Foreclosed: A Mitzy Neuhaus Mystery (A Mitzy Neuhaus Mystery, a Cozy Christian Collection)

This is a work of fiction. All characters, places, and incidents are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons either living or dead is completely coincidental.

Foreclosed: A Mitzy Neuhaus Mystery

Proverbs 31 House LLC

Edition 4

Copyright 2009 (5/13 LD)

All rights reserved

Cover Photograph by Michael Rothery

Cover Design by Andrew Rothery

Dedicated to Daniel, Norah, and Lucy, who love stories.

Mitzy Neuhaus pulled her desk chair up to the microphone. The radio booth was small, and Johnny, her host, nudged her with his elbow, and smiled. Mitzy slipped her headphones on.

Johnny Headly, host of the morning show on the local Christian talk radio station began his morning chatter. “Hey, Mitzy, baby. How’s the real estate business?” It was the same every Wednesday morning.

She smiled her wide, bright smile. “Business is good, John. Not fast, not hectic, not for the fearful, but good.”

“How can it be good, Mitz?”

“It’s not perfect, of course.” Mitzy shifted in her seat. “But there are great deals and brilliant Realtors ready to find you one. If you have some equity or savings and are ready to make a move, the best Realtors are reading and waiting.” Mitzy wasn’t just putting a good spin on a bad economy. If only people would grab the houses while they could, Realtors could save the economy.

“Mitzy is ready and waiting? That sounds too good to be true,” Johnny drawled.

Mitzy cringed. How did he manage to make that sound so dirty? “Ready and waiting—to sell a house, Johnny.” She wished the radio audience could see her roll her eyes. “It’s all about the money, friend. If you need to get out of your house, a good Realtor can still make you some money. And good Realtors are available.”

“Mitzy, I’ve been dying to know for years; are you available? And can I change that?”

“If you need your house sold, John, I’m your girl. Anything else…well, leave your card with my assistant.” Mitzy scrunched her nose at Johnny.

He winked.

“But speaking of experienced professionals in the homes industry, I want to spotlight my professional peers who work tirelessly in the mortgage business.”

“Not those devils that wrecked the economy.”

“Of course not! The economic crisis has sifted the wheat, and the chaff has blown away. The sub-prime creative loan element has been kicked to the curb.” Mitzy leaned in to the mic and lowered her voice. “But rates are sooo low. If you have any equity, my friends can save you some serious cash each month. I have links on my website to my recommended lenders.” Mitzy leaned back in her desk chair and popped her shoulders. She could run on about the industry forever.

John gave her the keep going signal.

“Listen, it’s 2008. Interest rates are less than five percent. Don’t sit there with a 2007 mortgage at seven percent. That’s foolish.”

“Preach it, sister.” Johnny nodded his head in time to music only he could hear.

“My job for you all today is this: consider the terms of your current loan, contact your local credit union or check out the links on my website, and see if they can do better for you. It is always the right time to save tens of thousands of dollars.”

“Thank you, Mitzy. You make common sense look real good.” Johnny chuckled.

“Thank you?” Mitzy laughed. “I know I talk sense, but if it were common, I don’t think our economy would be in such a mess.”

With that her spot was over. She turned off her microphone, waved through the window at the producer, and slipped out of the booth.

Johnny read the police reports from the
Vantage
Heights
neighborhood for a few quick laughs.

Mitzy didn’t laugh when she thought of
Vantage
Heights
.

Yes, they called the police when the new neighbor put up a basketball hoop and yes, they called 911 when someone parked a Kia on their block, but too many of them were losing their homes because they never should have bought them in the first place.

She stifled a laugh as she left the radio station. The week
Vantage
Heights
biddies called 911 on the neighbor who planted corn in the front lawn was pretty funny. But those old biddies weren’t the ones losing their homes.

The radio station was hurting now, the same way all the local businesses were hurting. Advertising dollars were short all around. As Mitzy pounded the pavement back to her penthouse, she thought it was probably a good time to negotiate for a better spot.

She wanted a larger audience share, but she didn’t have the time to be on the radio everyday. She considered the Saturday morning line-up. They called it ‘The Fix-it Show.’ She could seriously improve that program. If it was Neuhaus’ All Things New Show or maybe Fixing Your House with Neuhaus, they could keep all of their regular programming and add another spot for her.

But owning the fix-it weekend wasn’t exactly right either. Mitzy wanted to inform and educate and there just weren’t enough people listening to the radio these days.

And then Mitzy knew.

She went straight home and sat down for a late breakfast with her Tivo-ed morning shows. She savored her cup of coffee as she evaluated the
First Things with Alma and Bob
. They were funny. They were local. They seemed to have their fingers on the pulse of town. Mitzy had always liked their show.

