It's February 1st and I'm still trying to recuperate from last week. Hold on tight. It's a doozy.
Monday January 25 my realtor came over and took pictures of the house. We had a nice visit; she hadn't been back to the house in a year. I became a bit sad as she was complimenting everything I'd done to the house. I've decorated and made my house a cozy home and it seemed unfair that I should have to leave it through no fault of my own. I actually started to question if this was the right decision.
Tuesday morning my neighbor got up at 6:00 am and turned on the news. It wasn't extremely loud, just loud enough that I knew it was on. Suddenly, at 7:04 am, he turned the volume up full blast. I could hear CBS News blasting in my bedroom, hallway, kitchen, all the way into my living room. Then I heard his garage door. I was livid. I immediately called the police and reported what was going on. I got dressed quickly, then when I walked out into the living room I heard music. Not only was the tv on full blast but he also left his stereo on with a rap song on repeat. The song he was playing was absolutely vile; there were F-bombs being thrown left and right, and as my son said that wasn't even the worst of it. I went to his next door neighbor and asked her if she could hear the noise, and she confirmed that it could be heard in her house as well. I was so angry I was shaking.
The police officer arrived about 30 minutes later. He couldn't believe the music was coming from the neighbor's house downstairs. He acknowledged that the music and television were beyond loud. I then showed him the Facebook message he sent me where he threatened to report me to child protective services because I was abusing my autistic son. E was standing behind him, and the officer asked him his name. Whenever the officer asked if he was autistic, it was noticeable by my son's face that it upset him. He quickly answered, "No sir, I am not." The police officer looked perplexed and went to his patrol car to look up the history on this gentleman. Next thing I knew there were two more patrol cars and police were in my home listening to all the noise and asking questions about the harassment that has been going on since I moved here.
After two hours the police told me they wanted to go to the school where my neighbor works and serve him with a noise violation, but the principal of the school refused to have them do this while children were present. They explained that all they could do was give him a citation (which is $35) unless I wanted to file charges for stalking. At this point I was in tears. I was so upset and confused. I told them I'd speak to my lawyer and see what he recommended.
I could tell the officers wanted me to file charges; one of them said if I did he'd arrest my neighbor immediately and most likely he'd be suspended from his job. Sounds like the best scenario, right? Not according to my attorney. What he explained to me is this: first off, there have been 44 complaints between my neighbor and myself in the last five months - 26 of those from me - and yet only now were they ready to issue the first citation. This citation could make the neighbor leave me alone, but more than likely it would make him mad. He's already shown himself to be vindictive and evil, so there's no telling what he might do if he is arrested and loses his job. He also explained that it was not likely that the judge would issue a restraining order since this neighbor can't be kicked out of his home. There would be an order for him to stay away from me, but would he abide by it? There's already an order for him to stay off my property, but it hasn't stopped him from harassing and stalking me. My attorney's advise was simple: Get out. Use the money I would have spent on court fees and get a nice air BNB and stay away. I've spent that night and every night since at my daughter's house.
Here's what really convinced me that I need to leave this place. The officers told me they would wait for my neighbor in the school parking lot and serve him the citation there. At 2:30 pm I see three patrol cars in front of my house; clearly they hadn't gone to the school. They waited about a half hour and he didn't show up. About 5 - 10 minutes later, I was in my son's room talking to him when I glanced out the window and saw my neighbor walking into his house. His car wasn't there. I ran and called the police to report that he'd finally come home on foot, either leaving his car somewhere or after having been dropped off. We could hear him slamming doors left and right in his house. Before the police could arrive, he left and walked away. I'm sure he parked his car in another area of the community in a guest spot. He has cameras all around his house, so he probably sat in his car waiting for the police to leave so he could come back. He left with a messenger bag and didn't turn any of the noise off.
Wednesday E and I came back to the house and I realized he was home. At 12:30 he started playing music, though not so loud as he'd done before. I imagine he didn't go to work because he feared the police were gonna look for him there. I called the police and let them know he was home and playing music so they could add it to the existing police report. Did they come to serve him with the citation? No. To this day I don't know if they've been able to make contact with him. I feel let down because the abuse has been going on for so long and everyone knows about it but he continues to get away with it. Anyway, I began packing things like decor that I don't use on a regular basis, when my realtor called to let me know she had a couple of showings already scheduled. The listing had gone live late Tuesday night so to have showings that fast got my hopes up. Both were scheduled for the next day.
Thursday afternoon my realtor called again. She was coming over earlier because now she had three showings. She lives about 45 minutes away from me so she tried to get all the showings back to back; this, she says, also helps get people who are interested to move quickly. I got the house ready and left her here to do her work. Thanks to my Ring video doorbell I could see the people who were coming to view the house, and I prayed God would send a man to buy my house. I don't want to sell to a woman; I don't wish this harassment and abuse on anyone. The last gentleman who came seemed very interested. After his realtor left he asked if he could take another look at the house. He asked my realtor not to show the house to anyone else because he was very interested. She told him she doesn't work like that; until she has something in writing she is obligated to continue to show the house. We both believed he was the most likely candidate to put in an offer.
Friday at 8:30 am I got the call from my realtor. Just by the sound of her voice I knew it was good, but I didn't know how good. I got an offer above asking price! That was totally unexpected! I see God's hand all over this. Everything I asked for He did, then went above and beyond to show me that nothing is impossible for Him. I signed the paperwork Friday night. We are now officially under contract.
The buyer has seven days to do the inspection so I'm anticipating that will be done this week. In the next couple of weeks I'm gonna have to head up to Central Florida to start looking at homes as well. Part of me is excited but another part of me is getting anxious about the whirlwind that is coming. Homes in Central Florida are being snatched up quick. As a cash buyer I have an advantage, but my cash is limited and homes start to get more expensive as sellers see more movement. I have faith that God will open the right doors for me and I trust in His timing. My problem is that I like to take things slow and think things through; I may not have a lot of time to do that. But we shall see. As the song says,
"I've seen You move,
You move the mountains,
and I believe I'll see You do it again."
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