The MORTGAGE FAIRY

Paul didn’t just help people sell houses…

Paul gazed glumly out of the window. When he’d got his job at the estate agents, he’d thought he’d be having fun, matching clients to their perfect properties, advising the sellers how to achieve the best price.

He hadn’t thought he’d be mainly stuck in the office doing admin, only taking viewings in antisocial hours.

The phone rang and he gazed anxiously at his boss, Gary, as he answered it.

His spirits soared when Gary turned to him, smiling.

‘Just the job for you, Paul. Bramble Rise. Cathy Lomax. Wants to sell in a hurry. Can you go round at 8pm?’

‘No problem!’

‘I think it’s a matrimonial,’ Gary added. ‘Divorcing.’ ‘Oh,’ Paul frowned.

‘No, no, matrimonials are good,’ said Gary. ‘Especially when there are kiddies.’

‘There are children involved?’

‘I hope so.’

‘Gary!’

‘No, no, I don’t mean it like that,’ said Gary. ‘But if they’ve got children, the father won’t want to move far away, will he? So we could get one sale and two purchases out of this.’ Paul frowned.

‘Oh, don’t look so disapproving, it’s all good for business. It’s amazing how many marriages break up after Christmas when everyone’s been cooped up inside together, irritating each other.’

Paul sighed. He’d taken this job thinking he’d be helping people, fulfilling their dreams and aspirations.

He hated it when people were selling because they were splitting up. Maybe it was an amicable split…

By the look of Cathy’s face when she opened the door, that wasn’t the case.

‘Lovely house you’ve got here,’ Paul said, smiling brightly.

‘Yes, it’s been a very happy home,’ Cathy said. ‘Well, it was…’

‘What a welcoming hall!’ Paul continued, stepping inside. ‘Nicely decorated.’

‘Yes, we did it together, when I was pregnant.’

‘You have children?’

‘Two,’ said Cathy. ‘The youngest one’s five.’

‘Ah, I’ve got a five-year old too,’ Paul replied. ‘He’s such a bundle of energy!’

‘Tell me about it,’ Cathy said, leading him into the kitchen.

‘Very nice,’ said Paul, scribbling on his pad.

‘Lovely outlook over the garden, plenty of room to eat in here — so great when you have kiddies.’

‘It’s the centre of the home,’ said Cathy, and then she crumpled on to a chair. ‘Oh dear…’

‘Are you all right?’ asked Paul anxiously. ‘Can I get you anything?’

Cathy shook her head.

‘It’s just… well, I never thought it would come to

‘He loves his job more than he loves me. He’s never here, he’s always working’

this. Selling up. Splitting up from my husband…’

‘Are you sure it’s the right thing to do just now?’

‘What?’

‘Well, perhaps January isn’t the best time to try selling your house.’

Cathy shook her head. ‘I know, but we can’t stay together any longer. He… doesn’t love me any more.’ ‘Oh dear…’

‘At least, he loves his job more than he loves me,’ Cathy continued. ‘He’s never here, he’s always working.’

‘My wife would say the same about me,’ Paul sighed.

‘I mean, look — he’s not here now. The children are in bed and he hasn’t even seen them today.’

‘Just like me. My wife gets so angry with me when I work late. But I love her and my kids to bits.’.

‘So, why do it?’ Cathy said, giving him a sharp look.

‘It’s a requirement of my job,’ Paul frowned. ‘And we need the money.’

‘Dave says we need the money too. But when we were just married, before we had children, he never used to work long hours and we had enough money then.’ ‘Well, kids do cost a lot…’ She shook her head.

‘It’s more than that, we argue so much, he’s always irritable.’

‘Maybe because he’s tired from working so hard?’

‘Or he’s bored of me and the kids. I mean, what’s the point of having them if you’re never there for them? They need their dad.’

‘Of course they do. But if you split up, he’ll see even less of them.’

‘He’ll probably make more of an effort,’ Cathy shrugged. ‘He says he wants to have them every weekend.’

‘That’ll be hard on you.’ ‘What?’

‘All the nagging and none of the fun.’

‘Pardon?’

‘Well, you’ll be the one who has them in the week, telling them to go to bed, get up on time, get everything ready for school, do their homework, remember their PE kit, doing their packed lunches and washing. And he’ll be the one who has the fun with them — taking them to the zoo, the burger bar, the theme park…’ ‘Yes…’

‘Still, at least that way they’ll get to see him. What does he do?’

‘Sells double glazing.’

Paul smiled.

‘Have you ever thought — maybe he doesn’t want to work so hard?’

‘He says he doesn’t. He says he’d rather be at home, but the mortgage doesn’t pay itself.’

‘Maybe if you had a smaller mortgage?’

Cathy looked at Paul.

‘Who are you, the mortgage fairy?’

‘No, but the payments would be less if you moved somewhere cheaper, somewhere smaller.’

‘We wouldn’t fit anywhere smaller! We need three bedrooms.’

Paul shrugged.

‘Not necessarily. My great-grandparents had five kids and two bedrooms.

And no dining room.’

‘What?’

‘And an outside loo. It was a squash, but they managed. And they were very happy.’ Cathy sighed wistfully.

‘All I want is to be happy…’

Paul smiled.

‘The prices have just been reduced further on those new townhouses. If you sold this house and moved there, you could reduce your mortgage by £50,000 and your hubby wouldn’t have to work so hard and he’d be home quicker.’

‘If he wanted to be home quicker…’

‘Why don’t you talk to him about it?’ asked Paul. ‘I’ll just go and measure up upstairs. I won’t wake the kids.’

How did you get on last night?’ Gary asked Paul the next day.

‘It’s a lovely house, great condition,’ said Paul. ‘I think we’ll sell it easily. It’s perfect for Mr and Mrs Simms who I saw last week. They already have a buyer interested and want to move downmarket.’ Gary frowned.

‘The Simmses? You let me down there, they were going to split up and buy two houses, but after you visited, they’re just buying a smaller one.’

Suddenly the phone rang. Gary picked it up.

‘Mrs Lomax, hello…’

Paul sat up. He wondered if she’d followed his advice last night.

‘That’s good!’ Gary grinned, giving Paul the thumbs-up. ‘I like to think my staff are helpful…’

And then he frowned. ‘Only one… Did he? OK.’ Gary put the phone down. ‘That’s very strange,’ he said. ‘Yesterday she told me that she and her husband were splitting up.’

‘Doesn’t she want to sell?’ asked Paul.

‘Oh, yes,’ said Gary, ‘but they’re not getting divorced. Just like Mr and Mrs Simms, she and her husband are staying together and buying a smaller house.’

Paul grinned at him.

Result!

‘I don’t know why you’re smiling,’ said Gary. ‘If you keep coming back with just one house sale instead of two, I’ll be cutting your overtime.’

Paul frowned, but then he remembered Mrs Lomax yesterday.

Maybe he should be spending more time at home. Perhaps they could downsize too, if necessary.

And maybe he’d even have enough time to do that part-time course to pursue his dream career — as a counsellor!