Remember how we had won the house in a tie with another couple, and whichever couple sold their house first and went to contract would be the winner?

The roller coaster has begun.

Yesterday morning Angus got a call from the estate agent to say that the house we had bid on and won in a tie with another couple was gone. A third party had swooped in, offering the same price we did and immediate cash, and thus the home owner took their offer.

I was severely depressed. Angus tried to be cool. "The location wasn't great." he assured me. "The garden would take a lot of maintenance. We didn't like the rendering."

"Are you trying to talk yourself out of it?" I asked.

"Of course." he replied. "I'm depressed about losing it, too."

At the same time, Angus' estate agent for his home in Brighton rang to say that someone loved the house on Saturday and, although there are a few reservations, the very interested party is coming back for a second viewing this Sunday. And this man would be paying cash-there's no chain contingent on his buying the house in Brighton should he choose to do so.

Slam door. Open window.

Then another estate agent rang to say that he'd seen Angus' property in Brighton, and he knew someone that would fall for it hook, line and sinker. The person is being shown the property today, however it's a chain buyer, meaning that if she loves it, she has to sell her house first.

More fresh air needed. Two windows open, albeit one is only cracked open a bit, tantalizing us with the scent of wisteria.

Then the estate agent for the house we want so much rang back. The third party buyer, it was revealed, had lied. They didn't have cash but were also part of a chain and needed to sell their house.

Our dream house was back to being a race between us and that other couple.

Then the agent dropped us down the roller coaster hill-the other couple had had an offer on their house that day.

If we get an offer on Brighton within the next week, we are still in the game. Otherwise, it's back to looking at homes online, although I don't think I can keep looking until we've sold Brighton.

This roller coaster is frightening.

And exhausting.

-H.

PS-if anyone is good at stats, please email me. I have some statistics that I can't figure out how to read!

UPDATE: OK, I'm trying to compare IVF clinics. To the very sweet folks that emailed me and offered help, my web server is bouncing my mails back so I've uploaded the stats below. The stats of the two contenders are attached in the extended entry. I am only looking at the under 35 column, and only care about the following columns:

cycles started
embryo transfers
egg collections
singleton live births
twin live births

But I can't understand all the stats! The numbers all seem to be different as the pool of women used in the clinic are different. I know one has a 77% success rate, but is that only because they have more women at it?

If you can help, I'd be grateful. The bottom line is, I'm trying to find out which clinic has the best success rate for a woman under 35. The stress is whipping me. The files are in the extended entry, if you could please right-click and save as.

Download file

Download file

Posted by: Everydaystranger at 07:08 AM | Comments (16) | Add Comment
Post contains 599 words, total size 3 kb.

1 I'm just starting the roller coaster like you. But I am selling my house and leaving the country. I need a kiddie ride roller coaster for the UK end. For apartments in the states I am relying on Colleagues and http://www.housingmaps.com Both on our adventures, eh?

Posted by: sasoozie at June 07, 2005 09:04 AM (H8Lg2)

2 I hadn't thought of that before. Our house purchase last year (our first) is likely to be nothing at all like what our next one will be like. going from an apartment to a house the only thing we had to worry about was finding a house with a mortgage within our budget. And I love stats. Did you realize that if 50% of all cats have white whiskers and you have a bag of 3 cats the chance that you'll have one cat with white whiskers is 3 in 8? Crazy shit.

Posted by: Jim at June 07, 2005 10:13 AM (oqu5j)

3 I wish you well, dear heart. It is my most fondest and dearest wish to own my own home. Some day soon, I hope. xoxo

Posted by: Margi at June 07, 2005 10:28 AM (nwEQH)

4 Whoa. That is a whole lot of up and down in a short period. If you need help with stats, I am happy to provide assistance. Just holler, you know where to find me.

Posted by: RP at June 07, 2005 01:01 PM (LlPKh)

5 Sorry, I can't email from here. I was a statistician for 6 years, Id be happy to try and help. Since we seem to be posting fun with stats, my favorite one is that if you have any 33 people in a room, two of them will have the same birthday.

Posted by: That Girl at June 07, 2005 01:17 PM (gu1Ur)

6 Helen, just reading that puts my stomach in knots. And you know? It always seems to happen all at once, ever notice that? I hope your buyer comes through for you this week and you get your house!

Posted by: karmajenn at June 07, 2005 02:04 PM (fx1A8)

7 Wishing you lots of luck on the roller coaster. I've been trying to think of some clever thing to say wishng you luck and involving roller coasters, but I'm tapped out today. Sorry. It should say something about my level of brain function today that the biggest thing I picked up on in these comments was that Jim said "and you have a bag of 3 cats." Who the hell puts cats in a bag? Somedays, I really wish I liked coffee.

Posted by: amy t. at June 07, 2005 03:53 PM (zPssd)

8 Helen, i know how hard this is. The Boy Wonder and I are in the ends stages of buying a flat, it has been heart wrenching at every stage. Good Luck! Abs x

Posted by: fairyabs at June 07, 2005 04:02 PM (+gJH8)

9 Who the hell puts cats in a bag? Who doesn't? ;-)

Posted by: Jim at June 07, 2005 04:05 PM (tyQ8y)

10 Well I think Helen would very much like to put one of our cats in a bag right now! I am still at the office but have just spoken to a rather hysterical Helen who has just had to remove two baby mice (one dead, one not) deposited by a rather chuffed cat under the PC in the kitchen.

Posted by: Angus at June 07, 2005 06:43 PM (/SIeu)

11 Good luck with the house. The IBF is more of a roller coaster ride! The percentage of 77% is for singleton births of the total live births. The actual percentage of births to procedures is the 48%. The higher the number of procedures means that the percentage is more accurate. That means that the first one is almost double the second one but the second one does many more procedures. Let me know when you start so that I can say a prayer for you!

Posted by: Dave T. at June 07, 2005 06:50 PM (hkvGr)

12 Argh, I need a translation. Anyone know what "chuffed" means?

Posted by: Lindsay at June 07, 2005 10:11 PM (1QL9N)

13 Chuffed means happy, pleased with oneself.

Posted by: RP at June 07, 2005 10:23 PM (LlPKh)

14 Ok Helen.. this Is how I read it... Document one: It looks like about a 50/50 shot of a successful implantation of an egg... and THEN about a 77% chance of either a single or twin birth ((I suspect they are fudging things to make it look like once you have an egg you get a baby)) So.. your looking at a total success rate of about one in three.. using live eggs... With Frozen eggs... It looks like about one in six... Document Two: Looks like abut a one in three chance of successful implatation of an egg and the same number fudging with the results... One thing I would ask about.. is % of miscarrages.. All these numbers show are live births... ::hug:: All the best.. I hope you get your little bundle of terror

Posted by: LarryConley at June 08, 2005 05:03 PM (Bav7s)

15 This does bring rememberance of Egg and Bacon :-) I always smile when you mention your named eggs, Helen. It shows how observant people such as yourself think and feel with brand-new experiences.

Posted by: Roger at June 08, 2005 10:10 PM (8S2fE)

16 I wish I could help on the stats thing, but numbers? Aren't my bag, baby. On the other hand, I have moved, bought and sold about 734 times in my short life. If I can offer moral support in any way, up to and including lighting a candle in my window for you, just scream. You know how to scream, don't you? Just pucker your lips and...oh, wait. Wrong movie. :-)

Posted by: Jennifer at June 09, 2005 01:02 AM (MbhV6)

Hide Comments | Add Comment