Househunting Heartbreak

So, Cory and I have been here for just about six months, and we set July as the month we start house-hunting. Home prices are insanely high here (a 50-year old, 900 square foot house without central air averages about $180,000), so we figure that it'll take us a good long time to find a place we can afford that isn't in the projects.

But that doesn't mean I haven't been looking a little. House prices have been dropping since about February. I get daily MLS listings in my email, and every time I see a house under $200-grand, I feel a little more encouraged. Not much more, since there's no way we can afford a $200,000 house (let alone $180,000)... but still a little more encouraged.

There was one house, down the street from one of my co-workers, that was selling for $150,000. It was only 920 square feet, but it had a nice, big backyard, and it wasn't a repo. Over the last four months or so, this crappy gray little cinderblock shanty had become, in my mind, my house. After all, it had been on the market for several months, and it was obvious that the owners weren't doing anything to make it more enticing to buyers. I was certain it would still be on the market in another month or two.

This weekend, I drove through the neighborhood on my way to work. And the "For Sale" sign was gone! Even worse, the new owners had installed ugly-ass white shutters on the windows.

Somebody bought my house.