Sad Trip

The "Welcome to Pennsylvania" sign at the Delaware-Pennsylvania border outside Newark, Delaware

Hey Ron =

 

Hope you and Bill are well.  It's been a hot time around here has your area has escaped this warm summer? 

 

Forgive me for not keeping in touch....seems Mike and I are always on the go and travel more now than ever (we are fortunate to be able to do so).

 

While reading the fine print in the Daily Local News this morning, I came across a notice of "Upset Sales" being held Sept. 13, 2010.  These properties are for sale through the Chester County Tax Claim Bureau to satisfy unpaid taxes - could be municipal, county, or school district taxes.  Anyhow, I noticed that 161 Crawford is listed (the owner's name is shown as David Goldschmidt) and the amount owed is $17,405.92. 

 

I called the Tax Claim Bureau to ask how this works and was told that the $17,000 listed is theoretically the starting price of the auction for the home but the bidding could go much higher.  Sad to see your beautiful place in such a state.

 

Mike and I occasionally go up the driveway to look around - hopefully, the inside of the home is not damaged.  Those of us who live in the woods know that mold and mildew are a constant problem and you must stay on top of it.  I didn't see any damage from recent storms other than a lot of branches down on the ground.  We actually lost several trees.

 

Remind me of your mailing address and I will cut out this page of the paper and mail it to you.

 

Regards,

Becky

This is an e-mail I received yesterday from my former neighbor and friend Becky C.  It is in reference to our former home in Pennsylvania.  Early this morning Bill and I made a return trip to our former home.

Bill and I built our former home in 1980 from 6.875 acres of wooded land we purchased in East Brandywine township in 1976.  We sold our home in November of 2006.  We had over twenty five wonderful years in our wooded paradise.  Bill put unmeasurable sweat equity into our former home.  We raised three beautiful Pomeranian dogs at our home on 161 Crawford Road, Downingtown, Pennsylvania.

Last year another former neighbor of our told us that our former home was up for sale.  We were very surprised because the young couple from Florida who had purchased our home seemed so happy on the day of settlement.  I remember the young man and his beautiful blonde wife (I kidded him about how did he ever manage to get such a beautiful wife) telling me that his two young dark haired daughters would now have plenty of space to play.

Now to hear this news, that our former beautiful home is now going to be auctioned off for payment of back taxes.  What makes it especially sad is that Bill never wanted to move to Delaware.  I was forced to sell our home and move to Delaware because I could no longer afford to pay the ever escalating high school property taxes of Pennsylvania.  How ironic that our former home is now going to be auctioned off because of failure to pay those very taxes.

The trip today was very sad.  Our formerly beautifully manicured property is now overgrown with weeds.  The roof gutters are crammed with debris.  The three fish ponds that I had so lovingly cared for are now dark with dead leaves and the only occupants are frogs.  Long gone are the many goldfish who who were born, lived and died in those ponds for years.  

Bill at the entrance that he built to our former Pennsylvania home this morning

The leaf strewn entrance to our former garage - many a trip was made up this incline

Bill built this terrace, one brick at a time. It took him over 20 years to complete

The front of the house - the ivy and green mold is taking over

Me on the steps of the sunroom that Bill built, one brick at a time

The "grand staircase" of steps that Bill built - one brick at a time

One of the  three hundred dollar lamps that Bill put on top of his masterpiece

Gone are the days are the sounds of the happy "yap! yap!" of our Poms now replaced with the occasional breeze through the tall pine trees and the birds who now have taken back possession of their woodland home.  

The auction is scheduled to take place Monday, September 13th.  We will be there. If we had the money, we would buy it back.  But we don't.  One thing is for sure, whoever does buy our former home will be getting a bargain.  We spent many a happy day there.     Our dogs are still buried there, near one of the ponds.  Their ghosts still romp in the grass.

Me playing with Horace 1982 a year after moving into our new home

Horace looking at his new home 1982

Me posing for a 1985 Christmas card picture with "the kids" at the entrance

Me with Horace and his daughter "Babydoll" in happier times 

Note:  I'm keeping the "happy" music on this posting because this is the way I want to remember our former home.  Our dogs lived a long, good life on that property as did Bill and I.  We will miss it terribly.  

Reality is Settling In

The reality of the condition of our former home is starting to settle in now. Back when we sold our home in November of 2006 I would never have predicted that our former home would end up as a "Grey Gardens" home. It is ironic because just a few weeks ago I saw the documentary about Grey Gardens from one of my Netflix DVD rentals.

Bill has always been upset that we left our home in Pennsylvania because he treasured the privacy that it offered him. Over the twenty five years that we lived there, he put his heart and soul into building the sun room and the massive brick edifice in the front of the building. It was heartbreaking for Bill to see the neglect of the property over the last three years.



Bill builds drainage ditches. They were all clogged with debris. The roof gutters had weeds growing out of them from the accumulation of three years worth of debris.



My fishponds that I lovingly took care of faithfully every spring, summer and fall were loaded with dead leaves. Incredibly, one of the fish ponds still had two goldfish in them. One was a large goldfish. I wonder if it was a survivor from the original goldfish I had in the ponds when I left in November of 2006. I felt like I betrayed them.

Bill said he wouldn't have felt as bad if the new owners had taken pride in the property and improved upon what we had already done. But apparently all they did was use the property and now they're going to move on.



It's hard for me to understand how an owner can even put up a property for sale with all the overgrown weeds and trash laying around. The house is dirty inside. I remember well what one real estate agent told me after one of my sixty plus showings of the house when I was trying to sell it. He said that he had never in his twenty five years of selling houses seen one as clean as mine for a showing.

Bill and I busted our behinds making the house immaculate prior to each showing. I always made sure I had fresh flowers throughout the house before any showing. We had all the lights on and soft music playing throughout the house. Both fish ponds were well stocked with fish and plants and had clear water recirculation through them. The fish were happy. Bill and I both kept the grounds around the house mowed, trimmed and bursting with colorful flowers. In retrospect it was all to no avail. We finally sold the house but I don't think it made a bit of difference how we presented the house. All the potential buyers were interested in was how low could they go in the price. The blood was in the water and I was on a fool not to recognize it.



The new owner has the property up for sale for $549,000. I sold it to him in November of 2006 for $500,000. He originally offered me $450,000. When I first put the house on the market in January of 2006 I was asking $695,000. The house was worth $625,000. I should have taken my real estate agent's advice and started at $650,000 but I didn't and I paid the price for it. What is ironic now is that the new owner will probably get close to his asking price. I would not be surprised at all. What surprises me is how anyone could take a beautiful property like we sold to him and totally neglect it for three years and then have the nerve to put it on the market in the state that it is in and ask a higher price. He has something that I don't have, chutzpah.