Chapter 10

Paul Roman mentally laughs to himself when he hears someone say that there can be an occasional speed bump on the road of life. He thinks it can be better said that in life, you can at times feel that you have been hit in the head with a baseball bat. He thought that way because of certain events that had occurred in his life.

It wasn’t that long ago that something like that happened to Paul when he came home after being away for four days because of work. Paul was working for a REIT that bought and sold sizeable business-type income-producing properties such as apartment complexes, warehouses, and other types of commercial properties. He had been working for this company for close to twenty-five years and thought he was pretty good at what he did.

When he came home, his wife Gail of twenty-one years wasn’t home. Since she worked as a surgical nurse, her not being home was not unusual. He noticed an envelope on the dining room table addressed to him in Gail’s handwriting. When he opened the envelope and read the note it contained, that was when he felt he had been hit in the head by a baseball bat.

The note said, “You should know that I don’t love you anymore and that has been the case for a long time. I have met someone who I do love and he makes me happy. I have taken all of my clothes and personal items and have moved out. I have also taken one-half from our investment account and our savings account. The condo with its mortgage, I am leaving to you. It will do no good to discuss this matter with me as I have made up my mind. In this envelope is the business card of my attorney who will handle the divorce. Goodbye and I hope you can also find someone who makes you happy. Gail.”

Paul knew that his marriage to Gail hadn’t been that good over these last years but he never thought it was that bad that it would cause her to do something like this. Her writing this note he knew ended the marriage and there was no going back. There was nothing he could do now to save his marriage and at the same time, he knew he needed to get on with his life. He also knew for him to do that it was going to be easier said than done.

If his marriage ending wasn’t a big enough shock, he received another shock one month later when the company he worked for announced that it was being bought out by a larger REIT. That larger REIT had purchased a smaller REIT over a year ago and was said to be brutal in how they integrated that smaller company into their operation. Their first action was to lay off about one-third of this smaller company’s employees. How they figured out which employees to let go was ludicrous. They asked all the employees at the REIT they purchased to submit a written evaluation of themselves as to their job performance. This evaluation needed to include the reasons why they should continue to be employed.

He heard that after this company laid off these employees, six months later they were asking most of these laid-off employees to come back to work.

Paul didn’t know if he would be retained or if he would lose his job. What he did know was that he didn’t want to work for a company that operated that way. Because of him having that opinion, he went to an employment agency that posted his resume on the net. That posting resulted in his being contacted by Ralph Granger, who said he was the investment manager for KAR Enterprises, which was a startup business that was looking to invest in commercial-type properties. Ralph said he was looking to hire someone to find these properties they could purchase.

Initially, Paul did a virtual phone interview with Ralph who explained several things as well as answered the questions Paul had. That was followed by Paul going to Austin, Texas for an in-person interview which resulted in a job offer along with a nice bump up in pay from what he was presently making. He would need to move to Austin which was not a problem with him now being divorced. He lived in Los Angeles and its high taxes, increases in crime, and increases in the homeless, along with the ultra-liberal government made it easy for him to decide to move to Austin. He accepted the job offer and was surprised when they told him the offer included a top-of-the-line relocation service.

The drive to Austin was mostly on interstate highways which made it easy, but it was also long and tiresome. It did however, give time for Paul to think about his present life. He didn’t need to be an Einstein to acknowledge that without a wife or a live-in companion, he would be living a lonely life, especially in the evenings. He knew he needed to make a conscientious effort to rectify that situation and had the hope he could find someone if he did make the effort.

After purchasing a condo in Austin that wasn’t far from the office and settling in, he reported to KAR Enterprises saying he was ready to go to work. Paul was welcomed by Kevin Reeves who owned the business and he was introduced to the other employees. Kevin was young and was fortunate in that he was able to come up with the idea of how to extend the range of an EV, which in time should make him a billionaire. Kevin also seemed like a nice guy and explained to Paul what his long-term plans were for this business he was establishing. He wanted to purchase income-producing properties that would make for a viable business after his patent expired and those automobile leasing funds were not coming in.

Kevin said, “I don’t want to sit on my butt just receiving these leasing payments along with dividends and interest from passive investments. I want to have a business that will grow and give me and my employees a career and a purpose in life.”

Paul’s immediate boss, Ralph Granger also seemed like a nice guy. Ralph admitted to Paul that stocks and bonds investing was his bailiwick and that he was going to rely on Paul’s expertise in purchasing these income-producing business properties. This confidence they expressed in Paul was like a shot in the arm, and he knew he would do his best to justify their trust in him.

With there being no geographical limitations on where these properties that could be purchased were located, Paul wanted to hit the ground running. Paul mentioned to Ralph that over time in his work he had established many contacts among realtors, attorneys, property managers, mortgage lenders, and other REITs nationwide. He mentioned that he had a lead on a one-hundred-and-twenty-eight-unit apartment complex in South Carolina that could be coming up for sale and he was going to go there to check it out. He told Ralph that after all was said and done, the bottom line of positive cash flow was one of the most important factors if a property should be purchased. There were the condition, location, and possible appreciation of a property that also needed to be considered in purchasing a property. Since this apartment complex he was interested in was said to be in a growing area that was another reason he was going there to check it out.

Ralph told him to have it and to let him know if he needed anything.

After flying to Columbia, South Carolina, renting a car, and checking in at a motel, Paul phoned the Carrol Realty Agency asking to speak to Debra Majors. Debbie as she preferred to be called answered her phone and was surprised that it was Paul who was calling. She asked him where he was and how he was doing. He mentioned he was here in Columbia and was now working for KAR Enterprises. He said he was calling because of that apartment complex that she said could be coming up for sale. He would like to look at it and any other properties she thought he would be interested in.

Paul had dealt with Debbie on and off for ten years, and she knew the types of properties Paul was interested in. She had been involved in three properties his company had previously purchased. That was a little unusual since most REITs in selling a property tried to avoid paying a realtor’s commission and looked to sell a property through their efforts alone. A REIT in selling a property doesn’t want to pay what could amount to a large commission on a commercial property to a realtor. If they did use a realtor to sell a property, it was done at an agreed reduced sales commission.