Hello all, I wanted to share with you the most blessed day I have had in my present career as a Realtor! Please respond and post your experiences so that we may gather strength form our combined experiences and to share the joy in our emotional and personal successes in this amazing career. This story is 100% true, and, to this day I get very emotional as I recount it, here goes.

Two years ago (2006) I listed a house for sale from a gentleman whose wife of over 25 years had just passed away after a long and hard battle with cancer. He was an older gentleman and needed to move out of Phoenix to California to be closer to his daughters who would help care for him. I will call him Mr. J.

The home was in a bit of disrepair but in a great location with a large yard and swimming pool. We listed it for sale and it immediately started getting a lot of views. One visitor came to see the home with another agent. This gentleman came to see the home when my client, the home's seller, was asleep. They knocked on the door, woke him up, introduced themselves and started a conversation about the home. As they conversed the topic came to family, and, the prospective buyer asked Mr. J about his wife. Mr. J told him that his wife had just stepped out but would be back shortly. Mr. J. would later tell me that he didn't know why he said that. He felt bad about not explaining that his wife had recently succumbed to cancer but something inside told him not to share that.

Days after that meeting I received a very aggressive offer from this gentleman for Mr. J's home. I presented it to Mr. J, and, he asked for my advice as to what to do. I felt at the time that given the attention the home was receiving and based upon my comparables we should make a counteroffer to be able to net more for Mr. J. For some reason, and Mr. J himself could not tell me why, he felt he should just accept the offer as it was. He decided to accept the offer regardless of my advice. 

Mr. J was a very soft spoken man who was still struggling emotionally with the recent loss of his wife. Together they had shared a wonderful, happy life. When Mr. J spoke to me about her, his face would light up, and, the deep set wrinkles in his eyes and cheeks told me he laughed and smiled a lot throughout his life. Those happy wrinkles, as I call them, would always appear when he thought of the past. He was an excellent conversationalist and I would love to visit and talk with him. I learned from him that money was not important. For a large part of his life Mr. J had been reasonably comfortable and had dedicated himself to enjoying his family life.

Money was not the primary reason for selling this home but something inside of him was telling him that he needed to sell it to this particular gentleman. He had enough money to make the move to California without even selling this home but something was moving him forward in this sale process and he was determined that his buyer needed to buy that particular home at the discounted price.

We accepted the offer and escrow was opened. I spoke with the buyer's agent to prepare for the process of closing on this deal and it was then that I discovered the other side of the story. Bear with me as even typing this story I still get emotional.

Mr. C, the buyer, was in his 30's and married with two children. He actually lived around the corner from Mr. J in a home he had been renting for over 6 years. Mr. C worked in construction and was a husky, strong gentleman. He had a very soft voice and was very quiet whenever I spoke to him about the transaction. I got this side of the story from his agent.

Mr. C's wife was losing her battle with breast cancer. She was a very petite and pretty woman who looked much younger than her 30 years. It was her wish that before she passes away, her family would become homeowners. She placed so much importance on that one word: homeowner. She was very near the end when the contract was accepted by Mr. J. Many people had worked with her family, and, her agent to help make her dream a reality. Money had been donated; credit counseling had been obtained to be able to have her family achieve the dream of homeownership before she pass away. The offer was very low but it was only because that was the maximum amount for which they could qualify. They could not get a penny more and Mrs. C had seen the home come up for sale and somehow felt that that was the home for her family.

A few days after the contract was accepted, Mrs. C had to be taken to the emergency room as her family feared the worst. The Doctors told her and her family that she would not survive the night. She had asked to be removed from a hospice months earlier so that she may pass away at her home and now she enjoyed being close to the home she would leave for her husband and children. Mrs. C survived that night. She asked to be taken home. The next day she asked her husband to take her and their children to their future home. The change in her was immediate. It was as if she drew strength from that home. She instantly got better.

