A Late Bid..

We promptly took our house off the market when the previous potential buyers real estate agent informed Patty (our realtor) that they were no longer interested in bidding on the house due to financial restrictions (they were preapproved for a lesser amount than what we were asking for).
Last week Patty called to inform us that the potential buyers had decided to try to get preapproved for a higher amount, one that would allow them to place a bid on the table for our house, and that their preapproval went through.  Patty asked us if we would entertain a late bid..  While it may sound like a cut and dry question, it really wasn't - and here's why:
The *only* house that we've been seriously interested in (besides the one that needed way too much work and had a "funny" owner) is the one that is in Seekonk -- that needs a septic system.  Purchasing a home that has failed the initial inspection is not an easy process.  Many people (like the person who had bid higher than us) end up backing out because of all of the hoops you have to jump through.  That house is still on the market.  Patty knows that the only way we could consider accepting a bid on this house is if the seller in Seekonk would accept a bid on his house -- at a significantly lower amount than what he was initially trying to sell the house for.
Prior to us taking our house off the market, Jim had gone through the process to get the loan required to purchase a house with a failed septic, but then everything came to a stand still when we were told that we no longer had a bidder for our house.  We didn't even bother to place a formal bid on that house.
So....we're kind of back to step 1.  We explained to Patty that we couldn't give her a direct answer until she did a little footwork because, more than anything (and especially now), we have no want to waste anyone's time.  So we asked her to ask the Seekonk realtor if his client would even consider our a bid (seeing as how it would be so low) - after a few days he finally got back to Patty and said yes, to go ahead and submit an offer.  Step 2 needs to happen before we submit an offer though, which is to make sure that the potential buyers for this house are serious and willing to submit a formal bid.  Step 3 would be to go back to the Seekonk house and go through it again - making certain *we're* serious enough to submit a formal bid.
Patty called me today to say that she is still waiting to hear from the potential buyers realtor and that we should hear something tonight.  IF they're serious about bidding, then we will make an appt to get in to see the house in Seekonk.  IF we're as happy with that house as we were when we first saw it, then we will entertain the bid on our house and place a bid on that house.
A whole lot of "If's", right??  Of course nothing will happen if the people interested in this house aren't serious enough to place a formal bid on it.  We'll go back to our original game plan of waiting until next year to revisit the idea of selling/buying.