Miracles on Shadowglen Way

Some in our family feel Larry and I may have “jumped the gun” selling our mother’s home prior to her death.  It was a difficult decision for several reasons, but she is not ever going to live there again and, even with no one living in the coach, there are costs for utilities, maintenance and repairs … while the property deteriorates from neglect.

An older couple purchased it.  He is a bar owner in Orange, CA and his wife has Alzheimer’s / dementia … but she is our mother’s clone – an excessive, compulsive shopper / collector of toys (i.e., Beany Babies, Cabbage Patch Kids, Barbie Dolls and other collectibles), jewelry and other knick-knacks!

We hadn't even listed it yet, but the first people to look at it bought it for a reasonable price and wanted a 30-day close but that didn’t work for us … so we held out for a 45-day close.  Here’s his story:  he lived on a street, which the State of California took through a claim of eminent domain so they could build a freeway onramp.  As we got closer to the 45-day mark, I was getting more and more phone calls from the realtors and the title company asking, “when …. when … when?” I couldn’t understand why everyone was so stressed until I actually met the new owner who told me his was the last house on the street to be bulldozed … and on the 45^th day, the bulldozer was sitting right outside his front door waiting for him to move his wife and the last few boxes out.

So, we were literally moving out the front door while he was moving in the back door.  Luckily he has lots of people on his payroll, so he just reassigned them from the bar to his “new house” for a couple of days.

OK, so here are the miracles:

1.    We sold the property at a good price - for cash - and to the very first "looker!"

2.    Bob (the new owner) walked thru the coach, prior to the sale, and immediately fell in love with the furniture.  He wrote us a check right on the spot … and we don’t have to move any of it!!!

3.    Bob was so busy getting ready to move, he didn’t request an inspection of the property before the sale went thru.  We were unaware of any problems, other that a small leak in the plumbing, but on the last day we were told the coach needs a new roof!!!  Because he had not requested an inspection and because the property is in a trust … and because Larry and I are not the property owners … we are not responsible for any repairs.  Bob’s response?  "It’s OK, I’ve got plenty of money and can take care of anything needing to be done." 

4.    My mother has, over the years, made about 30 beautiful square dance dresses with matching shirts for my dad.  She also has about a dozen petticoats in various colors.  I have posted them on Craigslist and tracked down at least a dozen square dance groups in and around Corona to see if I can find someone – or several someone’s – who want to buy them, but to no avail.  Then on the last day in Corona – at the time we were getting ready to throw the dresses, petticoats and shirts on the truck – not knowing what I was going to do with them all – one of Bob’s employees said, “oh, I know someone who can take care of these clothes for you” and gave me a phone number.  She tells me she will sell the clothes and send me a check … no charge!

I want my kids to go thru Mother’s things and decide what they would like to have as a memento and I’ve still got to do an estate sale to get rid of the rest of it, but for the most part, the hard stuff is over – and now there is money to take care of Mother for as long as she lives.