Everything on their program clicked, except they skirted around the issue of the failing economy. They needed Mitzy and her keen real estate sense.
First Things with Alma and Bob
was exactly where she needed to be. She tucked this tid-bit into the back of her mind, cleared her dishes and made her way to the office, just on time, for a Wednesday.

Sabrina, Mitzy’s assistant, sat at her computer studying the multiple listing service site for any recent activity.

Ben, the graphics artist, was sketching something in his pad. It made no difference to Mitzy what he was working on, but it probably had something to do with his web design consulting.

Joan, the stager Mitzy loved the best, was in just to chat, but found that there was nothing to talk about.

Mitzy paced the room, drumming her pencil on her fist, and chewed on the idea of breaking into television.

Sabrina would be of use in whatever she did. Ben’s work probably wouldn’t increase, but if she could increase confidence in the marketplace, all of their regular work would return to normal.

Joan.

She appraised her friend closely. Joan was artistic, no doubt. She was also well-spoken. Mitzy could put Joan on the air in her morning show segment, and Joan could get commission work from the exposure.

There was nothing wrong with her television idea, as far as she could tell.

“Sabrina, I need a proposal. We need to get our Neuhaus New Homes Spotlight onto
First Things with Alma and Bob.
”

“Ooh, I like that idea,” Joan said. “Mitzy, that’s just the right medium for you. You could spotlight some of your favorite houses, give tours, everything.”

“I could,” Mitzy said.

“But you have something else in mind.” Joan raised an eyebrow and leaned in close.

“I think that this town needs to relax and gain confidence in their ability to survive the crisis. They really can survive, you know.” Mitzy swept her arm out towards the city on the other side of the window, longing to give them all a hand up.

“Marketplace confidence through
First Things
? Really, Mitz? We have twelve percent unemployment right now. Who cares what Alma and Bob think about it?” Ben rocked back in his desk chair.

“Ah, but, Ben, that’s close to the same thing as eighty-eight percent employment.” Mitzy chewed on the end of her pencil. “There are a lot of people out there with secure jobs, and the ability to invest in their town. They’ve just got to realize they can do it themselves.”

“You can call the show
Bootstrapping with Mitzy the Republican.
”
Ben smirked.

“It’s not a political idea, Benjamin.” Mitzy shook her head. “Let’s say your business has just received some money, stimulus money.” Mitzy sat down on the edge of her desk. “Say you are building a new community center. The people in charge need to view that money, not in the light of how much building they can get for it, but as how far they can spread the money into the economy, to create more jobs.” Mitzy’s heart was racing, her face was heating up. It was one of her personal goals to make Ben less of a pessimist.

“Yeah, yeah. We all know that already.”

“But it’s the same for people who have savings and business reserves. This is the time to spend our money employing people.” Mitzy started pacing again and drumming her purple fingernails on her tightly clenched fist. “The segment needs to be fun, and touring homes is fun. But it has to increase consumer and investor confidence, or it is completely worthless.”

The phone rang. Sabrina jumped at the sound. “Neuhaus New Homes. This is Sabrina speaking, how may I help you?” She wore her big smile as she spoke. It was Neuhaus policy; the person on the other line could hear the smile. “Thank you, can you hold?”

She covered the receiver with her palm and looked up at Mitzy with a little fear in her eyes. “It’s Alonzo.”

Mitzy grimaced. She had a desk in the front with her staff, but she also had a private office where she could sign papers with clients. She rarely did other business in that office. She turned on her heel and disappeared into it now.

“I’ve quoted you the lease terms at least three times, Alonzo. You know what it will take to get into my office space.” Mitzy sat on the edge of her desk chair. She had to stay calm.

“Let’s be realistic, Neuhaus. I want to own the whole building, and you know it. I’ll say a number right now that you can’t refuse. Then you can take your little office friends back to the suburbs.”

“It’s not for sale.” Mitzy spit the words out. Who was this man to call her business ‘little office friends’? She knew without a doubt that her bottom line was better than his.

“Everything is for sale.”

Mitzy took a deep breath. “My tenants need security right now. I am not going to make a move that would threaten their businesses.”

“Who’s talking about threats? I’m talking money, and a lot of it.”

“That’s enough. We’ve had this same conversation three times. I’m not selling. You don’t have enough money to tempt me to put my tenants out on the street.”

“You’re location is perfect for me. Access to building supplies. Access to transportation. Your little street-front shops might have to move, but new tenants would move in and that would be good too. There’s no end of space for little music shops and crafty places.” Alonzo’s voice was suave but it set Mitzy’s teeth on edge.

“If you need office space you can have the whole top floor. It’s yours. You know my lease terms are fair.” Mitzy closed her eyes and prayed for patience. It was his tone that really had her. He talked to her like she was a child.