2 Years of Waiting

We have lived in our house for a little over two years. When we bought the place, we knew that a developer had bought the property next door and was going to be building a duplex/two condos/two townhouses/whatever you want to call it. We had our lot. He had his. He also had a small backwards L-shaped piece of property behind our house. He needed the length of the L for his width measurements to build the duplex, but he didn't need the small swath behind our house. We immediately asked to buy it. He said yes. We negotiated a deal.

Cut to two years later. Two years of weekly phone calls asking for the property contract. Delay after delay. Was he just placating us? Was he going to sell the property to someone else at a higher bid? Now the duplexes are about to be sold. Still no contract. Lisa is sad. Finally, we got a call last week saying he was ready to get the ball rolling. We reminded him of the deal but he had "no memory of that conversation". Instead, he quoted us a price that was twice the original amount and four times the estimate of what the city said the piece was worth.

Frustration.

We finally got him to agree on a new amount that was fine to both parties. Still not in writing. More pestering. But on Friday we got word that he submitted the surveyor's adjusted lot lines to the city (meaning the property would be coming to us). And he put a copy of the contract in our mailbox. To our surprise, we got a little extra bit of property than we originally thought (see diagram). Awesome! And today, at 1:30, we finally have a contract signed by both parties that puts the property in our possession.

I am so excited.