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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