Chapter 14 - The Cottage Sold, and My Life Did Not Get Smaller
Claire listed the property six weeks after the confrontation.
We priced it carefully.
Not some revenge sale.
Market conditions in Malibu were:
uneven.
Insurance costs had risen.
Coastal properties sat longer than sellers expected.
We received:
two low offers,
one bizarre all-cash offer with impossible contingencies,
then a serious buyer.
The cottage sold four months later for:
$4.15 million.
After:
mortgage payoff,
commissions,
tax considerations,
closing costs,
improvements,
the number left to me was substantial.
Not:
$4.15 million cash.
Real-estate math.
I used part to:
buy a smaller three-bedroom home closer to Eli’s school.
Not oceanfront.
Thirty minutes from:
the beach.
Ten from:
his mother.
Seven from:
school.
Best luxury feature?
He could bike to:
two friends’ houses.
Lauren laughed when she saw it.
“You finally bought a house for the person actually living in it.”
Fair.
The rest of the proceeds went into:
investments,
tax reserves,
Eli’s education planning.
No family fund.
No automatic rescue pool.
I also changed how I handled:
parents.
If I wanted to give Mom and Dad a trip:
gift.
Clear amount.
If Jenna requested business money:
proposal.
Terms.
Or:
no.
The first time she asked after our reconciliation:
“I need $20,000 for a client deposit.”
I asked:
“Loan or gift?”
She stared.
Then laughed.
“Loan.”
We wrote:
a promissory note.
She repaid:
every installment.
Our relationship improved because there was nothing hidden inside:
May you like
the help.
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