I’m sure there are a lot of people out there who have had positive experiences with Keystone. I don’t dispute that, but this is MY experience and I feel the need to share it.

In searching for a condo for our retirement and downsizing, we discovered the community at Eagle Pointe West in Greensboro, NC. It suited our needs so we entered into an agreement with Keystone, using the contract that they wrote. We did not have an agent helping us (NEVER do that). We were told there would be a price increase on the condo in June so we were encouraged to hurry to make up our minds. Apparently this increase happened on May 15. We signed the contract and gave them a $5,000 deposit on April 25.

We chose our upgrades, did walkthroughs for the sheetrock and electricity. We acted in good faith and did everything we were told to do, even going to the mortgage provider they suggested.

We asked on numerous occasions why they had not cashed our check – little did we know that it was a tactical ploy on their part and that management – Scott Wallace and Melissa Cummings – apparently never intended to honor the contract or sell us the condo at the price we agreed to via their contract. No, it was a classic bait and switch.

We sold our house and moved to a one-bedroom apartment for the three month wait to move in. (An aside, we lived in a Keystone apartment complex and I have to say it is lovely, quiet, very well run and very nice – however it is two rooms and all of our winter clothes and a lot of thing we need are in storage with the moving company). After over five months it was feeling cramped.

We were told the condo would be ready in October—that date passed. Then they set a closing for November 16, which they canceled, then November 30, which they canceled. We purchased a stove and a refrigerator that we were told to go ahead and have installed, but when the installer arrived, they were told to store it in the garage. The installer refused and took them back to the store to hold for us.

Then I received a call demanding an additional $14,000 more than we agreed upon in order for them to set a closing date.

I had no idea Keystone Homes would act unethically or immorally. My contact at Keystone also told me that two other people are also being held up like this for their condos, however two people who bought after we did, after the price increase, are already in the four-plex that our condo is part of or next to.

We have spoken to realtors, lawyers, mortgage providers and others and NO ONE has ever heard of such dealings and are appalled that they strung us along for nearly seven months. To allow us to pay them rent (at one of their locations), pay for storage, purchase appliances and even furniture for the location and continue in good faith from April to December is unheard of in their opinions (though strictly legal—ethics and morals aside).

Do what you want; it’s your decision. We could have paid the additional $14,000 but I didn’t think I could spend the rest of my life living and working in that space with the hilt of their knife sticking out of my back. Verify and secure before dealing with this company. Maybe we’re the only ones, maybe it was personal, I don’t know, but buyer beware.

Wow! Author of the Month!

Please stop by!

It’s been one for the record books (and I won’t be discussing politics at all in this post!) Wish I could say it’s been all writing and editing and getting even more ideas.

It hasn’t. But it has been busy.

First we put the house up for sale in February and started downsizing for the move to a condo – no more acre for mowing, gutters to clean, or half hour drives to buy groceries. 

Hubby retired the end of March, which added a whole new dimension to living together. I had another job ready-that pesky writing thing, but he’s still exploring things and he truly deserves this time.

Then in April we contracted on our condo, with a move-in date of October. That’s when the downsizing really started. Two full trucks of furniture to Rehab for Humanity, along with dishes and glasses and linens. Clothes that we hadn’t bothered to get rid of before went out, as well as boxes we hadn’t unpacked since the last move 14 years ago.

And books, that was the hardest, getting rid of books I’d already read and wouldn’t have room for in the smaller place. I found them good homes but it was still heartrending to see them go.

We moved to a one-bedroom apartment temporarily the first of August. Fortunately Hubby and I really like each other, but still two rooms after a fairly large house has been challenging. One TV, and nowhere to really escape each other.

Oh and there was the wedding. Yep, my son and his bride got married in August in Cancun. I’d never been to Cancun, had no idea how hot the place is in August, but that aside, the wedding was beautiful, we saw old friends and some family got to attend. I do like all inclusive resorts (that include alcohol!)  

Now the condo builder wants to move the closing back again – another month’s rent and storage?? Come on, the place is completed. The one beside it already occupied! Discovered today that a refrigerator is not part of the package, we’d already bought the stove so we committed debt again and got a really nice frig, we just weren’t expecting to have to buy one.

Still hope to be in by November 30 (we want earlier!! Please!) so we’d appreciate any crossed fingers, good thoughts, whatever ya got!

Then I’ll get back to writing full time . . .

While Rth Rising is on sale for $.99 (through October 5) thought I’d share this excerpt with you . . . 

Amazon

Excerpt from Rth Rising – 

Head turned as Kat entered and watched her admire the trophy. He assessed her silently. She was strong, fairly tall for a woman here on New Home, nearly 1.75 meters. Her pedigree was of the finest; third generation here, with strong genes from Rth. She wore her blonde hair long, pulled back in a braid, perfectly regulation. Her green eyes were steady and calm. She exuded strength and confidence.

He’d watched her since before she came under his supervision, helped her when her da was killed so suddenly. She didn’t socialize with many enforcers. He found that he approved of that. Some enforcers needed that interaction to function at their best. That wasn’t true of her. She spent more time with her family and her oldest friends and she was the better for it.

He motioned for her to move to his desk. She was agile, moving like the animal of her name and was probably the best enforcer he supervised. Kat used her abilities to see beyond the job into aspects that most enforcers either didn’t realize were important or discounted. It made her superior and kept her in Head’s sights. Besides, he liked the woman, respected her. She stood in front of his desk, her back straight, her hands clasped behind her. The uniform fit her perfectly, high-waist pants in light gray with a light blue stripe up the legs that matched the sweater. The short jacket partially covered the utility belt she wore, which held her packet containing her discs, ID and backup weapon. Her primary weapon was inside the jacket under her left arm where she could take hold of it easily. The small light blue stripes at her shoulders reminded him of epaulets from older uniforms in pictures he had seen from Rth.

She was one of the reasons they had colonized here; her and others like her—intelligent, healthy, someone to carry on the human race with dignity.

But not her.

He knew that Puter had determined she wasn’t to breed. That seemed to be happening more and more with each class as they were assigned their training. Puter decided the optimum population and apparently they had reached it. Only replacements were needed. People normally lived to be around seventy here, their health, their genes superior. Not as long as on Rth, but the gravity here was slightly higher. At least that was what he’d been taught in school. Head was in no position to contradict it. Puter, theoretically, had more information than he did. Puter ran things; that was the way everyone wanted it.

It wasn’t his place to question why genes that had been so superior on Rth were so watered down after such a short period that they were destined to be lost from the planet.

Head looked her up and down, then nodded to himself. This was the right decision. “I’m lending you to Thirdport.”

Don’t forget, the story continues in Rth Claimed –