It happened! The opportunity my brothers and I have been waiting for just got the green light! A house that is very dear to our hearts went up for sale, we wrote an offer, and…It was accepted!!
I know everyone had quite the 2020, but for our family, 2019 hit hard. Our older brother, Craig, suffered a debilitating stroke in January; our step-father, Ron, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and lost his battle in July; and in October, our sweet, sweet mother passed away. It was quite the year, and not in a good way.
So many stories begin with a tragedy or an event (or two or three) that you never wanted to have happen, taking place, and from that you grow. Our family grew by becoming a team. We took some time to grieve, to lean on one another, to learn about life without our Matriarch, and then we got to work. My brothers, Brian and John, and I were tasked with bringing the family home into the 21st century and then selling it. Brian, as our general contractor, knew what repairs and renovations needed to be done to bring the home up to code; John was amazing at accomplishing any task assigned to him, and I took care of budgeting and supplies. We did many of the repairs ourselves, brought in experts or subcontractors when it made sense, and recruited so many family members to help. But in less than two months’ time, the home looked spectacular and sold in two days for over the asking price!
The team was reassembled last month when I had a listing for a small 2-bedroom, 2-bath condo that needed a few updates. Again, Brian assigned the tasks, John executed them, and this time, not only did I handle purchasing and budgeting, but with my Real Estate License, I marketed and sold it. It was under contract quickly with an offer over asking price.
And then just a few days from closing on the condo, our next project dropped into our laps.
Our new home belonged to a church family member and close friend of Brian’s, who willed her house to Brian’s best friends. From the start, Brian and his friends made plans for how the Horton/Cohen team would get back together to restore the house to the charming family home it once was. However, over the past year and a half the will has been contested, lawyers have become involved, resolutions have been made, and finally, the house was eligible to be marketed and sold. John, Brian, and I put in an offer and out of 19 others, ours was chosen. We got the house!
The home is a 1977, 4-bedroom, 3-bath home in the city of Orange. It needs some work, but renovated, it will be beautiful, and we can’t wait to get started! Life is so funny. Here I was making big plans to help educators and new home buyers enter the real estate market, but apparently, I’m in the Home Renovation business. Who knew??
So…if you are either a buyer or a seller and your home needs updates, come on over to FirstHomeEd.com and let’s get started.
All good things,
Diana Cohen
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