Peggy was a very good person; she had fostered disabled adults most of her life. One day she saw an ad for a house to rent in Mexico and suddenly decided she wanted to move. She found tenants for her existing home in Tucson, Arizona. She rented her lovely brick home with a pool to a couple who also fostered disabled adults. Her home had previously been certified for just that purpose.

After a couple of months enjoying and adjusting to life in Mexico, a couple knocked on Peggy's door and asked what she was doing living in their home! She had been the victim of an online scam. She discovered she had been paying rent to someone other than the property owner for months. She ended up moving back to Tucson and rented a small bungalow, choosing not to disrupt the tenants occupying her home.

A few years later, Peggy decided she needed to sell her property and met a real estate agent through a friend's referral. The tenants wanted to purchase the home, so she needed a real estate agent to write a contract for the sale of property.

During the meeting with Peggy, the real estate agent learned that when she purchased the home years ago from a local commercial broker, he had reserved an easement on the back of the property so he could park an overabundance of cars from his business, if needed. It encompassed most of the fenced back yard, including the pool.

The local commercial broker never used the easement, but it had been recorded with the county. Peggy reached out to him to deed the easement back to her. The commercial broker demanded $10,000 in exchange for the easement deed. Peggy did not have that kind of money.

The real estate agent introduced Peggy to a trusted attorney named Stephen. He started working for her right away, even though he already had a large caseload. It took several meetings with the commercial broker over a three month period, but finally the easement was released to Peggy with no payment due. Thank goodness, because Peggy was then diagnosed with breast cancer and she desperately needed the proceeds from the sale of the property to pay for her medical bills.

The tenants buying Peggy's house had to qualify for a loan which was a tricky proposition, since their earned income was solely from fostering adults with disabilities. The tenants had a 401K account balance they were able to use for a large down payment. During the time it took to obtain the easement deed, they used the money they earned fostering to pay down some debt. They were able to qualify for a new loan and four months after the contract was written, the deal closed. This story proves miracles do happen in real estate, and patience and persistence do pay off.

This article was provided by real estate agent Donna Gallagher.