the reward

The home buyers showed up this morning promptly at nine - I hadn't yet had time to comb my wet hair or even slurp down a cup of coffee. I met them at the side door, and they said they were not able to do the home inspection today as the inspector they hired had a family health emergency. Furthermore, they were waiving the inspection. I'll admit I was tense about the inspection - not that there would have been any surprises, but just generally tense about it. It's a whole lot like getting an intimate medical exam. Not something you'd sign up for every day.

Golly, what a lovely couple, probably the nicest people I could imagine buying this lovely home. Their story of simply seeing this house from the street - and they weren't even in the market! - and falling in love with it, echoed my own experience in April 2002. They're selling nothing, already have their mortgage commitment, and thought they were closing on the 22nd. (The 22nd is the contractual deadline for obtaining their mortgage commitment.) Their mortgage company is requiring a termite inspection, which will happen this evening around 5.

We've agreed to "open" the pool together in a couple of weeks but not uncover it. They've never had a pool before and I didn't want them to open it and find the spinach souffle we had last year. I gave them a primer on hot tub care. They want us to feel free to leave behind anything we want - and though I've promised them we won't leave a trash heap, I do feel a little more comfortable about leaving some of the casual outdoor furniture which isn't exactly premium stuff, but is usable nonetheless. Plus I think I'll leave them Mom's sofa and the secretary that I bought years ago in Illinois. They both look wonderful in the house, with these colors (and the M. family LOVE the colors I chose and are thrilled that they won't have to paint anything right away).

I can't believe our good fortune. We must have done something right somewhere along the line. Maybe someday I'll figure out what, precisely, that thing was.