A House, Still Disordered

 I've been too busy to type, so let me attempt to catch you up.

The water is out of my aunt's basement. My sister tried to DIY this with a rented pump, but she ultimately called a service. Our initial estimate was over $9,000 to drain and repair, so we only paid about $3,600 just for the water. We had a chance encounter with the neighborhood handyman, who has been very helpful. (I owe her money, but that's another story.) The basement itself is a 99% loss, and we can't pool any more of our own finances into further repairs. 

The objective now is cleaning up the top two floors for an estate sale in late July, then a short sale of the property. When all is said and done, we might make a meager profit; the house is in a nice neighborhood in upper-middle-class Naperville, but the needed repairs, estate debts, and legal fees will drain almost all of that money. The basement door remains shut, out of fear black mold could still spread.

Our other concern is the neighbors. The same family that were de facto caretakers took issue with how we were initially pumping out the water, and it's been contentious ever since. The handyman told us he's an entitled dick, and we should take his fuming and posturing with a grain of salt. 

Meanwhile... 34 counts. Forgive the delay on my comments, but in the wake of the Trump verdict four weeks ago, his base is just as galvanized as I feared. There's a 50/50 chance we'll get a president-elect under house arrest in south Florida.

Here's to 19 years of blogging. Let's see what awaits for year 20.

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A House, Disordered

We inherited a mess.

After months of struggling to find our aunt's lawyer, we reached out to our lawyer as a last resort. They found an attorney based in Chicago proper, and after a long convo, I reluctantly agreed to be trustee for my aunt's estate. (The two trustees she appointed, my father and her husband, are both long dead.) Her house in Naperville is the entire estate, and we also inherited a mortgage and other debts. Additionally, her sister-in-law was also bequeathed money. When all is said and done, my sister and I might break even. 

When we made out first posthumous visit to the house last July, we did not make a positive impression on the house's caretaker, our aunt's next-door neighbor. This time, we showed him the paperwork, and he agreed to cooperate. Before we walked in, he warned us that there might have been some flooding in the basement. There was a snowstorm in the area in mid-January, and he hadn't been in the house since around New Year's. 

Indeed, there was flooding. About five feet of standing water, just sitting there for about a month. We called State Farm, our aunt's insurer, and they won't help because the heat was turned off. The house permeates with black mold, so have to open windows and wear masks. Thankfully, most of items we want weren't in the basement, but there's still the matter of making the house inhabitable again.

Stay tuned.

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Random Notes, October 2021

 If I post "random notes" about once a month, your eyes are not deceiving:

+ I won't lie, President Biden had a rough August and September. Like, fifth-year-in-a-two-term-presidency rough. Compared to Dubya (2005; Katrina and Iraq) and Obama (2013; the botched ACA rollout) these have been miscues but not yet administration-defining fiascos. As far as Afghanistan is concerned, we had been going in circles for awhile; if we learned anything from three administrations ago, a financial surge wasn't going to win this once and for all. COVID has proven tough to defeat as well, and the economy has been sluggish. However, in those regards there's still plenty of time to turn things around. 

+ The house in Downers is almost sold. After spending a fair chunk of my spring and summer cleaning and reorganizing --right up to this week, really-- the burden is almost off our shoulders. My sister is working with a realtor that she knows from high school, and we're on the hook for some minor repairs (wiring and foundation). 

+ After barely working this summer --the house was a massive undertaking-- I've taken on a long-term substitute teaching gig. It's double my normal rate, which will definitely help alleviate some credit card debt. 

Next time (whenever that is) the conclusion of the Daisy saga.

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