During the whole part of my life changing ordeal there was so many frustrating moments in selling my house, such as the home for the disabled making an offer on my house, leading us on for three months and the day before going into contract walking on the deal. As I say in my act, ‘The first time they can walk and it’s on me”, we have an open house and no one is showing. People are scheduled to look at the house and they don’t show up, top that off with an estranged wife that made every step a struggle.
But I told Joe’s girl that I knew in my heart that I had a gut feeling that these things were happening because the house that I wanted was not up for sale yet.
In April a week after I went into contract on my home in Huntington the house I knew was waiting came on the market.
Joe’s girl found it on line, the price was great and it was in a community I fell in love with years ago but never pursued further to move to because my wife wanted to stay in Huntington.
No photos of the home were available and due to the price we thought there may have been something wrong and we were about to pass, but we didn’t.
We went to the open house and when I pulled up to the house there was this inner voice telling me that this will be my new home. It was beautiful on the outside, but what would it look like on the inside??? It was in mint condition and immaculate with nothing really to do but repaint two of the bedrooms and a bathroom (they were pink and as of this writing one of the bedrooms are done). As we were walking through the house Joe’s girl asked me what I thought of the place? I told her, you know the house that I told you that was waiting for me? Well we are standing in it.
This was the house, the reason there was no photos is the home just came on the market and the photographer had just left.
I was planning on getting an apartment after I moved and really was going to start to look then. But this was the house and I could not let it get away.
I grabbed my real estate agent the next day and we made an offer which was the asking price. I was a purchasing agent for years and I know how to haggle and negotiate but I also know when something was a flat out steal. It turns out the women selling the place had health issues and wanted to join her son in Florida and wanted a quick sale. When we made the offer the selling agent said the price is firm three times and we had to tell them we understood and we are making an offer.
We are now in what I call the “hurdles to jump”. In the entertainment business you are trying to make impossible stuff happen day in and day out and I realized that this situation would be difficult but possible. The first hurdle was they were going to have another open house that was already scheduled and I prayed that no one would outbid me. It turned out that no one made an offer on the place and they accepted mine.
The next step was the home inspection to see the condition of the home. If you remember from part one this day was a very sad one in the sense that we interred my sister in law into the mausoleum that afternoon, I said goodbye to people and places that were a big part of my life for twenty five years and I had to leave my wife sitting alone at the mausoleum as I went out to meet with the home inspector, the real estate agents and Joe’s girl. It really was the official day of my old life coming to a close and the next stage coming to life. With all the strife of the day the house passed the inspection with flying colors.
Now I have jumped two hurdles and there were plenty more to go.
Next hurdle, I had to put down a down payment but cash was not available until I closed on my old home which was a month away.
If you know me you know I don’t ask anyone for help but I decided this was not charity but a chance to get a home that I could not let go. Thanks to the generosity of several people that hurdle was jumped.
The next hurdle was going into contract. The seller’s lawyer was a nice enough guy and a friend of the seller but not really versed in real estate and moved excruciatingly slow. We waited almost two weeks to get the contract to sign but finally they came and I signed.
The next hurdle?? The bank. Stay tuned for part 3