Cupid’s Quest

by Ann, Natalie

  “Like I said, it needs a facelift, but it’s very livable.”

  She was looking at the white appliances which weren’t her style either. The countertops were a solid gray Formica. Not horrible, but twenty years old easily.

  “You said there was an office on this floor?” he asked. “Where is it?”

  “That door behind the family room. Seems like an odd location to me, but it’s small.” They walked forward and opened it up.

  “Small but doable for sure. I don’t need a lot in here. Fits a desk and chair and has bookshelves. It gives me a private spot to work when I need to.”

  “Do you work from home often?” she asked.

  “More than I want, but it’s fine.”

  They walked back through to the kitchen and a small hall. “Access to the garage on the right, laundry room and pantry to the left and a half bath.”

  She opened the doors for him. The half bath was in decent shape. A coat of paint and a new pedestal sink and it’d be good to go. At least that was what she’d do.

  Here she was imagining everything she’d do in this house but not saying that. She never did. It wasn’t about her and what she’d do with a house but the person who was looking to buy it.

  This one would be right on her list to try to buy if she could afford it, which she couldn’t.

  “Garage is a good size. The driveway was too.”

  “Let’s check out the deck and backyard since we are on this floor.” She went back through the kitchen and opened the glass doors by the small table.

  “Deck is a decent size and in good shape,” he said as he started to examine the railings. “Nice fenced in yard and trees. This works.”

  She was feeling pretty good about things. More so when he reached over and grabbed her hand and held it for a minute...like they were sharing a monumental moment as a couple. “Upstairs or down?” she asked next.

  “Upstairs.” He didn’t let go of her hand and she wondered what was going through his mind but didn’t dare ask. Not yet at least.

  “Three bedrooms up here and two full baths. One is the master.”

  “These are huge spare rooms,” he said looking in on them. “The closets are big too.”

  “They could have probably put four rooms up here but went with more space instead.”

  “You said there are four bedrooms in the house,” he reminded her.

  “The fourth is in the basement with another full bath. Here is the hall bath.”

  “Double sinks. Nice. Really just needs paint.”

  She thought so too. When these owners redid things over the years they kept it simple and basic and things that would stand the test of time in style and functionality.

  “Master is here.” She opened the door. “Wow. This is bigger than I thought too.”

  “More room than I’d need. They’ve got a seating area over there.”

  “Some people like that,” she said. She wasn’t one that did. She went to her room to sleep and not do much more. Well, sex, but she didn’t need a seating area for that either.

  “Just more furniture I’d need to buy.” He walked forward and opened the door to the walk-in closet. “Plenty of space in there.” Then opened the door to the bathroom. “I’m not one for jetted tubs, but it’s fine. Big enough if I wanted to get in it. Shower is a decent size, but I’d probably gut and tile it. The plastic fitting just dates it.”

  “It’s usable though,” she said even if she did agree with him. Personally she’d get rid of the corner tub, enlarge the shower and put a smaller free standing tub in. “So what do you think so far?”

  “I think this place is great without even looking at the basement.”

  She smiled. He’d let go of her hand when he walked into the bedroom and started to poke around and she found she’d missed the heat of their joined palms. “That’s good to hear.”

  “Let’s go check out the basement then,” he said.

  They walked back down to the first floor and then the finished basement, first into the family room. “Needs work,” he said. “The carpets in the whole house would have to come up. Hopefully the floors are in decent enough shape to refinish and not replace. That would be a massive cost.”

  Again, she agreed. The carpet was in bad shape down here. Worse than the rest of the house. “Refinishing them all is going to be a lot of work too. Down here, there isn’t hardwood. You’d have to replace the flooring with more carpet or something else.”

  “It can be done in time,” he said. He moved forward and opened up a door to a room they were using as storage. “I could put a treadmill and some weights in here. Ceilings are high enough.” Another door showed the bedroom and bathroom with a small shower in it.

  They passed by one more door. “Storage under the garage.”

  “Perfect,” he said. “This is more space than I need, but I want it. You said it goes fast. What’s a good offer?”

  The look in his eyes said it all. Exactly what she was feeling walking through this place too. She wanted to pat herself on the back when he said those words.

  “I wouldn’t go less than asking. A little over should lock it in with any luck. Do you want to drive around the development and look it over more before we go back and fill out the paperwork?”

  “Yeah. I said that would play a big part in things for me and here I was ready to make an offer just on the house.”

  He was shaking his head and she reached for his hand to hold again. “That means the house is right. Trust me, the neighborhood is too. You would have known if it was wrong when you drove in.”

  12

  Sure Of Yourself

  Ruby was right. If he was turned off by anything in the neighborhood he would have known when he drove in past the large brick sign that said “Welcome to Paradise Place.” He smiled reading it, thinking it was more like a vacation location than a trip home. Instead, he’d felt like he was being transported back to being a child before his life changed forever.

