more macros

Right now Jordan and I are in the middle of the monumental process of trying to buy a house. This is not an extremely fun process (although it started out as one), because it has taken so long for two stubborn people to find "the one." Well, we thought we had found that house, but today have realized that we have become a victim of the mortgage crisis. Try negotiating a home with someone who bought more house than they could afford two years ago, and b/c of 100% financing, interest only loans, and most likely a home equity line thrown in for good measure; these people owe more on the house than they are even trying to sell it for. Hence, NO room for negotiation. This is what I calll financially ignorant, and now I cant get the house I want because you have to come to the closing with cash. So, needless to say, our reasonable offer was rejected for full price, and we, unfortuntaly, had to move on. Sad. I almost blew up on our realtor because I was so mad that banks allowed people to even get a loan like that.  Yet, realizing full well that she had not personally signed off on the loan, I calmed down.

So, round two starts tomorrow when we put an offer on the next one we liked. The "almost the one" house. I'll keep you posted.

HOWEVER, this is actually not what I wanted to blog about today. As you can see from the post above, I need some serenity in my life. So, enjoy these macros taken on Garnish Island, West Cork, during our visit to the secret garden. There are several times during the day when I close my eyes and pretend i'm back there.