Third time is a charm, right?

Our home search has been ridiculously exhausting.  It started out with my husband and I having a hard time finding common ground.  We have learned a lot about each other in the process. One thing we have learned is...we are incredibly unlucky.
 We submitted an offer on a long sale short sale back in June.  We waited 3 MONTHS on the bank to reply.  They finally responded with a counter offer that was $30K more than our offer.  Ummm, NO.  So, then, we moved on to another home.  It was a home I had fallen in love with a year ago.  They rented it out right after we initially looked at it.  But, the renter was moving out and the owner contacted me to let me know it was going on the market again.  It was the DAY we found out about the short sale.  It was meant to be, right?... WRONG.  The appraisal came in $15k less than the sales price and they wouldn't budge.  So, we walked. AGAIN.  Did I mention this was 5 days before closing day? I had a really hard time accepting this and tried everything I could to make it work out.  But, after pretty much begging the people to LET me buy their house, they decided to keep the house as a rental home.  So, we accepted and moved on.
The other thing we learned in the process is that we LOVED the small town feel.  There is something about driving down Main Street seeing a local pharmacy vs a Walgreens that gives me warm and fuzzies. Thirdly, we learned that old houses have a story and an immeasurable amount of character that can't be created in a new home.  For example, the home with the low appraisal...was built in 1920.  One of the local elderly women who grew up in the home shared with the homeowner how, as a child, she remembers family time & jitterbug dancing on the front porch.  Just walking through the home, you can feel the love that has been shared in the home for almost a century. 
So, let's recap...
1) We are unlucky
2) We love a small town
3) We prefer an older home
and 4) not mentioned above...I am more type A than I ever chose to believe.  And, when I know what I want, I go after it. 

So, I drove through our town of choice (just me and my good friend Google) and looked for homes I loved.  I stalked homes googled addresses in hopes to find one that may have been on the market and just not sold. We were seriously considering putting "we want to buy your home" notes on people's mailboxes.  Well, that wasn't necessary.  I found one!  An adorable 1930's home with curbside character like you wouldn't believe.  And, guess what?  According to www.zillow.com, it had been listed and taken off the market 3 months later.  So, a couple of phone calls, several drive-bys, a visit, and a ridiculous amount of paperwork later, we have a contract on this little beauty!  We should find out about the appraisal today.  This is where the concern lies.  We are very anxious to hear back.  Apparently homes in rural areas are difficult to appraise and appraisals in these areas are probably more subjective than most.  So, our fingers, toes, and eyes are crossed that our Jan 1 rent payment was our last!!