivered, so there was something odd happening here.

3:45 pm: Then we went on to our "last chance" house, one which B described as "a French grandma's house", a "maison de vigneron" (wine-growers house). It had great potential, with an upper terrace overlooking a first floor courtyard with a lovely tree in it. The view wasn't spectacular, but there was one. It needed lots of interior work that I could do, and a wall taken down and another one put up, and bathrooms refitted (that we'd have to hire out). None of that is too daunting for us, and we especially liked the former attic, which was quite high and spacious, which would have made a super master bedroom. There was even a bathroom up there, and another on the second floor, and a little "harvester's toilet" on the ground floor. We liked the street (on the way out of town), but weren't too sure about the chicken coop next door....And it was a bit big for us too.

During this showing, B's phone rang several times. Charles, her boyfriend, was by now really fed up with his clients, and had resorted to yelling out his frustration with them (he was in his OWN car, I guess).

4:00 Then Freddy, the owner of the realty company called to say that he'd talked to both the realtor and the owner, and the rental contract had not yet been signed, but would be by tomorrow morning. If we wanted it, we would have to make an offer within 24 hours and almost full price. Before B even had a chance to tell us this new development, Charles called, found out the house could be available, and decided to take his clients there as soon as we were done there.

4:15 pm: While B was on the phone, we'd talked ourselves into Grandma's house, chickens and all, figuring we could get it for a bargain since it's been on the market for 8 months (and it would keep me busy for the next maybe 5 years!). Then B informed us that there was still a chance for the rented house. The VIEW called us, and off we sped to look at the "rented house" again.

4:30 pm: We walked in, past the furniture that had already been delivered, and up to the second floor (mattress, toothbrush, towel, etc), and on up to the third floor and out onto the terrace. Wow! The view hit us like a ton of bricks! That is one spectacular view, and NO CHICKENS!

4:40 pm: Charles called back to say that his people were insistent on seeing this house, and they were on the way to viewing it. B said "you can't do that to me! They really like it, I'll call you back! DO NOT come here!"

4:45 pm-5:00 pm: After about 5 min. on the terrace, we said, okay, we'll buy it. With that we went back to B's house, and sat on her terrace and she called in our offer, slightly less than full price. (That's how it's done here....all verbal and no money down until after the "experts" (home inspectors) come and THEN you sign the contract.) Once the 10% deposit comes in, you're pretty much just waiting until the closing. No attorneys, no contingencies, except mortgages (both the selling and buying here are all cash deals).

5:02 pm: We got a counter offer (we split the difference) and accepted it. Voila! une nouvelle maison pour nous.

Both houses, we were assured, will close Oct. 29. Whew! Now we get to experience another new adventure....moving houses in Languedoc. So once our lovely Swedish couple send in their 10%, we're ready to start this new adventure.

It was quite an afternoon! We've discussed the idea "could this have all been staged?" I suppose it's possible, but it seems incredible lengths to go to get people to make an offer quickly. I understood most of the French telephone conversations between B and her boyfriend and her boss, and she was for real, we're sure. It's just one of those whacky real estate things, I think. This whole thing has been that way. Our Swedish buyers were done looking, and had decided they wanted to just enjoy their vacation. But because they were staying within 8 miles of our house, which our realtor had just listed, she asked them if they wanted to take a look, and they fell in love with it and offered several hours later. First people who looked at it, first day it appeared on line. Once in a while, this happens. (This is actually the third time it's happened for us--we tend to price them right and obviously have good realtors!, I think.) Anyway somehow it all seems meant to be.

To see pictures of the house we hope to be in next summer and the one we ALMOST bought, check out our album labeled "Real Estate Adventure in Laurens". Stay tuned!