...Still...Waiting...

OK, so here's the skinny on our house situation.

1. We sent the offer in yesterday morning.
2. They sent a counter-offer in the afternoon.
3. We agreed to it with minor changes in their favor, and just needed their signatures to have a final deal.
4. We never heard back last night, and knew another offer was being submitted yesterday afternoon.
5. We didn't hear back today from the other Realtor until about 4:30, when they told us that there were two offers on the table. Both offers are about the same, but although ours came in first, our mortgage approval was contingent on the successful settlement of our house in SC (our closing is next Friday, August 14th). The other offer had no contingency. The other Realtor was going to meet with her clients at 6:00 tonight so they could make a decision.
6. Ben and I decided to "sweeten the pot" for our deal since the sellers would have a tiny bit more risk (our appraisal, inspections, and repairs are all done so it's unlikely we'll have any surprises delaying our sale) and give them more incentive to accept it. Also, the sellers need to sell quickly and our mortgage broker told us we could close as early as Friday, August 21st if we wanted to.
7. Our Realtor called the listing agent and told him/her that we were improving our offer. The listing agent asked us to submit a new offer rather than modify the old one again (just to make it cleaner) and that the meeting with the sellers would be put off until Saturday at noon at which time the sellers will make a decision.

So, we are still waiting. But at least we now have a deadline. If this all works out, it's great for us because our lease is up at the end of this month. If we closed on the 21st, we could be moved out by the 31st and not have to pay month-t0-month rent for September.

Either way, I feel peaceful about the whole thing. I feel sure that whatever happens will be in the best interest of all parties involved - the sellers, the other buyers, and ourselves. I just hope that what's best is our getting the house!

We'll let you know what happens tomorrow...