damn it ...

So, remember that house that we were buying? We're not buying it anymore.

We found out that the house has asbestos in the attic insulation. The owners refuse to do anything about it, and also refuse to lower the price of the house. Thom and I decided to walk away from it -- the asbestos removal and reinsulation would be a $10,000 job, maybe $8,000 if we do the reinsulation ourselves. And leaving the asbestos there is just not an option, although the homeowners think it is.

So, we are back to square one, and have started looking at other houses. Wish us luck!

Edited to add:
Double damn it! We looked at another house that we liked this weekend, and were going back to see again it tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, someone else just made an offer on it, so now it's also off the list.

This is getting stressful. It was OK until last week, but now it feels like the fates are conspiring against us. I just need to keep rreminding myself that we are in a buyer's market, and that we WILL find something we like.

Thank you all for your comments. It's nice to open my email and have little notes of encouragement.