Chapter 3

As Roger headed to see the man that had given the Hamm's a price on the new furnace he went over the deal in his head. He had stretched the truth a bit with the Hamms. He doubted that he would make much money off of the property when it finally became his. If property values went up in the future like they had the past few years he would only be out a few thousand dollars. That was a cheap price to pay for making the rest of Aaron and Ethyl's life worth living.

He almost drove past the shop. As he pulled into the parking lot he noticed a man getting into a pickup truck. Roger pulled next to him and waved.

"Hi, I'm looking for Pete Salmon."

"You found him. What can I do for you?"

Roger asked if they could go inside and talk about the Hamm's house. The man nodded and waited until Roger got out of his truck and met him at the front door.

When they were inside Roger went over what he was going to do about the house. He left out the details of the life estate. After Roger finished Pete got up and went to his file cabinet and pulled out the estimate for the Hamm's furnace.

Pete Salmon looked over the paperwork, "I gave this estimate to them about four months ago. I can still do the work for the same price. I'm a bit slack this month so I could start right away if you want."

Roger asked to see the estimate and began to go over the paperwork. It was like so much Greek to him. He knew little about heating systems except the in the fall you had to turn the thermostat up.

"Is this an energy efficient system?"

Pete leaned back in his chair, "The Hamms couldn't afford the best system. This is a good furnace but it's an average system. Kind of like the furnace that the builders put in. It will do the job though."

"How much would it cost to put the best energy efficient system in; include insulating the ductwork too. I don't like the looks of some of those ducts."

"Damn, the top of the line system would run about forty-five hundred more. There's the cost of the ductwork too. I didn't figure that in because I knew that the Hamms couldn't afford it. Some of that duct work has to be replaced."

"Ok, I want to contract for the best system and the duct work. If you could start right away that would be great. Here is my lawyer's card. Let's get him on the phone and tell him what you're going to do. He has my power of attorney and he'll sign the contract and make sure you get paid. I think that it's customary for you to get one-third down on residential work isn't it?"

Pete nodded and dialed the number of Roger's lawyer. Roger explained to Hal what he was doing and after about fifteen minutes Pete Salmon was satisfied that Roger could afford the work and that he would get paid.

Pete leaned forward, "Well, I was going to go home and get some dinner but I'll work on this estimate and fax it to your lawyer in the morning."

Roger stood up, "One more thing. Every morning, until the work is complete, I want you to make sure that the Hamms have enough firewood in the house. Check it before you leave at night and refill it if necessary. If this costs extra put it in the bill. Now, do you know anyone that does replacement windows?"

"My brother gave the Hamms an estimate last summer on windows. I think that he still has the paperwork. I can get him to do the work at the same time. We can block off the rooms as we're working on them so the house doesn't get too cold. If you want, I can put it all on one bill. My brother works with me for a few of the builders in this area. He'll do a good job for you or I'll break his neck."

Roger smiled, "Now I need an appraiser. I guess that I'll have to talk to a Realtor. Do you know any good realtors in the area?"

"Yeh, Paula Barton is about two blocks down. She's the broker. I think that she does appraisals too. She's a trip. She runs her office with an iron hand. Her people make money though."

Roger and Pete Salmon shook hands and Roger left to try and catch Paula Barton in her office. Again, he almost drove past the office. He pulled in the parking lot and went into the office. There was a real estate agent sitting at the front desk. When Roger asked to see Paula Barton the young woman went into an office and told the woman sitting at the huge desk that someone wanted to speak to her. Roger was escorted into the office.

"Yes, can I help you?"

Paula Barton was about fifty. Her hair was silver and she carried herself with the assurance of someone that knew she was good at her job. Her office was immaculate and there wasn't one piece of paper out of place.

She motioned Roger to sit and he began to tell her what he was doing about the Hamms property and how he was drawing up the life estate. He laid out the terms of the life estate and how he was contracting to replace the heating system and the windows. After he had finished Paula looked at him for a minute without speaking.