Peculiarities of Realty

My friend Brad was one of the most experienced, knowledgeable, and well-liked real-estate Brokers in the Stowe area for years. And, as our across-the-street-neighbor, he was the first person Fran and I met when we found our home in Hyde Park almost seven years ago. I received this eMail from Brad a few days ago:

"I read in the online edition of the Burlington Free Press of the death of Emma Davis, Waterville.

She was a part of the Manchester clan of the upper west side of Lamoille County, and a devoted Nazarene.

She was also Waterville's Town Clerk, and I think she kind of inherited that role from her husband. As I recall, there was no real "town office" in Waterville, and she kept town records at her house.  I had little real-estate activity in that town, but occasionally I did. In one instance, I had a listing that went under contract. The seller was the estate of the property owner. The local attorney for the estate had documentation for his appointment. After a protracted period of time, it seemed that he did NOT have a death certificate, and we were on the brink of closing. He asked that I go to Waterville to get a copy of the certification. So dispatched, I appeared on Emma Davis's doorstep. I let her know what I was looking for. She was busy, and said that the death certificate should be in her back bedroom in a volume on her bureau. I discovered the appropriate book, indeed, on her bureau. There were orderly filings properly bound, and additionally, a whole bunch of loose documents shoved at the beginning, the end, and in between bound pages. I was at a loss as to how I might find the death certificate I was seeking. Ultimately, I went back to Emma's kitchen and said I seemed unable to find what I wanted. She looked up at me and said, "Look, the guy is dead. I know it, and I went to his funeral, and now I need to go."

This was before FedEx, and long before fax and email. We delayed the closing, and sent for a certified copy of the death certificate in Manhattan, where it was the Seller had died. Couple of weeks later it finally appeared. Emma was right, he was dead."