  He’d gotten back in his SUV and pulled out, then let Ruby go ahead of him and followed her as she drove around the development letting him see more of it.

  She pulled into the parking lot of the Pavilion and he got out when she did. “It’s nice and open here. People reserve the Pavilion with the owners of the land. The Butlers could have built here but instead decided to make it more of a gathering place. As I said, they throw that summer party and organize and hold it here.”

  “It was a good idea and gives it more appeal.”

  He looked around at the land and everything that was offered. This was better than what he had at his parents’ house for sure.

  Many might say he wouldn’t remember much since he was so young, but he didn’t forget a thing.

  He held on to those memories like a wino with his last bottle in a brown paper bag on a cold winter night in the back alley.

  It was all he had left of his parents and he wasn’t letting it go.

  “Do you want to follow me back to my office and we can fill out the paperwork for the offer?” she asked. “I’ve got a little over an hour before my next appointment.”

  “If you think that’s enough time, then yes.”

  “I started it this morning.”

  He laughed at her. “You were awful sure of yourself.”

  “Let’s just say I had a good hunch.”

  He climbed back in his car and followed her the few miles to her office and got out. He expected to see more people working, but there were only two and several empty desks in the glassed cubes.

  “Everyone out at appointments?” he asked.

  “Usually. There aren’t a lot of people in the office anymore unless they are doing paperwork. Many do it from home too. Very few people walk in the door to meet. It’s all online for the most part.”

  “Does that make your job easier or harder?”

  “It’s actually easier. Most times people start looking online when they are interested in a house. They will reach out to the list
ing agent for a viewing sometimes. If it isn’t what they want, then they go from there. But that is the first moment of contact. Unless it’s word of mouth.”

  “So, kind of like what I did,” he said, wondering how luck could have dropped in his lap to look at a house that was her listing.

  “Yep. I get a lot of word of mouth too. A good mixture. Have a seat,” she said, pointing to a chair in front of her desk.

  “So, I’ll need to see a copy of your approval letter. I should have told you that and completely forgot.”

  “Can I show it to you on my phone, or email it to you?”

  “Perfect,” she said. “I believe you. That you can afford the house, but I have to do my job. I can’t put an offer on a house unless I’ve seen proof that a bank is approving your ability to purchase. Of course a bank can change their mind in a deeper dive.”

  “They won’t,” he said, grinning at her, then flipped through his phone and sent her the letter.

  She opened it up and smiled. “So you’re approved for more than your range.”

  “Banks always want you to extend yourself more. My range is where I feel comfortable.”

  “We are a lot alike. I made that comment because so many people get approved and then want to spend that max. They don’t factor in closing costs, appraisals, taxes, down payments and so on. If the house isn’t appraised within a percentage of the loan, it’s more you might have to put down or renegotiate.”

  She was typing away while she was talking to him, multitasking. “I plan on putting down about thirty percent.”

  Her head popped up. He wasn’t sure what to make of that. “That’s good. My advice is to say twenty percent, which eliminates PMI. Sometimes if homeowners think you’ve got that much cash they start countering more. Honestly, all most care about is the final price they are getting.”

  “I planned on offering them two thousand over asking. What is there to counter?” he asked. What was he missing here?

  “You never know. People list low and hope for a bidding war. What I want to do is get them to agree today before someone else can view it. It’s possible someone else is seeing it today so if we can get this offer to their agent before I leave we have a good shot.”

  “I love the house, but I’m not going into any bidding war.” Just like he didn’t chase women most of his life, he wasn’t chasing this. “If it’s meant, great. If not, I’ll find something else.”

  “That’s a good attitude to have. I hate when someone gets their heart set on a home and it falls through. Personally, I think that is a good offer. Unless you couldn’t live without the place, I wouldn’t go much higher. It needs a lot of work. If you put the work in yourself the equity you built will be worth it.”

  “That was my plan.”

  “I’m not trying to be nosy. Please don’t think that. You’ll have enough cash for closing? Taxes on this house run about twelve thousand a year, so you’ll have to put that down if you’re going to have them in escrow.”

  He knew his down payment was easily over a hundred thousand, but he had five times that in the bank. Not an issue.

  “No problem.”

  “Okay. That’s good. It seems to me like you’ve done all your homework and that makes my job easier. I’m sorry if those questions insulted you.”

  “Not at all. I get it. It’s your job and you need to make sure everyone knows what they are getting into. I’m your client here right now. Think like that.”

  She smirked at him and lowered her voice. “It’s kind of hard to look at you and think that when I’m remembering last night on my couch.”

  He leaned forward and rested his forearms on her desk. “Did you think of me after I left?”

  “That’s a silly question. Did you think of me?”

  “What do you think?” he asked. Staring at the ceiling hard as a rock. That was what he did last night, but he wasn’t going to say that in her office.

