I met an older lady while showing a house. She was visiting her sister. She wanted to see the inside of the home my buyer just told me she wanted. I took her number and gave her my card. In the end my buyer offered on another better home.
I called her up and offered to show her the home. She wasn't sure if she wanted to buy a home but she was living with her daughter in the old family home. She had no ownership of it since she had divorsed her late ex-husband. She lived on social security and her daughter was controlling and she was not happy about being ordered around. I adviced her to call my loan officer to see if she qualified for a loan. She really didn't have a decision to make if she didn't qualify. She said she would think about it.
The next day my loan officer called me. She asked if I had a client named RC? I said yes. She told me she qualified for up to $85K. This was in 2010 so it was good news. She then told me a little story. She asked my client who her real estate agent was. RC said she forgot her name. The loan officer asked RC to describe the agent. RC said "she has brown hair and looks like a housewife". My loan officer said "it must be Debbie Holmes!" It was very funny but I must admit to going to the Clinque counter the next day.
I showed the house to the woman and her sister. I really didn't think this would be a good home for an older lady. It had too many issues but I talked to them and there was another part of town she wanted to live in. One near her other two children who lived together. The boy had worked with their father as a mechanic and found him dead at work from a heart attack. He gained lots of weight and was disabled. They bought a home together and the sister had partial custody of her three grandchildren. The son had difficulty going anywhere because of his weight.
The next weekend the nice daughter and I looked for houses. We found one she loved within a few blocks of their home. It was a short-sale. We offered and it was accepted! We were all so excited. Then three weeks later the other agent said they had a higher offer. He was going to submit that one to the bank too. We raised our offer to the loan limit. We lost by $500. Our position didn't matter. I was very angry and wondered about the ethics of the situation. Over the next month or two we looked at more houses. I think we looked at every one that she could qualify for.
She always seemed to have snippets about what the daughter who she lived with (all 3 children owned the home together). She bought a central air conditioner that she wasn't allowed to use. She bought a shed that the daughter was angry about. She was ordered about constantly. I was taking this with a grain of salt. I was thinking perhaps the mother and the other sister were exaggerating. Then one snowy day I dropped RC off at the house. I pulled into the driveway and we talked for a bit. The garage opened so RC got out and I tried to start my car (I was behind the garage). I couldn't turn the key. I went to tell the daughter I had a problem and I would call USAA to get the car towed. She started yelling at me. She was furious I pulled into the driveway and couldn't get my car going again. She told me she would ram me if I didn't get the car going. I told her I would try again but we might have to wait to get towed. I tried again a few times. It started. I think she might have rammed me with her truck if it hadn't. Did she want me to let her mom out on the icy street?
At that moment I vowed that I would find RC a home if it was the last thing I ever did. I was going to free this nice old lady from her daughters tyranny. Eventually we found a home that worked. It wasn't as nice as the first one but RC bought it and made it into a wonderful home. Her nice daughter looks after her and RC can walk to see her son. The difficult daughter still has not forgiven her mother for moving.
I felt that I saved a wonderful woman from living for the rest of her life in a horrible situation. I arranged for RC to have her taxes forgiven. I showed her nice daughter how to do this the next year. I feel like I made the world just a little better for one wonderful lady.
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