Diligence JonesBasically a metaphor for my #holiday spirit this year due to #GhostDad #DeathAdmin and the Fascisms:
Black Santa presiding over some sparkle on a dead money tree.
Oh. Did I tell y'all?
We closed on #GhostDad 's house last week. Officially wrapped everything (title transferred, money deposited) on Thanksgiving.
We toasted Dad and his janky house over dinner. We loved that house -- and now a single mom will love that house too.
When I'm solvent again (LOL), I'm going to send our realtor some flowers. She worked her ass off to sell that house and kept us on track for three months.
The #DeathAdmin isn't over. But that was a significant chunk.
Realtor: We're in escrow but the buyer said he wants to lower the price.
Me: I will literally curse his entire bloodline.
Realtor: Haha! I'll get his agent to straighten him out.
Me: [venting] Bad enough that he is contributing to the gentrification of a historically black neighborhood. Sign the damn papers!
Realtor: ha! The other agent is Black.
Me: Then he needs to show some Black solidarity and get his client to sign the damn papers.
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I am not cut out for real estate shenanigans.
New plot twist: there are liens!!
Where the FUCK did they come from?!?
Maan, when Dad said 'fuck the Man' he really let errrrrrrythang go.
Jesus christ.
Generally, this has been a good week.
Except for The House. Gotdammit just SELL.
At this point I don't even fucking care about price as long as Ghost Dad's debt is covered.
Just remove this albatross real estate from my hands!!
There are more than several adulting words I'm not familiar with.
I've never bought or sold a house.
Say the word 'escrow' to me, and I'm totally clueless.
Today, our realtor gave my sister and me a fast & dirty lesson in Selling A House As Is. Escrow, contingencies, comps. It's a whole new vocabulary.
My little sister is a hardass about our number. I'm more flexible. I know the market ain't necessarily in our favor and I know Ghost Dad's debt size. So every offer the realtor shares, I'm doing Estate math.
That little green 🏠 needs to do a LOT. But it always has. It raised us. Kept dad sheltered. Gave homes to young gay Black men whose families turned away from them. It just has to take care of our family one more time before flippers tear it apart.
But whaddya know: folks are interested. And our realtor, K, is savvy, honest, and no bullshit. She's treating this like the sale of her career.
She is our anchor.
Today in #DeathAdmin:
Foreclosure Dude: Um do you know about AB 2424?
Me: No. What is it?
FD: Um, well, read it before you request the lender to postpone the foreclosure.
Me: You're being super mysterious, Daniel.
FD: I shouldn't even...it's just good to know.
Me: Say less.
What Dan wasn't supposed to tell me: as soon as we notified the bank Dad died, they immediately sued for foreclosure (and failed to notify us.) But apparently there are new rules in place that slow things down for the lender but give estate Trustees time to resolve things.
So that's how I spent one hour of today: navigating the red tape and requesting a faceless lender to give us time to sell dad's house to pay them back.
I want this janky house GONE by the end of September.
Good news -- my sister and I get a death benefit from dad's pension!
Also: shout out to my Samsung phone.
I did a crap ton of #DeathAdmin adulting yesterday and today - creating files, signing thangs, making pdfs...all on my phone!! No laptop necessary!
Android is dorky as hell but I love it.
I had the BIGGEST crash out from all the adulting today. The junk guy quoted us on the house cleanout, and I lost my shit. (Not on him.)
Lord love my sister who is used to adult temper tantrums.
👻Dad owes me over $10k for this nonsense.
Farewell savings.