His grandson, Michael, contacted back toward the end of September about a lakehouse here on Lake Livingston. He brought his grandfather up the following Monday and we went to see a few homes. They had already located one online(Michael did) and pretty much thought that would be the one. We saw it and they liked it.
Sure enough, after they went back home to the north of Houston, I received a call from the grandfather, Alton, wanting to make an offer. He said, "I'm 76 years old(20 years my senior), and I'll probably retire there someday. He owned his a own business, and he earned my respect immediately.
The people that were selling the lakehome were building a new one down the street. Their daughter is a Realtor, and of course represented her parents in the transaction. They are very nice, and were agreeable throughout the entire process.
Well, we reached an agreement, and he said "I won't be financing, so don't worry about that". We closed a month later on October 27th. I got to meet his wife, their grandson again, and his Mom. They are a very nice and close nit Family, and I got hugs before they left.
I talked to Alton the next week about possibly purchasing the lot next door. We couldn't reach an agreement on that and he decided to let it ride.
Last week, after re-reading my wife, Deb's, post on Contacting Your Clients(member's only), I thought, " I need to call Alton and say Hi." Well, Thanksgiving week flew by with inspections, showings, and such, and I didn't call. I figured I would call this week to see how their Thanksgiving was.
You can see where this is going. I didn't get the chance.
This morning, Dawn, the agent whose folks sold the lakehouse, said her folks read about Alton D. Sargent in the Houston Chronicle. And she called me. I only got to call his grandson, Michael, and offer my condolences. He was very kind to me, and said he was going to call me. I'm glad I called him.
I'm sorry, Alton, that I didn't get to talk to you. I liked you a lot.
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