Deja Vu

My writing weekend was severely hindered by life. In fact, as I write this post, that's about all the writing that happened this weekend.

It wasn't the only reason my writing party was put on hold but it was one of the less ducky reasons. Some clients of mine live in Maryland. They have a home in Gilbert. They just heard from the neighbors, that the tenant had two sizable moving trucks in front of their home. The clients hadn't gotten rent and these renters hadn't returned any calls in weeks.

My clients called me in sheer panic. Was everyone moving or was the family splitting up? What kind of condition was the property in? And holy cow! What should my clients do??? My folks were ready to buy plane tickets as we spoke.

I have lived this. In fact, it brought back a flood of memories. Even though I really, really REALLY wanted to sit down and flesh out why my first chapter is 83,000 words and 157 single spaced pages (true story) these folks needed their nerves calmed first.

Marty and I made the drive to South Gilbert and checked things out. Yep. There in front was two moving trucks. The garage was open and it looked like a minor disaster--however, nothing was packed. They may be moving, but given the level of disorganization I saw from casing the house twice, it would be a while.

Everything my clients could do if they were here they could do from over there. They just need boots on the ground. In this case, yes, I can view the home (once vacant) and get them in touch with the random folks who will make the place either rent-ready or sell-ready. They can order the water, power, and the pool guy to from afar. I mean, if they want to spend $500 on last minute plane fare they can do that too. But, why? Besides, as of this time, nobody knows if the tenants are moving out or just reorganizing.

"What if they take the hot water heater?" my client asked.

I've lived that. It sucks. But the true answer is THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING YOU CAN DO IF THEY TAKE THE HOT WATER HEATER UNTIL AFTER THEY TAKE IT.

"What if they trash the place?"

Lived that too. It is cleanable. And fixable. But yea, not fun.

All these emotions and several more came up yesterday. It put me in a foul mood as I relived this nightmare all over again.

However, as much as I would rather have been cutting my story back, I totally understood how these clients felt. There is a level of helplessness that comes with managing property under these circumstances. I lived it and it is horrible. And I am sorry these folks lived it too. Hopefully their tenants leave and take all their baggage with them.