Excellent day

Good evening / morning

So I rolled out ready to take on the day.  Now it takes more effort to roll out, even to stand up than in past years.

I was in Orinda at 10 and enjoyed seeing a carefully maintained home on a large site.  Filled with mature landscaping and backed by an upsloping hill with a forest growing on it our house had a large pool, big yard and a quiet setting with a circular driveway.  The owners have been very careful in improving the home over the years and it was in great original condition.  Probably worth about 1.1 million at least due to where it is located.  The gentleman was so great, had every positive thing he could think of written on the sheet for me.  Sad situation though as his wife has dementia and just sat in her own world, blood clots had taken a leg and his days of happy communication with her are over.  So to help solve their financial challenges like $5,000 a month for care for her in the home he has turned to a reverse mortgage.  Most of what I'm doing at present is for reverse mortgages and I love meeting the older people and sharing with them.

The next stop was for a chance to shoot a bath and bedroom I had missed shooting when I was there originally, not sure how it happened but she was gracious in letting me shoot what I needed.

Then it was on to Dublin where I visited a sad world, the husband died of a stroke on the 19th of September leaving her to pick up the pieces of her life.  I was there to file a report of the value at the time she lost him.  Her loss is very raw and we were able to talk a bit about the process and to affirm that she is on her way to recovery but it will take time.

After leaving her home I found a nearby Starbucks for two things, lunch and a clean bathroom.  Both worked out great and they had several multi grain bagels on hand.  One tasted with butter was my lunch.  Then I set out for Brentwood.

In Brentwood I passed through the security gate and found the home which backed to the golf course.  This 55 and over community has a host of people seeking reverse mortgages and this was yet another one.  A bit cluttered the home was fine and had a great view of the golf course and Mt. Diablo.

Once I was through I drove to a nearby Brentwood address to revisit a home we had seen recently.  Now it had strapped water heater, CO detector and smoke detectors, all needed items if you want a loan of any kind.

From there I drove to Discovery Bay where I inspected a home for a family seeing to get some relief from their loan, my work will be sent to Well Fargo in hopes someone there will have some sense and reduce the payments to a level they can handle or get rid of the second loan.

After that visit I shot some Discovery Bay photos for comps and then came home.  Marilyn was almost home from her trip to Sacramento where she has been working through her sisters things since they will be shared with Marilyn's daughter Lori and another niece Shannon who lives nearby.

So both of us were hungry and we went to Big Al's a local place with decent food.  I found an excellent garden burger and she a salad that was huge.

Then we went to Safeway for a few groceries, nice to once again have some money.  Oh yes and on that score one lender did a direct deposit into my account and two checks came in the mail and I picked up payment for two reports today so things are turning better.  I am SO thankful to see some funds.

Late this afternoon I heard from the kids in Hawaii.  They were in Hilo at the zoo and for once it was not raining.  Hilo is one of the wettest cities in the world so having a dry day there is pretty amazing.
Its a fun zoo to visit and Hilo has wonderful falls and surf to enjoy.  That they were there means they had traveled around the island today, that is not an easy trip but a very beautiful experience.

Sending love to all,

Tim