"I'll Handle It"

“I’ll Handle It”

Sammy and Rukmani have been great past clients. Sammy is a brilliant doctor and very well respected in his field. At the time I sold their last house and moved them into their current ranch, Sammy had just finished publishing his book. It’s very technical so I can’t even tell you what it is about, but the medical community loved it. Sami and Rukmani are very well respected, very proud and very family oriented.

Sammy called me a few months back and asked me to stop over. I wasn’t sure if he just wanted to talk or if maybe he was thinking about moving out of town. His current home is a single story ranch style home that suited his needs at the time.

As I pulled up to his brick ranch, which was well manicured (he always over maintained everything) his garage was open and there was only one car in it, but I didn’t think much of it. I knocked on the door and after a long while, he answered, and needless to say I was a bit shocked. This once very healthy, picture of strength man, was hooked up on oxygen and looked like a shell of himself. He greeted me with his usual “HELLO… PAUL GEORGE,” and inquired as to how I was doing, not acknowledging his own issues. As we sat down and talked, I found out he was being treated for a form of cancer.

Boy, does that change your perspective when you think you are meeting someone to talk about selling a house.

After going through his journey, he told me his wife Mani needed help so, they wanted to move closer to their daughter in New Albany. Their daughter and son-in-law took the liberty of purchasing a new spec home for them that would be done in a month. It wasn’t about the perfect house; it was about the location. Sammy was worried about his current home and how to get it prepared to sell in his condition. The thought of the preparation, the move, the showing process just overwhelmed him and his wife.

I basically said, just worry about the new house; I’ll take care of this one. In the meantime, there was a monkey wrench thrown in. Because the new house was just finishing construction, he finally got to visit (for the first time) on the final walk through. On his walk through, Sammy fell very ill. It seems the new paint, the new carpet and the chemicals of the new construction mixed with the chemo treatments made Sammy nauseous to the point where he could not live in the house. Now what?

With the low to no inventory market, where were we going to find a first-floor master, reasonably priced, close to New Albany? After some scrambling, we found a place, did the inspections and proceeded toward closing. The condo was only a few years old, but the inspection brought up some maintenance items. In the meantime, movers, cleaners, and other special arrangements for Sammy needed to be arranged. I told Sammy to focus on his treatment. I told Sammy, Rukmani and their daughter, “I’ll handle it.”

I set up the inspection on the new house, had a handyman repair the neglected items, hired packers and movers, scheduled carpet cleaners, house cleaners, duct work cleaners, and even arranged for haulers to get rid of the things he could not take to the new house. I just handled it.

Sometimes, during the buying and selling of a home, the price is not the most important thing in the process. We sometimes get caught up in how daunting a move can be and how overwhelmed we get when moving. When you are fighting for your life, moving is not such a big deal, especially if you can find somebody to “handle it.”

A good agent is there to understand each and every buyer and sellers personal needs and then just handle it.

Sammy and Ruckmani have moved into their new house, much closer to their daughter and I am finalizing the preparation of their old home to put it on the market shortly. As much as they appreciated my help, I got more out of this transaction knowing that I made their journey a little less overwhelming and for that, I am the one who is blessed to help.