Agent Lady team member Brittany Loeffler writes about the reality of buying a home in Philadelphia through a series of short stories.
A Christmas Miracle
Little Jimmy Brown sat on Santa Claus’s lab at the Center City Macy’s while his parents took too many pictures with their phones. They had been waiting for the holiday light show to come on when they saw the perfect picture opportunity for their one-year-old son. He couldn’t get enough of the jolly bearded man who was bouncing him on his knee. “Ho, ho, ho, merry Christmas!” the Santa impersonator laughed as he handed the baby back to his parents.
It was just two weeks away from Christmas and there was a lot going on in the Brown’s lives. They were in the middle of buying their very first home in the City of Brotherly Love. It had been a year since they moved to the city after Mr. Brown had landed a job at a food distribution company. They decided to rent during that time and save up for a down payment all while trying to make the decision whether to stay in the city or move to the suburbs when it was time to buy a home.
They had decided to stay in the city, at least while Jimmy was still little. They loved being in the city and the cute section of South Philly they currently lived. Maybe if they had more children they would move out to the suburbs, but right now, they liked the closeness of the city and the exciting events that took place, especially during Christmastime.
It had been just their luck that they met their Realtor, Cherise Wynne, who was known as the Agent Lady throughout the city. They had stopped into an Open House one day while taking a Sunday stroll through the neighborhood. She was hosting the Open House and introduced herself. After talking with her for a good half hour, they decided it was time to get a move on with buying their first home and they wanted the Agent Lady to be their realtor.
It hadn’t taken long to find their dream home. It was just a few blocks away from their current apartment and had a parking space. The three-bedroom row home was everything they could have asked for. It was even in below budget! They had planned everything out so that they would be in just a few days before Christmas. It was going to be the best Christmas gift either of them could have ever given each other.
With settlement just a week away, Cherise received a stressful phone call. It was the listing agent calling to tell her that the sellers wanted to push settlement back by a week. Apparently, the sellers were also in the middle of buying their next home and the sellers of that home were having trouble coming up with the closing costs for their next home. It was incredible how a family who had nothing to do with Cherise’s clients could cause so much trouble.
Mrs. Brown spoke into the phone, “So you’re telling me, that the sellers of the house that my sellers are trying to buy are having trouble coming up with closing costs? How do they have anything to do with us? How does a seller have trouble coming up with the money? Can’t they just take it out of what they’re getting for their house?”
“I wish it was that easy. I’m not completely sure of their situation, but they may be selling the house for less than what they need. We may have to push back settlement until after New Years.”
“We can’t do that! Everything is pretty much packed up already. We were planning on having people over for Christmas, “ Mrs. Brown started to panic. “What can we do?”
“Nothing, I’m sorry. We just have to wait for their transaction to work itself out.” Mrs. Brown was entirely sure what was happening or how to fix it, so she prayed for a Christmas miracle. There was nothing she wanted more than to be in her new home with her husband and child on Christmas.
A couple of days later, just as the Browns were finishing up their Christmas shopping, Cherise called again. “You are one lucky couple,” she started the conversation. “It must be the Christmas spirit, but your sellers have agreed to help out the people they are buying their next home from by agreeing to cover their closing costs. Your settlement won’t be pushed back!” Mrs. Brown could have screamed with joy right there in the Barnes and Noble in Rittenhouse Square. It truly was the Christmas miracle that she had prayed for days before.
About Brittany: Brittany is the super organized (and awesome) marketing assistant that helps home buying and selling clients have the best experience possible. She also shares her creative side by writing compelling short stories about the home buying process that are loosely based on actual client situations.
