My father always loved a bargain. From buy-one-get-one-free sales on orange juice to scoring a cheap used car, he could never pass up a good deal.
As a kid, I recall spending many hours with him at flea markets and garage sales, watching him do his thing. He’d wander from table to table, seemingly uninterested in anything, but then he’d spot the object of his desire: a box of scratched-up records. A ceramic pitcher for my mother. A “gently used” blender. Next, he’d deliver his usual lowball offer. “This case of cassette tapes marked $5,” he’d ask as if he weren’t really interested, “would you take 75 cents?” Somehow, more often than not, the answer would be, “Yes.”
He didn’t always use everything he bargained for, however. Many times that box of records would end up unplayed in our increasingly crowded garage. Sometimes, I think he was just in it for the thrill of the hunt.
But his biggest bargaining exploit of them all—the story he’d tell repeatedly at family functions or cocktail parties—was the time he purchased my parents’ first home. It was a little white Cape Cod on a quiet street in West Allenhurst, N.J. The sellers, a middle-aged couple who recently divorced, wanted more than $25,000 for it, a lot of money in the mid-‘50s for a young couple expecting their second child.
But my dad wasn’t fazed. He offered $19,000—almost 25 percent below their already reasonable asking price. My mother was stunned by his chutzpah.
But, son of a gun, Dad knew exactly what he was doing. The couple, desperate to sell, accepted his offer, and my parents went on to expand their family in that house.
Over the years, the moral behind the tale still reverberates, ingrained in our familial folklore like George Washington and the cherry tree: “Don’t be afraid to ask for a lower price,” my father would say, “because, well, you never know”
Dad would have appreciated the story of Bill and Brenda Egge, who purchased their waterfront home in St. Mary’s County for a whopping 50 percent of its initial listing. As writer Andrew Tilghman reveals in his article, “Let’s Make a Deal,” now is the best time in years to snare a buy on waterfront real estate—as long as you know where to look. In our pursuit of bargains on the Bay, we also visit the area’s best
consignment shops in search of great deals on designer duds and furniture.
Also in this issue, we catch up with James McBride, the best-selling author of The Color of Water, who returned to Dorchester County to talk about the inspiration behind his latest novel, set on the Eastern Shore.
Have you ever visited Annmarie Garden in Solomons? Its lush sculpture garden, full of blooming azaleas and works of art, satisfied writer Carol Denny’s desire for her own little Versailles. And in Traveling Gourmet, food critic Mary Zajac finds a taste of Italy in Annapolis—at a reasonable price.
Dad passed away last summer at the age of eighty-three, but I think he would have enjoyed this issue full of bargains. And if he were buying a house in this market, you can bet he would’ve pitched another lowball beauty. Because, well, you never know ...
Until next issue,
Joe Sugarman
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