阅读下面短文，在空白处填入一个适当的词，或填入括号中所给单词的正确形式。
My fiancé and I were excited about shopping for our first home. But our funds were1and none of the houses in our price range seemed satisfactory.
One agent2a house in particular. Although her description sounded wonderful, the price was3our range, so we declined. But she kept urging us to have a look4.
We finally did and it was5at first sight. It was Our Home, small and charming, overlooking a quiet lake. Walking through the rooms and talking with the owners, a nice elderly couple, we felt the warmth and6of the marriage within that home. As perfect as it was, the price remained too high for us. But every day, we would sit by the lake, looking at the house and dreaming of7it would be like to live there.
Days later, we made a(n)8—far below the asking price. Surprisingly, they didn't9us. They renewed their offer10. It was also much more than we could afford, but far11than the original asking price.
The next day, we got a12message that another buyer had offered a much higher price. Even so, we decided to talk with the13directly. We made our final offer, which14was thousands of dollars less than the other buyer's bid. We knew it,15we had to try.
“Sold!” said the owner. Then he16: He'd seen us sitting by the lake all those times; he knew how much we loved the place and that we'd17the years of work they had put into their home; he realized he would take a18by selling it to us, but it was worthwhile; we were the people they wanted to live there. He told us to consider the19in the price “an early wedding present。“
That's how we found our home and how I learned that when people are20they are not strangers, only friends we haven't yet met.
