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January 2008

“Me-No-Money”

 I know of a Real Estate Agent who is presently working on a deal with 4 members of the same family. In observing his situation it reminded me of a time, some years ago, when I was a Real Estate Agent in the fair city of North Bay, situated in Northern Ontario, here in Canada.

A young couple was engaged to be married. They were both born in Canada from Italian parents who had immigrated many years earlier.  As a dowry, the Mother of the bride was expected to buy a house for her daughter. In the end, I found myself having to sell a house to the young couple, to her parents, and for good measure to his parents too – a total of 6 people!  The Italian Mother of the bride, who could hardly speak English, kept saying in a tone of sorrow, “Me-No-Money” to everything.

A maximum price was set and I proceeded to show the young couple every house in that price range. At the time North Bay had a population of 80,000. Talk about “spinning your wheels” as it is called in the trade….  With each viewing of a house much discussion arose.  Not only did the young couple want a house they liked, but they also had to determine if her Mother, “Me-No-Money”, would like it, and if the choice was also acceptable to his Mother.

We eventually found a house the couple both liked.  Now, to make things look honorable, I had to sell the house to both sets of parents.  Tradition dictated that the parents of the groom were to view the house first and then the parents of the bride.  Each time I showed 3 houses in the set price range.  The first two were intended to be a comparison for the third house, which was actually the young couple’s preference.  Needless to say, each time I showed the 3 houses, the parents’ final choice was the third one, which looked very good indeed, after viewing the first 2 “comparison” houses.

When the time came to write the offer to purchase the house the young couple were sitting on pins and needles.  They did not move and said absolutely nothing as I was filling out the documents. Me-No-Money’s husband was very cautiously translating my questions to his wife and then translating her answers back to me.  When I asked the Mother of the bride how she wanted to pay for the house, Mrs. “Me-No-Money” understood me quite well and replied in a very matter of fact tone, “Oh, CASH”.

Remembering some personal experiences and want to share some laughs  with me? I would love to read them! So go ahead, send them to me.

Anny Slegten