136) The House Sale
Our lists mainly consisted of work that needed to be done to our house before we could put it up for sale. It needed to be painted and there were some repairs that we wanted to do so that we could get a good price for it. We decided that I would leave my job on the biltong barrow at the end of August to give us more time to organise the house repairs. On 29th August just as I was getting ready to go home an old friend walked passed the barrow. His name was John Ronaldson, he owned a textile business and he was also a lay preacher. He and his wife Barbara had spoken at and attended our church a number of times. John stopped for a chat and asked “What are you doing here Marina?” I told him I was working there and he asked “This is not much of a job, don’t you want a real job in my textile business?” I thanked him for the offer but said that as we were planning to go to Australia soon it would be unfair on him for me to take up a job only to leave it pretty soon. John asked me when we were going I told him “As soon as we can paint the house and sell it” He asked me where our house was and how much we wanted for it. I told him it was in Waterfall and that we had not had a proper valuation yet but thought it was worth about 200 thousand Rand. John said “Don’t paint it, sell it as it is” I thought ‘here we go, more advice from people who are not really involved it the estate business’ I said it really did need a coat of paint but John explained that his son and daughter-in-law were looking for a small house to buy in that area and would rather paint it themselves. I told him the exact address and we agreed that he would bring Murray and Linda to see the house the next day.
When I got home Jonny opened the gate for me and asked “Have you had a good day, what have you been doing” I laughed and said “I just sold the house” I explained that John Ronaldson’s children were interested in looking at the place and would call the next day. While we were still in the drive way we saw a car slow down and the couple in it had a good look at the house as they went passed. It was John and Barbara and once they realised we had seen them having a peep they stopped and apologised. John said he was just keen to see the exterior of the house and did not want to be a nuisance in any way. I explained that I had been at work all day and still had not gone inside but if they were willing to take a chance on what kind of mess it might be in they were welcome to come and have a look at the inside of the house too. They came in, had a look and liked what they saw.
John told us that he knew a Christian estate agent who attended the same church as he did. His name was Mark Webber and John would ask him if he would be prepared to give us a valuation of the house so that we could decide on a fair asking price. We agreed with the Rolandsons that we all wanted a ‘righteous transaction’ so would accept the price that Mark thought was correct.
A few days later Mark and all his colleagues from the estate agency arrived. There were eight of them in all, armed with their clip boards and pens they separated and went round the house, poking in all the corners, examining the rooms and opening the cupboards and turning the taps on and off. They did not comment on anything that they saw, just smiled and nodded, piled back into their cars and were soon gone. Then I started to worry what we had agreed to. I said to Jonny what if they valued the house at a lot less than we wanted for it, what if they did not like it and we did not have enough money left to get us to Australia, what if?, what if,? what if? Jonny told me not to worry. We had agreed to a ‘righteous transaction’ and all would be well. Mark contacted us and told us that his colleagues were in agreement about the house and they all agreed that R250 thousand was a fair price for our home, before we did any painting or repair work.
The next day we got a call from John Rolandson asking if he and Barbara could bring Murray and Linda to have a look at the house. They came in the afternoon and we left them to look around the house. When they had had a good look around they all came inside and Murray made us an offer of R240 thousand as he felt that there was quite a lot of work that needed to be done to get the house into tip top condition. Jonny and I looked at each other and were about to agree to the lower price but mentioned to John that we had agreed to a righteous deal and that we had prayed about it. Then John spoke up. He said, “No! We agreed that we would pay the price that Mark Weber valued the house at and I will stand by that, R250 thousand is what Mark said it is worth, he saw that it needs a coat of paint, he thinks it is worth that and that is the price we will pay for it. Murray and Linda, if you don’t want the house I will buy it and I will pay the R250 thousand”. So within three weeks of our discussion to make a move and go to live in Australia we had without advertising, sold our house and got a higher price than we had originally thought it was worth.
I was happy that our house was going to such a nice young couple and their little boy Reese but I was a little disappointed that they did not seem to love the house the way we did, but I was wrong about that. About a week after the sale, Linda phoned me and asked if she could bring her Dad around to see the house as he was visiting them and wanted to see what they were buying. While her Dad looked around the house Linda and I sat drinking tea and chatting. She told me that every evening after work, she and Murray had driven passed the house, parked their car just up the hill where they could look at the house and sat there for about half an hour looking at “their” house and dreaming about what it would be like to live in it. I was pleased to hear that, I knew then that it was going to good hands and it would be loved the way we had loved it.
When I got home Jonny opened the gate for me and asked “Have you had a good day, what have you been doing” I laughed and said “I just sold the house” I explained that John Ronaldson’s children were interested in looking at the place and would call the next day. While we were still in the drive way we saw a car slow down and the couple in it had a good look at the house as they went passed. It was John and Barbara and once they realised we had seen them having a peep they stopped and apologised. John said he was just keen to see the exterior of the house and did not want to be a nuisance in any way. I explained that I had been at work all day and still had not gone inside but if they were willing to take a chance on what kind of mess it might be in they were welcome to come and have a look at the inside of the house too. They came in, had a look and liked what they saw.
John told us that he knew a Christian estate agent who attended the same church as he did. His name was Mark Webber and John would ask him if he would be prepared to give us a valuation of the house so that we could decide on a fair asking price. We agreed with the Rolandsons that we all wanted a ‘righteous transaction’ so would accept the price that Mark thought was correct.
A few days later Mark and all his colleagues from the estate agency arrived. There were eight of them in all, armed with their clip boards and pens they separated and went round the house, poking in all the corners, examining the rooms and opening the cupboards and turning the taps on and off. They did not comment on anything that they saw, just smiled and nodded, piled back into their cars and were soon gone. Then I started to worry what we had agreed to. I said to Jonny what if they valued the house at a lot less than we wanted for it, what if they did not like it and we did not have enough money left to get us to Australia, what if?, what if,? what if? Jonny told me not to worry. We had agreed to a ‘righteous transaction’ and all would be well. Mark contacted us and told us that his colleagues were in agreement about the house and they all agreed that R250 thousand was a fair price for our home, before we did any painting or repair work.
The next day we got a call from John Rolandson asking if he and Barbara could bring Murray and Linda to have a look at the house. They came in the afternoon and we left them to look around the house. When they had had a good look around they all came inside and Murray made us an offer of R240 thousand as he felt that there was quite a lot of work that needed to be done to get the house into tip top condition. Jonny and I looked at each other and were about to agree to the lower price but mentioned to John that we had agreed to a righteous deal and that we had prayed about it. Then John spoke up. He said, “No! We agreed that we would pay the price that Mark Weber valued the house at and I will stand by that, R250 thousand is what Mark said it is worth, he saw that it needs a coat of paint, he thinks it is worth that and that is the price we will pay for it. Murray and Linda, if you don’t want the house I will buy it and I will pay the R250 thousand”. So within three weeks of our discussion to make a move and go to live in Australia we had without advertising, sold our house and got a higher price than we had originally thought it was worth.
I was happy that our house was going to such a nice young couple and their little boy Reese but I was a little disappointed that they did not seem to love the house the way we did, but I was wrong about that. About a week after the sale, Linda phoned me and asked if she could bring her Dad around to see the house as he was visiting them and wanted to see what they were buying. While her Dad looked around the house Linda and I sat drinking tea and chatting. She told me that every evening after work, she and Murray had driven passed the house, parked their car just up the hill where they could look at the house and sat there for about half an hour looking at “their” house and dreaming about what it would be like to live in it. I was pleased to hear that, I knew then that it was going to good hands and it would be loved the way we had loved it.
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