  “I think we might have had the same night last night. I needed a few cups of coffee to get moving this morning, but at least I knew I’d be seeing you.”

  “How about dinner later tonight?” he said. “Maybe we’ll have something to celebrate.”

  “It would be nice to hear back from the homeowners. I’m not holding my breath, but if they are as motivated to sell as I think, then you might.”

  He shook his head. “I can’t believe I’m putting an offer on a house on Mystic Lane in a development called Paradise Place.”

  “I know. It’s kind of silly. But everyone who lives there loves it.”

  “You said the Butlers built it?” he asked.

  “Yeah. You’ll have to research them. They still live there, in the older part, a few streets from you. On one of the dead end streets at the end hidden away from everyone.”

  He’d looked at the development last night on Google Maps. There were more streets than he could count on the screen. Scrolling to each side only showed double in both locations. Plenty connected to each other, but just as many were cul de sacs. Mystic Lane bled into other streets but didn’t seem to be busy either. It wasn’t one of the main roads in the development.

  “That’s nice. I guess they can make sure people keep up appearances. Are there fees? I didn’t think to ask that.”

  “No. They never thought to ask for them years ago. They just own all this land and if you want to live here, you need to buy the land off of them and they have to build it. They maintain the common area out of their own money.”

  “I can only imagine what a new house costs,” he said. They’d driven through that part on the way to her office. Just one street with new houses, but he’d seen more in the distance. The houses were massive. Much grander than where he was buying.

  “Base homes start around five hundred thousand and most want upgrades. There is a square foot minimum to get there. So that is the cheapest you are going to get there if you want new. New and standard features and hardly anyone ever gets standard when building a new home.”

  “It looks to me most are probably bigger than the minimum.”

  “Yes. I sold one of the new builds. I’ll be closing on it in two weeks.” It was several hundred thousand over the minimum like most did around that one area of the development.

  “They go through a realtor?” he asked, figuring they wouldn’t need to.

  “Most times. There isn’t a ton of negotiating with a new build, but there is a lot of paperwork and it’s easier for us to handle it. Especially for the homeowners. The Butlers are a little old school. Their kids and grandkids run the business now and they just want to build.”

  “I guess I can’t blame them. Looks like they know what they are doing.”

  “They do. Okay.” She pushed an electronic pad toward him. “Sign and initial when I tell you and we can get this sent off and cross our fingers.”

  When they were done, he stood up as she did. “I don’t suppose I can get a kiss before I leave,” he said with a grin, knowing the answer.

  “Don’t count on it, bud. But I will walk out with you. And I’ll keep you posted if I hear anything.”

  “You never said if you wanted dinner tonight.”

  “How about I cook for you? I should be done by five, maybe earlier. You’ve taken me out twice.”

  “If it’s not too much trouble, that’d be nice.”

  “No trouble at all. I’ll text you when I’m done and when to come over.”

  “Works for me,” he said when they were in the parking lot. “Not as much as it would work if I could get my hands on you here.”

  “You can make up for it later.”

  “Oh, I plan on it.”

  13

  Being Greedy

  Ruby was just getting ready to text Josh that she was done when her phone went off in her hand.

  Excitement was rushing through her like the day she’d found out she was hired at her current firm and knew that she’d be making more money. That she knew she could have a lot more security than she’d e
ver before had in her life.

  “Hi, Carolyn, tell me you’ve got good news. I need it after the day I’ve had.”

  Carolyn was the listing agent for the house that Josh put an offer on. She’d dealt with Carolyn plenty in the past and they got along well. She’d kind of hoped that would work in Josh’s favor too.

  “I do. My owners accepted.”

  “That’s wonderful. Josh is going to be so happy to hear it.”

  “Trust me, I almost wanted them to hold off to see if they got any other offers as the house was shown four more times today, but I waited all day and nothing came through. The owners wanted to firm it up. They are most happy with the fast turnaround. They want to get out of New York before winter hits full force.”

  “And I don’t blame them in the least,” Ruby said.

  “Me neither. When my time comes, I’m out of this state. Between the weather and the taxes, I can’t believe I’ve stayed as long as I have.”

  Ruby snorted. “Tell me about it.” She could have moved at any point. Or so she told herself, but the truth was, she was terrified to leave.

  After having so little in her life, the minute she got her own place—as small as it was—she didn’t want to dig herself back in a hole that moving would cause. She didn’t want to have to learn a whole new area and build up clients again.

  As much as she knew there was more money in selling than being a secretary, that was a big enough scary jump for her. The security of the same paycheck each week had gone out an open window like a bee beating on the glass to get back to its hive.

  If she hadn’t sold her first house within a month of starting she might have worried she’d be eating yogurt and ramen noodles for months. Even waiting forty-five days for that commission had been hard, but once it came she had a ton of breathing room and in that period she’d sold two more houses.