Out of the Darkness and into the Light!

We had an appointment yesterday with an elderly man named Mr. Roberts.  He has a large home in a very quiet neighborhood on the north westside of LA. He went into default on a $25,000 dollar loan last month and is now facing foreclosure and the prospect of losing his home. This is his story…

When we set the appointment door knocking last week Mr. Roberts seemed very down and in the dark with his property.  We even noticed a DWP cancellation notice hanging from his door when we arrived. His wife of 46 years passed last year after a tough battle with cancer.  Mr Roberts took very good care of his best friend/wife until she passed.  However, his wife had handled all the finances for their home and once she was gone Mr. Roberts was left to take care of everything.  This is common amongst the senior community when one half passes on and a trigger point for home foreclosures.

Sitting down with Mr. Roberts at our appointment he seemed very depressed and down on his luck.  His home is the largest one in his neighborhood, a second story add on from the 80′s he had done.  It was dark and dingy with not much cleaned up.  I even saw medical files from his wife care taking services still lying around.  We began to examine his finances and very quickly realized that he’d lost control of most everything he was supposed to be taking care of.  It didn’t help that half the income he was relying on from his wifes pension was cut off in the last few months.  But at the core of it all was that Mr. Roberts was very down and beating himself up for not being able to manage without his wife.  The fact that he was losing his home wasn’t even registering with him.  He was stuck in a dark place and couldn’t find his way out.

Once we completed our evaluation it was evident that he need a lot of help getting out of his darkness.  He had no one else of real significance in his life except his wife.  And once she passed he couldn’t handle it all.

Our proposal was to simplify his life as much as possible.  He had way to much home for himself to handle.  He had a substantial amount of equity and he needed to use it now!  He and his wife traveled the world and shared so many stories together and he found comfort in sharing that just with us.  He needed a place where he could share stories and continue to travel.  We began to explain all these possibilities and how we could situate him in a much better place.  Often times when homeowners are consumed by the negativity surrounding their lives it’s impossible to see the possibilities!  But man, when Mr. Roberts began to realize before our eyes that he was in the darkness for a long time and their was a glimmer of light for him his whole being began to change.  It was if he gained 10 years of his life instantly!

We locked Mr. Roberts into an agreement and will began the process to transition him into a more simple better place.  He recognized that although it was okay to be hurt and down about his wife’s passing, he needed to live his life more fully then he was.  Something we all know his wife would have wanted for him!!

I’ve been doing this a long time and I haven’t seen such a transformation in 2 hours then I did with Mr. Roberts.  It felt really good when he thanked us and told us that he hadn’t felt so good in such a long time.

UPDATE ( 11/9)

When we first proposed our concept to Mr. Roberts I asked him where he’d like to spend the next chapter of his life.  He immediately responded that it would ideal if it could someplace near the ocean, since he had such a fondness to the Water.  That totally connected with me cus I too have a strong connection with the ocean.  I’ve always had to be close to the water and it made me think if I was spending my last years someplace where I’d want it and that’s the first vision that came to mind.

After getting all the logistical matters for the sale of Mr. Roberts property out the way we told him that we would scout Senior communities that where in or around LA area and would look particularly for someplace near the Ocean.  That’s the nice thing about Los Angeles, we are surrounded by it all including the mighty Pacific.

So we took Mr. Roberts to a couple places this past weekend.  We found a place in Santa Monica near the water and another place in the West LA area near his Hospital.  We saved the Santa Monica place for last cus we new that it was close to the ocean and would probably get Mr. Roberts very excited.

The first Place we took him to was a sprawling High rise community in West LA.  It was recently built with so many amenities and the most advanced technologies around.  But upon arriving it really felt like a spruced up Hotel.  You could immediately tell that Mr. Roberts was disappointed with it but he was gracious enough to take the tour and participate with the hosts many questions.  I wasn’t that impressed and for the cost it just wasn’t a match.

We immediately headed off to Santa Monica and even though Mr. Roberts knew it was a ocean community he was a bit down cus the last place left a stale impression of what his future held.  Hopefully the power of the Ocean can make a better impression on Mr. Roberts.

We arrived at the Santa Monica Location and parked right along the beach.  The Housing community is just south of the Santa Monica Pier.  We got so lucky cus it was a beautiful day and the water was so calm. As we walked into the building I looked over at Mr. Roberts and he still seemed down.  I was hoping he would be a little more perky and excited about this location.

We took a tour of the building, which was much older and seemed to have a lot more character.  We arrived at one of the room options on the 7th floor.  We knew what Mr. Roberts was asking for and this was the moment we where hoping for.  A strong impression from a room with a view.  And boy where we not disappointed.  Mr. Roberts walked in and immediately headed to the balcony and saw what kind of view he would have and all of sudden he that smile and perkiness I was looking for arrived.  He fell in love!!