The Annoying and the Beautiful

In 2006, I was an idiot about real estate like many others. My friend Vince told me about a "presale" of a new condo conversion south of where we live, and we talked about how property prices were soaring, and someday our kids would never be able to afford to live in Miami. So I went over to the event, and found myself putting a down payment on a 2 bedroom former rental apartment that was less than 1000 square feet. The location was good -- a security gate allowed access to a big Publix, and one could walk to other restaurants and the Busway, for easy access Downtown. And, the schools were the best in Miami -- Palmetto High. To my deep sense of price, the unit seemed worth about $100K. I paid $234K. As I said, I was an idiot. Vince bought a unit, too, and it turned out that my friend John also got one, for his elderly father, who was moving to Miami from Virginia. The construction finished, and I closed, and found a tenant for $1100 per month, a nice Burmese doctor and his family who had just moved from NYC. They stayed a year, and then bought a house. The next tenant was Lenny, a nice divorced father who Wifey knew from her old job as a flower saleswoman. Poor Lenny. He endured a whole reworking of the plumbing system, as the developer used such crappy materials, the pipes rusted out and leaked within 2 years. That was fixed, and then came the great fire. One of the buildings had attracted a tenant who was, well, white trash. They were cooking meth, and caused an explosion that wrecked 1/3 of the units in the condo. No one was hurt, but the next 2 years was massive construction, delays, etc... Then came the real estate crash. I checked prices --I could sell my unit for about $60K, maybe. I had lost 75% of the value. I wasn't just an idiot -- I was a moron. Lenny, bless him, loves the place. Rents rose, but I kept him at $1000 per month, even though the going rate rose to $1300. I returned his security deposit, and went "month to month." Finally, stability. Until -- Sunday we got a call. A rainstorm exposed a roof leak, the water ran through the 2nd floor unit and flooded our first floor one. Last night, Wifey and I met the insurance folks, and they started the drying out procedure. The carpets are ruined. I have a $1000 deductible on my policy, so it will cost me at least that much for repairs. The unit owner of the 2nd floor apartment told me the condo association management company is already balking at proper repairs -- they claim the leak was the result of a tiny hole from a bad roofing nail, even though clearly hundreds of gallons have come through. I may have to sue. In short, annoyance. But earlier in the day, D1 stopped by my office, while doing some bank business. She grew teary eyed -- she and her boyfriend, who is also from a great family, were saying how great each of their lives were -- they were getting graduate degrees, money wasn't a concern of theirs, they were in love and enjoying their lives immensely. They were grateful. When D2 left for UF, she hugged Wifey and me and cried -- also grateful about her life, and all that was well in it. So I balanced the stupid condo problem against what is grand, and it was absurd. Yes, I am an idiot, but truly only if I lose perspective about what is sacred, and what is silly.