We had just made an offer on a house in Kaysville that we didn't get and Megan was pretty bummed.
We walked through with their real estate agent. The house had sustained flood damage and had been abandoned for nearly a year. Some rooms were severely damaged while others were in decent condition. Megan and I thought it could be a good opportunity. We made an offer, but no response. We made an offer a couple months later but to no avail. They were looking for a commercial buyer (at a higher price).
Eventually, I heard the house went into contract. I found out from an angry neighbor that a daycare was interested in buying to create an 80-child day care. In order to make this deal go through, The Family Connection Center was seeking an expansion of their commercial (non-comforming) status to accommodate the additional kids. The same upset neighbor organized the community to fight the expansion. I was enrolled to testify to the city that there was interest in the house as a family residence.
Megan and I attend the city council meeting and kind of got in a back in forth banter with the Family Connection Center's real estate agent about the pricing of the house. He kept claiming our offer was too low, but I countered that it was too low as a commerical bid, but just right for a residential property. Eventually, the council took a vote, and in a stunning turn of events, not only rejected the non-profit's request to expand their commercial status, but revoked their non-conforming status completely. It returned to a regular residential property.
After that, I thought we had the property in the bag. I attempted to make another offer, but they didn't seem interested in dealing with us. We found out who some of the board members were and contacted them, but no one seemed interested in selling it. Megan and I kind of gave up. One day, we were talking to our neighbors about the situation and he had a thought; he should just make a cash offer and see if they'll take it. He did and after a little back and forth, they accepted!
It was an incredible gesture on his part and it seemed serendipitous. Next came the hard part.
