When a house for sale has an offer to purchase made and the seller and buyer come to an agreement on all the terms, sign and initial where appropriate and delivery of the contract is completed, that property is said to be “Pending” or “Under Contract” or “In Escrow”, depending on where you are. That means that - if all the parties follow through with their obligations - the property will close and change hands.

Pretty straight forward, right?

I get asked on a regular basis - usually by a client who is the buyer - whether someone else can buy the house ‘ out from under them’. They want to make sure that all the stress they’re going through will pay off with a new house.

The answer is that, while the contract between the parties is binding on all, it ain’t sold until it’s closed and the deed recorded. For that reason, offers can continue to be presented to the seller up to the last minute. The very last. As in, until the register of deeds at the county courthouse has stamped the paperwork, reflecting the new owner’s information. Further, not only can offers be presented, they must be, by NC real estate licensing law.

But a presented offer cannot override a contract. So, if you’re worried about being bumped out of position on a house which you’re buying, relax. If you’re hoping to buy a house that someone else beat you to - sorry. Unless the original contract falls through for some reason, you’ll need to start looking at other houses.

The good news is, I can recommend a really good agent!

I hate to shop. I would rather take a beating than go to the mall. What some people see as sport or therapy I see as punishment.

Not that I’m not a dedicated consumer. Give me a well constructed retail website and a credit card and I’m happy to start listening for the pitter-patter of FedEx delivery feet on my porch.

But while I prefer stealth consumerism to the up close and personal kind, I am too through with catalogs. Daily, our mailbox is pregnant with Land’s End, Chadwick’s, Pottery Barn, Soma, Chico’s, Office Depot and various and sundry vendors wanting our scratch.

Many of these companies will indeed be patronized by us. But enough with the paper.

So, I just signed up for a free account with catalogchoice.org to have delivery of several publications to our home stopped. It was free and pretty easy.

I’ll let you know how well it works.

No real estate news here. Just trying to be your one stop option for all around wisdom….

I can clearly remember the moment when I thought my new, young husband had lost his mind and that I had married someone who must have bumped his head as a child. It was when, as we sat in a Chinese restaurant on the town square in Chelsea, Massachusetts that Cute Husband said, “We need to buy a house”.

I blew noodles and soy sauce all over him laughing.

I was only 23. He was only 21. Yes. I was a child and he was virtually a toddler. And we had a new born - the wonderful Lindsay - to boot.

Buying a house was something I associated with magic. Or at least with adults. Who were we to think about doing such a thing?

But the truth is, it ain’t magic. Or brain surgery. Or impossible.

And even in these weird real estate times when the sky seems to be falling, buying a house is pretty straight forward. What it takes is determining your price with a good lender, getting associated with a good Realtor (hmmmm… To whom could I link you on that score?…) and jumping in.

It’s all about the numbers. If you pay your bills on time, have a job and want to join the ranks of those who get to itemize deductions on tax returns, then start the process. I am happy to answer any questions you have, whether you live in my area or not. I believe in homeownership.

After I stopped laughing at Cute Husband for having the nerve to think we could buy a house, we started looking and - wonder of wonders - we bought a house. He, Lindsay and I moved our little selves in and never looked back. Since then it’s been two more children, a few more houses and and plenty of admitting that if all had been left to me, we’d still be living in a 3rd floor walk up with bad heat, paying too much in rent.

So, don’t be like me. Be smart. Be brave. You won’t regret it.