October 17th Update

Another gorgeous Indian Summer day here in Maryland. Temp around 70 degrees, lots of sunshine, a light breeze and the trees are really starting to turn colors since the heavy frost we had last Friday night. It is a beautiful time of year here!
The BIG NEWS is that I got an offer on the farm on Monday, October 16th. The gal had been here to look on Wednesday; she came back on Sunday with her fiance. I swear, they look like such babies -- but she did tell me she was 5 years out of college so that makes her late 20's anyway.
They LOVE Smallville! Nothing but positive comments about the setting, the house and grounds. I asked if they were going to have animals here. She said, "Maybe we will start with some chickens." Other than that, they have a cat but I would imagine they are thinking LIVESTOCK -- why else would they want a place of this magnitude?
Anyway, they submitted a written offer yesterday. Margaret sent it to me as a pdf via email, but called me to go over the important points to save me from schmucking through all the language.
Bottom line: their offer is too low. Not insultingly low, but they have so many CONTINGENCIES it covers their butts every which way from Sunday but doesn't give me much. After talking at length with Margaret, we decided on the points for my counter-offer. She sent it off to the other realtor immediately after lunch.
More about these prospective buyers -- They have relocated to Maryland from New York City; he took a software developer job somewhere in Howard County; she is a civil engineer. They just rented a place over in Ellicott City, but are hoping to buy something very soon. He has a 1-bedroom co-op in NYC, just one block from a subway station. It has only been on the market a few days and already they have had 4 showings. My realtor is thinking it ought to move fairly quickly but I don't want to be hanging out hoping it will happen. We addressed the contingency upon the sale of his co-op; allowed them to leave it in, but underscored the 72-hour kick-out clause in the event I get another offer in the meantime.
So this afternoon, Margaret called again. The couple has decided to wait to address my counter-offer until such time as their co-op DOES sell. They also said that they would have no problem putting off closing until April 1st. That was another point I had trouble with in their offer. They wanted until January 15 to sell their other place and then were only willing to give me 45 days to move out. NOT GONNA HAPPEN -- especially in the middle of winter! So that's where the April 1 date came in. But as of right now, it's an unsigned offer - no contract of sale. She did say that their realtor said they just love the house and aren't interested in looking at anything else. She said she likes working with their realtor, too, and that's a good thing. Makes for a win-win situation.
I am taking a deep breath on all this for now. Probably good because I got some very bad news last evening about my Fairy Godmother, Gloria. All I know is that she was transported from her home to University of Maryland Medical Center around 6:00 p.m. Tuesday evening with a stroke. Not good. Gloria is 87 years old, has congestive heart failure and has been in decline for the last year. I am upset about this latest development, but I know she has been ready to go for at least the last year. She is in constant pain with her arthritic shoulder (can't have replacement surgery because with her heart condition, the anesthesia is too risky) and she just isn't up to going out and about anymore. She is so lonely, too. Before she got this bad, she was still going here and there with friends a lot of the time. It's sad to see her depressed and sitting home alone so much.
Please keep Gloria in your thoughts and prayers. I am hoping that God will just "call her home" at this point to bring a peaceful end to her suffering.