I’ve been working with Aunt B. for many months now trying to find her the perfect home.  Four contracts later, we are clear to close and are doing so this afternoon at 5:00 o’clock.  By my own random (non-IRS-up-to-par) calculations, I figure we’ve driven about 1000 miles to find her a home.  Not just any home, but one that speaks to her sense of wonder, whimsy, and wisdom.

I can absolutely guarantee that many agents would’ve stopped working with my friend after probably a dozen showings.  Aunt B. and I looked at several dozen (we’ll leave you guessing as to the actual number)!  I might have "referred" her to someone else as well, but I knew she was sincere about buying and due to circumstances, her perfect home just took a little longer to find than most.

Here are pictures of what will be her new pad from where I clicked over to her Flickr account:

This all-brick home has a big rooms, gorgeous hardwood floors, and tons of storage!

Here’s the fireplace which the inspector said is solid (the brick goes all the way down through the crawlspace and to the ground).  My parents always had a mirror over their fireplace so I really like the effect, but I don’t know if Aunt B. will keep her mirror.  And finally… drumroll …

The backyard.  The fountain looking thing was probably an old fountain (right, Sherlock?).  Aunt B. suggested she will turn it into an herb garden.  To the right is an old well house which will have to be disassembled eventaully.  And in the back (if you squint) was an old greenhouse.  I imagine that will come down as well.  But winding through the backyard is a drainage ditch that has at least three bridges that cross it.  That’s the whimsical part that I love about this home.  The wisdom is that there is a clothesline allowing Aunt B. to do her part in energy preservation.  And the wonder is that she’ll have an acre to plant her own garden, flowers, landscape.

I’m so proud of Aunt B. right now.  This closing will perhaps be my happiest.