A Man With Dreams Needs a Woman With Vision

I saw this meme and sent it to my boyfriend Kevin a while back. He adores it and keeps sending it to me to reiterate how much it reminds him of us. He loves it so much that he’s going to frame it. I love it too. I used to know Kevin as a supervisor and a friendly man who was easy to talk to, calming to be around, and cute. After I started dating him, I found out he had some demons.  As we fell in love and became a couple, we invited each other “in” so to speak, and shared our demons. 

Kevin’s last romantic relationship ended in 1996. He’s about to turn 58, so he was 30 in 1996. When that relationship ended, he moved into this townhouse with his grandmother. He lived there with his grandmother for the next five years, and when she passed away in 2001, he inherited it. It’s completely paid off, and I’m not sure when it was paid off. I don’t know if his grandmother paid it off or he did. I never asked. But Kevin wouldn’t let me into his home for the longest time. Finally he said he was “cleaning up” so that I could come in and spend the night or maybe the weekend there. Then, he allowed me only into the living room. When I was allowed into the master bedroom, he told me about the thing that was slowly eating at him and destroying him. 

The townhouse has a very bad foundation. It’s so bad that the ceiling is coming down. This is actually a picture of the master bedroom. In the vanity area leading to the bathroom, he concocted that structure to prevent the ceiling from falling further. 
 

I had never seen anything like this. Kevin told me that he attempted to have it fixed twice, with one time splitting the cost with a neighbor and the second time using a company that his own HOA recommended. But obviously, neither truly fixed it. His house is the second from the right in a row of five shared wall townhomes. There is a HOA that rides around in golf carts doing I’m not sure what. He explained that the foundation issue also causes problems with the pipes in his unit. He goes outside to turn his own water on when he wants to use it and then goes outside to shut it off when not in use. Kevin explained to me that he has lived in massive fear over whatever liability issues he may have with his neighbors and with the HOA. I suggested selling it to an investor. He said “no one” would ever buy it. 

But with me taking real estate class, I wanted more information. One morning, I picked up the phone and called the manager of the Houston office of we buy ugly houses dot com. We have all seen their ads. It says “we buy ugly houses” and has a little character that looks like Oscar the grouch. I told this guy everything that I knew. I asked him if it was possible for Kevin to sell it to an investor with the problems that come with liability from the neighbors and the HOA. This guy assured me that “these situations”were what they specialize in. I didn’t give him Kevin’s address, as Kevin didn’t even know I was calling yet. But I did tell him the name of the complex and the intersection. I asked the ugly house man, “Are you familiar with them?”  He just said “yes.”  I asked further, “Are they difficult to deal with?”  He simply responded “Yes.”  I then asked “Well with them and how difficult they are, would you still buy it?”  He said that this is his company’s speciality. So with all those answers, I went to Kevin fully aware that he might be upset at me for calling without his knowledge. 

But he wasn’t. He was actually shocked. He told me, “If he can take on all the liability, then I would give him this place for free.”  I said, “OK but don’t tell him that.  Let him offer you something.”  

I sat with Kevin while we spoke with ugly house man on speakerphone. Kevin was so nervous he was shaking. At one point in the conversation, I started massaging the back of his neck for comfort. At the same time, ugly house man said something and Kevin responded, “Yeah I know babe.”  We both then burst out laughing trying to conceal the laughter. With his nerves, and my neck massage, he had accidentally called ugly house man “babe.”  

Anyway, ugly house man went to Kevin’s place the next day at noon, but I couldn’t be there because I was working. When I got off at 2:00, I saw a text from Kevin saying that ugly house man offered him $50K for the townhouse. He’s buying it as is, and Kevin never has to worry about these “liability issues” ever again, whether they are real or imagined. 

Closing day is on February 26th, the day after his birthday. There are a couple options, but whatever he chooses, I’m going with him. 

I’m going to do a part two of this post when I feel like it. Kevin is now treating me like a queen and humming wedding songs under his breath. He also said I deserve a diamond ring.  I said it doesn’t have to be a diamond. So I think it’s safe to say that whenever he gets settled, I may be getting engaged. And that’s crazy to me. My old boyfriend was totally against marriage and I have a lot of ppl on my life who also are. 

I know that places like we buy ugly houses dot com are controversial- I agree with the controversy, and will touch on that in part two. But for right now, for Kevin personally, all things considered, it’s the best option for him. This is a person I have fallen in love with, who has been riddled with demons over this situation. His mental health took a nosedive over it. Now, “because of me” he claims, because he would have never called ugly hoise ppl, he’s not only free of all his worries but being free of all his worries also comes with fifty thousand dollars.