Chapter 11: Busy, Busy, Busy

Busy, Busy, Busy

Winter is notoriously bad for home sales and it didn't surprise me that months passed without a call from Sandy, the realtor. One day in late March, the phone rang. I could see from my caller-ID that it was the real estate office. "Judy, we have just gotten two good offers on your parents' house in Sheboygan," she said, excitement racing through the phone line.

Both were in the right price range...one was for $103,000 and the other, $105,000. She briefly explained the terms of each to me. Both would need to obtain financing and in addition, one of them needed to sell their current house first. I told her outright I would prefer the one who didn't have to sell their house first.

My parents' house had sat unoccupied for 16 months already and now that offers were coming in, I wanted to get it sold as quickly as possible. Sandy faxed me copies of both offers to purchase to peruse and sent the originals by snail mail. Before the contracts arrived in the mail, Sandy called once again and had yet a third offer which she said was even better. It was from a single, older woman who was in a position to pay cash, and her offer was the highest, $106,000.

I couldn't imagine why a single person would want such a large house, but it really wasn't of any concern to me. She wanted to buy the house and wanted to move in as soon as possible. Sandy and I couldn't help but laugh. Here we'd had no offers or interest in the property for many months and suddenly three offers were made within the space of a few days. I immediately accepted the third offer.

Dad's Birthday

April 3, 1999. Another birthday had rolled around for my father. Bill had to work that day but Jason and I made the trip down to care facility to celebrate with him. Even though he probably wasn't aware of what day it was, I knew and there was no way I would not be there for him on his birthday.

Once I told him it was his birthday, he got into the spirit of the occasion very quickly. Jason and I had brought party horns, birthday plates/napkins and a little cake complete with a candle to blow out. Daddy clearly enjoyed the attention and the gaiety of the visit.

Dad really didn't have need of anything, but we brought a little present for him to open along with some snacks he could enjoy later in the day. Because it was the Easter season, I brought him one of those big Cadbury cream-filled chocolate Easter eggs. He allowed me to get the paper off of it, and from there he took bite after bite, nonstop, until he had the entire egg in his mouth. We all laughed.

I sent Jason for a wet napkin and a glass of water. Dad tried to say something, but with a mouthful of candy, his words came out as a series of grunts. Trying to speak for him, I asked, "That's some good candy. Are you enjoying it?" He laughed a little then, allowing some of the liquid chocolate to dribble down on his chin. We couldn't help but laugh with him.

Inspections and Such

With Spring in the air, prospective home buyers were out in record numbers and the woman who wanted to buy my parents' house found a buyer for her home almost immediately. Sandy phoned to tell me the woman wanted to take possession of the property without delay. The closing date was set for April, 15, 1999, just weeks away.

Now that we had a firm offer and very little time until the closing, Sandy wasted no time in ordering the required inspections. I didn't expect anything negative to turn up because there had been no problems when my parents were living there.

Within days, however, Sandy called to inform me that the inspector found a problem with both the furnace and the water heater. They were both working but needed to be replaced for various reasons. Rather than try to have this contracted out prior to the closing, it was decided I could just allow a credit of $2,000 to the buyer. She could then have the units of choice installed after she moved in.

That hurdle taken care of, Sandy sent me the closing papers I needed to sign in behalf of my parents. She would take care of everything in Sheboygan, and I would not even need to go down in person for the closing. She had certainly more than earned her commission on this sale!
For my part, I just contacted the utilities to have the final meter readings scheduled.

Everything moved ahead rapidly and fairly smoothly until April 1st. Typically known as April Fool's Day, what I learned that day was by far no joke. Before the house could change hands, the court in Sheboygan would need to view the sale contract and approve everything. My stomach felt as if it had taken up residence in my throat. So long ago, the judge had told me the house needed to be sold and I had no idea further court approval would be needed. I quickly phoned the attorney I'd hired when Mom had her stroke and explained what was needed. She was reluctant to help but finally agreed to handle it for $500 up front. As time was of the essence, I readily agreed to her terms.

Sharing the Good News with Mom

On my next visit with my mother, I decided to let her know the house had been sold. I wasn't sure how she would take the news, but she still spoke of financial concerns and I felt she deserved to know.

I tried to appear happy and positive in updating her on this latest triumph. "Guess what, Mom? We finally got your house sold!" I was relieved to see her smile and agree that was a good thing. She was happy with the price as well, and thanked me for all I had done to get it sold.

Mom knew we had worked many months to make the house salable, and she knew, too that it had sat unoccupied for a very long time. She said she was happy someone would be living there, taking care of the property. I was glad she took the news so well, but for my part, I needed to cut the visit short. The reality of the sale hit me hard. Suddenly memories of our time there together surfaced, in quick succession, as if I were turning the pages of a book. It grieved me to realize that those times were now totally in the past.

Memories of watching a good movie in the TV room with Mom; chatting with Dad while he fried hamburgers on the grill; playing cards together with them in the basement rec room, and oh, so many other fond memories. I was glad the house had sold, but it was a bitter-sweet passage.