Offer

We put down an offer on a brand new home last Sunday. Obviously the builder would not come down on price. I was a bit nervous because the house is still under construction. If I negotiate the price too hard, they could deliver a crappy piece of finished work.

We got a 2nd counter offer today. The builder will buy us a new side by side refrigerator and a set of top line side-by-side washer and dryer and write us a rebate check. Basically he doesn't want to sacrifice his comparable sales per square foot so that when he sells to other customers, he could still make money.

Now the ball is in our field. We have to decide whether to buy the house or not. Biajee and I will meet for lunch to talk about it as the builder would like to know today. He is holding up the painting job and other work for my decision.

My boss told me he would never buy a house in Bentonville because his salary and bonus already ties to the performance of Walmart. He cannot have such a large investment as a house tie to the same company. It's like putting all the eggs in one basket.

Then I asked him whether he'd fire me. He said he'd guarantee that I wouldn't be fired in 2 years, but cannot guarantee as long as 10 years. Of course, the relocation contract says that I would have to give back all the money they paid for if I leave the company in 2 years so I should at least stay here for 2 years.

It's a very hard decision.