Here's a deal, unlike any I've experienced in my 15 years of service, that brought tears to my eyes and warmed my soul. The following story is true, and it happened on Veteran's Day!
On October 12th of this year, my old Coast Guard buddy, and long time friend, said good-bye to this world after a long battle with a rare intestinal cancer. Before he passed, he asked me to do two things for him: One, to stand up and speak for him at his memorial. The other was to handle the sale of his home for the family.
On the day of Larry's memorial, I honored his memory by speaking to the 100 or so, family and friends gathered at the Carlsbad Church Larry attended. I spoke about our 30-year friendship, how we went our separate ways, and how we came back together 15 years later. I also spoke about his home, where he proudly hosted family and friends for frequent weekend BBQ's, and the story of how it almost didn't come to be.
When he was ready to buy a home, he asked for my help. Being a life long surfer, he wanted, no needed, to be closer to the Coast. Specifically, Oceanside, CA. It didn't take long before we found, what was to be, his final resting place on Seafarer Drive. We weren't three steps into the property before he turned to me and said, "let's make an offer!" So we did and got it accepted.
Two weeks before we were scheduled to close, the sellers said they wanted to cancel the deal, that they had changed their minds. Their own Realtor couldn't talk them out of it, and Larry began to loose faith that the home he had fallen in love with, wouldn't be his.
There was no way I would allow this without a battle. I told Larry not to give up hope, and with the listing agent's approval, I went directly to the sellers, and effectively "convinced them" that this was no longer their home. We closed escrow on time, and Larry was home.
A couple of weeks after Larry passed away, his family approached me to consult them regarding the sale, at which point I designed an action plan to prepare the home. We were just finishing some of the final touches in preparation, when the sign went up. I remember seeing the tears in Larry's mother eyes when she first saw it.
It was Tuesday, the day before Veteran's Day and I had just finished editing the photos for the listing, when I got a call from an agent. She said that her clients had seen the sign, that their parents lived down the street, and they had been looking for quite some time. I told her it would be in the MLS that night, when she asked if they could see it right away. "The lock-box is on the front door, go right ahead", I replied.
Later that evening, she called and told me that they would have an offer to me the very next morning, Veteran's Day. The offer came in above full price with a touching, heart-felt letter from the buyers. It read, that he had heard that the seller was a verteran and that he too was a veteran. He and his wife fell in love with the home, even before they walked in. They had been looking for just such a home near their parents for quite some time and were always out-bid. He went on to say, that it would be a dream come true to have their offer accepted on Veterans Day. There were even more factors that made this offer special. You see, my friend Larry and I were in the Coast Guard together, the buyer is a veteran, the buyer's agent is the widow of a veteran, and they are using a VA loan for an offer that was submitted on Veteran's Day!
The offer was tearfully accepted that same day, and we are scheduled to close on or before December 11th.
I feel a strong sense of faith that Larry and a De vine Power were working together to affect this extraordinary outcome.
RIP Larry Howard (10/27/58 - 10/12/09)
