Please forgive me for not writing sooner. Ken and I have
been very busy since the beginning of March as we have decided it’s time to
sell our home. It has become too big for the two of us and we don’t care to do
a lot of yard work anymore. I’ve wanted to move for a few years now but getting
Ken on board wasn’t easy. What finally changed his mind was something that was
said at work. He was telling one of his co-workers that he had always wanted a
small piece of property with a house on it. The man he spoke to, oh, let’s call
him Bill, because that’s his name, said, “My father in-law is trying to sell
his place.” He told Ken how many acres it was and yes, there was a rather large
house on it.
Ken came home and told me all about it and I laughed. “What
would we do with all that property and, a bigger house than we have now?”
“Well, Lisa is selling her condo and maybe she and Jay would
be interested in going in on it with us.”
I texted Lisa and asked her. Moments later I got a text
back from her which said “LOL!” Then another minute went by and I got another
text from her saying “Maybe!”
This all started at the end of January. The 6th
of February, Jay, Ken and I went to look at it. Lisa had to be out of town that
weekend so we went without her. We met the owner. He was an elderly gentleman
and, we’ll call him Ted, because that’s his name. We spent a good hour talking
to him and he showed us all around his home and property. Ken and I talked
before we got there and said we would put a little house on the property for us
and when we explained to Ted what we wanted to do, he was good with that.
Jay, Ken and I fell in love with the place immediately. It
was wheel chair accessible as his child had had an accident several years
before and became a paraplegic. (This part is important to the story later on.)
A few days later, Lisa, Ken and I went back so Lisa could
see the house. She too fell in love with the place. We asked Ted if we could
have some time to think about it and he was willing to wait.
On the 19th of February, which was a Friday, Ken
phoned Ted and said “We would like to come by on Sunday and make you an offer
verbally and if you are good with it, we’ll get the paper work done.”
Ted said that would be fine and Ken asked him if there were
any other people looking and he said “No.”
When the four of us arrived Sunday afternoon, we were
greeted not only by Ted, but his son in-law Bill. Once inside the house, Ted
announced that he felt outnumbered and we all smiled.
Once we were seated in the living room, Ken presented our
offer to Ted. “Oh…that’s a good offer! But unfortunately, there is someone else
interested in the property.” Ken was stunned and hadn’t really realized at
first what was happening. I will never forget the look of dread and
disappointment on my beautiful daughter’s face with the same look on Jay’s.
They were devastated.
Ted proceeded to tell us that a young woman that is a
quadriplegic and a friend of the family had been through the house the day
before and made an offer and he had decided to sell it to her.
For an old man that felt he was outnumbered, he did a good
job of cutting the four of us off at the knees. We left there feeling
blindsided and devastated. We went back to our house and talked it over and
couldn’t believe what had just happened. Ted did say if the woman couldn’t come
up with the money, he would let us know the following week.
It was Monday afternoon eight days later. I was at home
working on my next book, After Dinner, when the phone rang and I noticed on the
call display that it was Ted. I answered it and Ted apologized for not getting
back to us sooner. He said, “I decided not to sell the woman my home as I felt
it would be a night mare for her. I just don’t feel right about selling it to
her. If you still want to buy it, it’s yours.”
I told him that it wasn’t up to me. “I’m just a long for the
ride on this one Ted, but I will mention it to Lisa, Jay and Ken and one of
them will get back to you.”
I sat quietly for a moment and wondered what to do. There
wasn’t one part of me that actually believed him. I’m sure that woman couldn’t
come up with the money. I don’t believe he cared whether she could manage the
property or not. I of course, could have been wrong. Now, do I delete the
number from the call display and never tell Ken, Jay and Lisa about this? Do I
have that right? I didn’t want to see any of them hurt like that again. I
decided rather quickly that I had no choice but to tell them.
I was actually mad at Lisa about another matter so I thought
I would piss her off and let Jay know what had happened instead of her. He was
over the moon with excitement and he would check with Lisa and see what she
wanted to do. Ken was cautious but agreed we should try again. I for one didn’t
trust the old guy for one minute but I agreed to go along with it.
Lisa went to her lawyer and got all the paper work done and
Ken delivered it to Bill and Bill took it to Ted. This was on the 7th
of March. Lisa and Jay gave Ted until the 25th of March to decide if
everything was agreeable.
We waited patiently to hear back from Ted and as the days
went by, we hadn’t heard a word from him. On the 21st of March Ken
phoned him and left a message as Ted didn’t answer the phone. Ken asked him to
call if he had any questions at all. Late in the afternoon the next day, Ted
phoned and told Ken he had been talking to his neighbours and they didn’t want
to see another house put on the property so Ted told Ken he decided not to sell
his place to us. This man had shafted us a second time. Again, my family and I
were devastated. I hadn’t felt this bad since our two dogs died last year. As
far as I was concerned, it was over.
A few days later, Bill phoned Ken and said “Okay, let’s get
at it, let’s get this going.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Ken
Bill wanted to get Ted moved out and us in. He was stunned
when Ken told him Ted turned us down. Ted wouldn’t sell the house to us.
Bill said he would talk to him and that also, Ted’s son
would now get involved. Ken said he didn’t care what they did, we were done.
A few days went by and Jay couldn’t stand it anymore and
took matters into his own hands. He was determined to have that place as a home
for him and my daughter. Ken gave him Bill’s number and wished him luck. “We
don’t want any part of this anymore, Jay. Sandy and I are done.”
Jay called Bill and talked to him and at the end of that
conversation, asked him if he thought it would be okay to go and see Ted on his
own. Bill told him it was up to him. Jay went back to see Ted and spent about
an hour with him pleading his case. “Ken and Sandy aren’t going to build a
house here?” asked Ted
“No, they are finished with this whole situation. They have
decided to do something else.”
Then Ted said to Jay. “I’ve been talking to my son and you
know the market is getting better. I think I want more money.”
Jay thought about it for a moment and agreed to give Ted
another $5,000.00 but he wanted an answer by the end of the weekend.
“Okay, I will talk it over with my son and get back to you.”
Ted said
Sunday afternoon April 3rd, Ted phoned Jay and
said “Okay, update the paper work and bring it over and I will sign them.”
Jay was ecstatic and so was Lisa. Jay wanted to go over
right away but Ted said “No, it’s Sunday, come over at six o’clock tomorrow
evening.”
5:15 Monday afternoon, Lisa phoned Ken and tells him Ted
changed his mind again. Apparently, Ted had been working with people since last
October and decided to sell the place to them.
We heard that he got more than the original asking price and
that he has been playing with several different people for the past five years.
Since this has all happened, we have friends that live in
the area and have told us some stories about that family but it would be
beneath me to include them in this story; as much as I would like to. LOL!
Needless to say, Jay and Lisa were not disappointed this
time but damned angry. We had all been used and I guess if we were very
religious people we could say we were trying to make a deal with the devil.
Ken and I are still going ahead with the selling our house
and Lisa sold her condo a few weeks ago. No idea where she and Jay will be
living.
Stay tuned!
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