As many Realtors know, a sale of a home is no simple task. There are many people involved and mounds of paperwork to be processed. There is an appraiser, home inspector, termite inspector, lender, seller, buyer and agents that need to work together to make this transaction close successfully. Any professional that worked with us was made aware of the situation and they all worked diligently to close this transaction as soon as possible. Mr. J was also made aware of the situation and went far above and beyond to ensure the home was move in ready as soon as possible. We all where working together, to make Mrs. C's dream a reality.

I was averaging 34 days from contract to close in those days. We closed this one in under 22. Every day was crucial as Mrs. C was in very critical condition throughout the transaction. Many days we felt she was gone only to get a phone call from Mr. C that she had pulled through. The dream of homeownership was keeping her alive. She needed to sign the final closing documents in order for her family to qualify for this purchase. If she had passed away before final loan documents where ready to be signed at the title company, her family would not have been able to purchase the home. She hung on with everything she had. She was in a lot of pain every day but she was determined to live through to closing day.

 Everyone involved was tracking this transaction. We did not really know exactly when the deal would close as many people where working in their respective fields to hurry this deal through all the hurdles it needed to pass.

On a Monday I was surprised to find out that the closing was expected within hours. I called the Mr. C's agent to let her know and to ask for Mrs. C's status. Mrs. C was at home and was still with us. She had already signed the documentation, but she wanted to hold the house keys in her hand before leaving this world. She wanted to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that her family would have a place to call home when she was no longer here.  

 Her agent was hours away in Flagstaff. It would be up to me to deliver those keys. I instantly drove to the newly purchased home, opened the lockbox and took the keys out. I called the title company and asked them to tell me the second it recorded and I walked to Mrs. C's old home.

I waited outside until I got the call.

I don't know what I expected when I walked in to their home but I was surprised. I saw Mrs. C for the first time, and she looked so young that I couldn't believe this was the person who I was told was so near the end. I was also surprised that Mrs. C was surrounded by all her family as they all knew the end was near, and that not a single one of them spoke about the home. What to me was the most important deal of my life, to them, was simply another event to happen before they said goodbye to her. I realized then that having placed their faith in us to close this transaction they had moved on to the more important task of Making Mrs. C as comfortable as they could for the last moments of her life. They knew and expected us to come through for them.

 I introduced myself and said the words Mrs. C had been waiting so bravely to hear: "I have the keys!" Mrs. C reached out to me for them immediately, her family ran for cameras, and, Mr. C and their children ran to her side. Many pictures where taken as I handed Mrs. C her new home keys. I remember that moment as if it where yesterday. Her smile, as she grabbed those keys and held them to her chest so tightly still fills me with emotion. The faces of all her family together smiling, crying and congratulating her through the flashing of cameras, and, excitement of finally knowing her last wish had been fulfilled.

As I left that home that day I felt blessed to be able to help make Mrs. C's final dream a reality. It has been the most fulfilling moment of a long career in real estate for me. Mr. J moved to California, Mr. and Mrs. C had the keys to their home and I helped them start the next phases of their lives. In how many career's can you honestly say you touch so many lives?

 This moment deeply moved me and I try to remember every time I close a transaction that I am helping make somebody's dream come true. I learned through this one transaction how every mound of paper corresponds to someone's dreams, and, I hope that as I continue on in this amazing career I always remember that I have not only the power but the responsibility to my clients of helping turn those dreams into reality.

I never knew what happened to Mrs. C. I do not know if she survived the day after I gave her those keys or if she has gotten better and lives to this day. This was a very emotional transaction and I haven't mustered up the courage to visit that home and ask about her.

Mr. J is happy in California with his daughters. I feel that he saw in Mr. C's eyes the reflection of the pain he had just gone through. He did not know the whole story when he agreed to sell his home at such a low price. Something told him to do it. I like to think it was Mrs. J in heaven guiding his actions to be able to make this home affordable and even possible for this family facing such a familiar struggle. Through this deal I was witness to the strength of the human spirit, as I've said I was blessed to be a part of it and hope that I carry those lessons with me in every transaction I do.