Sometimes a short sale is worth every minute you spend on it. There are times where passion runs deep. No matter how often you may tell yourself not to get emotionally involved there comes a story that pulls on your heart strings. 

We had a client who had called us because she found our Active Rain blog online and asked us to do her short sale. It was one of the smoother ones we have done. After her short sale was finished she referred us to this elderly gentleman. We will call him Phillip. 

I spoke with Phillip as I always do with short sale sellers on the phone. Sensing the urgency in his voice and his doubtfulness that anything would ever turn bright in his life I felt compelled that Nestor and I would need to drive down to his house to visit with him, holding his hand along this process of completing his short sale.

You see, most of our short sale listings are done through email, fax and phone. Rarely do we meet the sellers until the closing if they are around town, which most of them are not. Most people doing short sales here in our area have already moved on by the time they call us to help them. They are usually absentee owners.

But Phillip was a different matter altogether. It was one of those in the gut feelings that you get and you know you must follow. Most of our short sale sellers are not in the most dire of situations. In our area most short sales are the result of using homes as ATM machines, trying to flip the properties and got stuck or moved out of Florida, bought a home and now letting this one go. One time I even raised money for a couple that  I really felt sorry for only to find out that they had assets they could sell to raise the money to keep their home.

Phillip is different. When we walked into his little house we  immediately witnessed the care and pride that this single man had decorated his home with. The first thing he told me was that when we sell the house we can take whatever furnishings and accessories we would like to have or give away. He was so eager to explain to me that he had decorated and furnished his entire house for $1,200 from items at Good Will and with things that his neighbors threw to the curbside to be sent to the dump. He did find some treasures of art and baskets. I was stunned that this entire home was decorated in this manner.

The first thing I asked him as he proudly showed us his home was, "Where are you going to go? Where are you going to live?" It was very comforting to hear him say that both of his X wives have invited him to their homes where he will be taken care of. You see, he has Parkinson's Disease. Today there is attention to this disease especially with the work that Michael J Fox has done for awareness as he struggles with Parkinson's.

We enjoyed sharing his trip down memory lane.He proudly showed us his photo albums of the days when he did not have the disease. It was a bitter sweet moment of emotion for both Nestor and myself. Here was a man who had lived a great life full of adventure and excitement, good will and bravery and here he was stripped of all of who he had been. On the one hand we shed a tear for how sad we were to see him lose everything including his own control over his body and another tear of joy for the magnificant life he has lived. Not many people live their dream life like he did. He was strong, handsome and full of life. He saved people drowning in the oceans because he was an amazingly strong swimmer, he sailed all the way to the Fiji islands! He was a boat captain.

I felt his pain as he then told us how he had been stripped of his Captain's license- all those years of service and glory, fun and thrill- just a memory as the license gets yanked away as he is told that this is because of your Parkinson's disease. It is no longer safe for him to be on a boat.

In fact, one of the symptoms of Parkenson's is dimentia; we see the signs setting in. He will need assistance for the remainder of his life. It is no longer safe for him to continue to live alone in his home. I thank God that his loan is NOT with Countrywide as we negotiate his short sale.

We already received several offers on his property and the course is moving along smoothly.

Phillip has touched our lives in many ways in the short time we have known him. One of the most significant impressions is how we take our health for granted. We gained a new understanding of how blessed we are with our bodies that function so well. We were blessed to realize how we really need to live in gratitude for all that God has given to us and that we are each free to choose our own path in life and how we respond to the trials that come our way.

He shared with me one of his favorite musical groups, Il Divo. Oh my! My heart was touched with these amazing voices and talent. I had not ever listened to this group before. He played their CDs for us while we were there. It was tough for me to concentrate on explaining about the short sale process and paperwork as the music captivated my emotions. I looked at this man suffering from this disease amazed at his attitude and his love for life. It was a lesson, a life lesson that we can all learn from. I posted Il Divo, Enamorado, one of my favorite songs below. If you love Italian- You will be in Heaven! Turn your speakers on and volume up!

Scroll down, be sure you don't miss taking a moment out of your day to enjoy Il Divo.

I wrote the cover letter to his lender today and because the person who reads the cover letter may not have a clue of what Parkinson's disease is and how it affects your ability to get around I included the symptoms as listed at the Mayo Clinic. I am including those here so that you can understand more about this disease. I am including the words I wrote to the lender with a prayer to soften their hearts.

"Mr ------ is no longer able to pay his mortgage payments or keep his home. He is an older gentleman who has aged beyond his years due to being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. This disease actually came on quite suddenly. He is shaking so much that the most he could write on his hardship letter was one paragraph; therefore we are writing in his behalf.

He was laid off of his job because of his Parkinson's disease. xxxx was a strong and able man all his adult life. He was a boat captain. He also saved many people's lives out in the ocean and prevented many drownings. He is well known for his bravery and integrity. Now all that was stripped away from this man. He was stripped of his captain's license because he poses a danger now on the seas with his disease. He was stripped of his dignity while the disease strips away his control of his muscles. He was stripped of his manhood as he is not able to physically work or do things that normal men can do even at his age.

The first thing we do when we list a short sale is to make sure our clients do not go homeless when they sell their homes. He will need to move out of Florida and move in to a room in his x-wife's house. At least we will not find him under a bridge somewhere. He is going to need constant assistance with his living and basic human needs.

The following are just some of the symptoms of this horrible disease in case you do not have any experience with it: ( Taken from the Mayo Clinic Website)

• Tremor. The characteristic shaking associated with Parkinson's disease often begins in a hand. A back-and-forth rubbing of your thumb and forefinger, known as pill-rolling, is common. However, many people with Parkinson's disease do not experience substantial tremor.

• Slowed motion (bradykinesia). Over time, Parkinson's disease may reduce your ability to initiate voluntary movement. This may make even the simplest tasks difficult and time-consuming. When you walk, your steps may become short and shuffling. Or your feet may freeze to the floor, making it hard to take the first step.

•  Rigid muscles. Muscle stiffness often occurs in your limbs and neck. Sometimes the stiffness can be so severe that it limits the range of your movements and causes pain.

•  Impaired posture and balance. Your posture may become stooped as a result of Parkinson's disease. Imbalance also is common, although this is usually mild until the later stages of the disease.

•  Loss of automatic movements. Blinking, smiling and swinging your arms when you walk are all unconscious acts that are a normal part of being human. In Parkinson's disease, these acts tend to be diminished and even lost. Some people may develop a fixed staring expression and unblinking eyes. Others may no longer gesture or seem animated when they speak.

• Speech changes. Many people with Parkinson's disease have problems with speech. You may speak more softly, rapidly or in a monotone, sometimes slurring or repeating words, or hesitating before speaking.

•  Dementia. In the later stages of Parkinson's disease, some people develop problems with memory and mental clarity. Alzheimer's drugs appear to alleviate some of these symptoms to a mild degree."

I go on about the market and other important facts pertaining to this property. I pray that the lender's heart is softened and that do not give Phillip any grief through the short sale process.

Touching lives- making a difference when it really matters.

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Contact Nestor Gasset and Katerina Gasset, CIPS, Realtors®, International Properties and Investments, Inc. Licensed Realtors® in Florida at 561-753-0135 to list your property for sale or to purchase a property in Wellington, Boynton Beach, Manalapan, Manalapan Point, Lake Worth, Hypoluxo Island, Lantana, West Palm Beach and the rest of Palm Beach County Florida and Port St Lucie Florida. We are accepting referrals.

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The Bitter and The Sweet- Fruits of Short Sales was first published on South- Florida-Luxury-Living.com.