Can it be true?

We think we have bought the house we have been looking at. We won't believe it until the papers are signed, because it has been a frustrating time dealing with an owner who really does not want to sell. During our time negotiating (mostly just waiting him out), a phantom buyer has come and gone, and his price increased from $880,000 to $950,000, but we think we have him back down to $880,000 (MX of course). It will take around $500,000 to $800,000 to fix it up, and for this we will be working with an architect, Miguel C., who will also act as the general contractor, which is typical in México. Miguel has worked on houses for Bob and Maria, Barry, and Niels, and he has an abiding appreciation for and ability to preserve the essence of Querétaro's historic structures, while making them livable.

For some "before" photos visit the Flickr site. Don't do the slide show since it ignores all the text for each picture.

The day after I posted this, we were informed that the owner's sister and co-signer to any sale, had arrived in Querétaro, and is now insisting on $930,000. Too bad, and I know I should not have gotten my hopes up. But it's hard.