Open door, passed by
January 3rd, 2009It was the Saturday before Christmas. We’d been at to my niece’s house, and as we turned onto our street we saw a realtor’s sign announcing an Open House. FORECLOSURE! it screamed in all caps. Oh, that is so sad, I thought to myself. Someone’s losing their beloved house, and right at Christmas, too. The sign was one of a series pointing the way into the attractive neighborhood across from our apartment complex. A neighborhood, incidentally, in which I’ve often fantasized about living.
As we drove toward the gated entry of our community, passing several more signs, I thought about the ramifications of that word, foreclosure, and how often friends have suggested that as a way for Bret and me to become homeowners. Between the two of us we have a very comfortable income, but we suck at saving so we’d have trouble putting together a down payment. With homes in foreclosure, the bank’s main concern is the buyers’ ability to make payments, so we might get approved. A home in Ocean Hills in foreclosure was like a dream come true, a door of opportunity being thrown wide open. A door which I could not bring myself to walk through.
Bret never even noticed the signs, and I didn’t call them to his attention. House lust or not, the idea of buying someone’s house out from under them seemed vulturish — especially in December. True, the owners might actually be grateful to be relieved of the financial burden, but what if they weren’t? What if they were devastated by the loss? I could never be happy profiting from someone else’s misfortune. I’d feel like … well, a vulture.
Even so, two weeks later I’m wondering, What if? What if we’d gone to that open house, and the house was just perfect, and the owners were thrilled to be getting out from under it, and the bank approved us, all at the perfect time since our lease is up January 31st? What if that was our perfect opportunity, and we passed it by? What if we never get another? Not that we’ll ever know, but … what if?
Do you ever wonder about the doors you didn’t walk through? Don’t you wonder, What if I had?



