Chapter 3: Real estate

I started to look through the papers for houses that might appeal to me now that I could afford one. As I was looking through the realty section of the local newspaper I spotted a picture of a girl I went to school with, she was now a realtor. I called her and asked her if she would like to meet for breakfast the next day, my treat.

Shannon was stunning when she walked into the restaurant, she still had long blonde hair and a figure models would kill for. She saw me and sauntered over and sat down, I kidded her about being late for breakfast just like every class in high school. She returned the favor by asking if I was going to fall asleep during breakfast like I did during class. I told her that if any of the teachers had looked as good as she did I would not have slept at all during school. We chit chatted through the meal just like the old days then she asked what I was doing for a living and I told her I worked for Johns' Millwrighting. She asked me what that was like and I said it was OK. I told her I was interested in a house and saw her name in the Real Estate Column of the newspaper and figured she might be able to help an old friend.

Shannon looked thoughtful for a moment, then she asked me if I had a ten thousand dollars that I could put on a house, I said I thought I could come up with some cash and she told me that an auction was being held this afternoon for a block full of new houses that were built on spec and the builder had gone bankrupt. None of the houses were quite finished but they were all really close to being completed and the bank needed to get them sold as fast as possible as they were underinsured on them. Shannon said she thought I might be able to get one of the cheaper ones really cheap but I would probably not be able to get a mortgage for any of them because they would want you to pay right away.

We got caught up on what each of us had been up to for the past few years as well as what our old classmates had been doing. I was surprised to find that none of our classmates had made much of themselves. It would seem that Shannon was one of the more successful out of our graduating class. She didn't come right out and tell me how well she was doing but after watching her receive phone calls all morning on her cell phone and with the way she was dressed I could tell she was well off.

Shannon took me to the auction in her BMW as she said she didn't want to ride in my beat up old Maverick. I told her that it had died and I had a new pickup truck, only 5 years old, She said that she would rather ride in the Beemer so who was I to argue.

She escorted me around the first house to be auctioned off and it was really nice. It was 1650 sq ft with a full basement and a very nice upstairs. When we went into the backyard and I saw the pool I thought this is where I want to live. Shannon looked at me and said, "I am sorry John I didn't realize how much these house would be worth. I haven't seen these houses before and I thought that you might pick one up cheap, this is the least expensive one here. We can go if you like."

"No, let's stay and see how much it goes for, you never know, maybe I can get one for a decent price", I replied.

"OK, but don't bid more than you can afford on these, they will hold you to any bid", she said.

"I'll be careful, are you going to be bidding on any of these houses?"

"No, I can barely afford the payments on the Beemer never mind these houses", she stated.

I could tell she was just trying to make me feel better so I didn't say anything.

We registered for the auction and there was a banker there who asked us to fill out some forms to ensure we had enough to bid on these houses so when I supplied my account information she validated my card and we moved on. Once the bidding started I saw one of the girls that sat with the bank representative move over beside us and sat right beside me. Shannon leaned over and whispered in my ear that the bank reps. always tried to sit beside people that had lots of money or realtors because they wanted to be there with all the paperwork as soon as possible; they didn't realize we would not be buying anything today. I just nodded.

Bidding started at 10,000 dollars and quickly went up to $45,000 where it seemed to die off. I hadn't bid yet and I could tell Shannon really wanted to bid on the house. "How much would a house like this be worth?", I asked her.

"About $135,000 I guess", she replied.

I bid $50,000.

Shannon looked at me and said, "remember they won't give you a mortgage on these houses you know, they are trying to regain some of their money back."

The bid went to $55,000.

I smiled at Shannon then I bid $60,000.

A cute brunette on the other side of the room bid $65,000.

I bid $70,000.

Nobody else bid on the house. I had bought it.

Shannon congratulated me then said she was going o talk to Jane, the woman I was bidding against.

I started to look around at my new house imagining where I was going to put all of my furniture; everything I owned could fit in the living room. I imagined my beat up old coffee table in this house then I realized I was going to have to buy all new furniture, nothing I owned was worth keeping.

Shannon came back over, "what is wrong, you look very thoughtful?"

"I just realized I am going to have to buy all new stuff for this place, Stove, fridge, washer, dryer, chesterfield, tables, and chairs", I paused. "Wow I didn't even think of all that before but all I have ever lived in is an apartment and my stuff is mostly junk."

"Ah yes, I was wondering if you would realize the need for some of the essentials. Don't fall into the same trap most people do. You don't have to fill the house with stuff right away. I know a place where you can buy surplus demo appliances relatively cheap, just don't go into debt trying to buy all your new stuff," Shannon cautioned.

I just smiled and nodded. She was a good friend trying to protect me from everything in her world.

"Now that you are a house owner I know you want to leave but could we just wait until after the next house is sold. I think my friend is going to buy it" Shannon asked.

"OK, I am having fun now, we can stay as long as you would like", I replied.

"My friend is a little pissed at you for buying this house, she figured she might be able to buy this one and the one next door. All of the others are out of her league", Shannon scolded me with a smile in her eyes.

"Well she could have had it, all she had to do is out bid me", I laughed.

"You better be careful, if you can't deal with the bankers she may have it yet", she grinned.

"OH, OK, you think the bankers will be tough?"

"Yes, you let me look at the contract you're signing, they will try to get you to pay for all kinds of legal fees and any-thing else they can get", she admonished me.

"OK, it's you're party I don't know anything about this stuff yet", I said.

While we were talking we had walked next door and we were looking around the next house. It was much nicer than the first one and slightly bigger at 1720 sq ft.

"I think I bought the wrong house", I said.

"Well there will be more people after this one, you can bid on it and it may go for more than you're price range", Shannon replied.

"Well let's get some seats and wait for things to start", I said.

An older man came and sat beside me this time.

"They must think you are going to buy this one too, they gave you a real banker this time not just a teller", Shannon whispered into my ear with a grin in her eyes.

I looked around the room and saw the banker chick that sat beside me before sitting beside Shannon's friend Jane.

Bidding started at $10,000 again but went quickly up to $60,000.

I bid $70,000.

Shannon turned and stared at me, I grinned back.

Jane bid $75,000.

I bid $85,000.

I bought the house.

Shannon looked at me with wonder and asked. "Just how much do you get paid at Johns'?"

I said, "not much actually, I am one of the lowest paid per hour on the payroll."

"You must save your money pretty good than."

"To tell you the truth I wasn't even keeping track and just found out yesterday that I had enough saved to buy a house. Besides I quit drinking so there isn't much to spend it on now", I said.

"OHOH I think you and me are in trouble, Jane is coming and she does not look too happy", Shannon said as her friend came over.

"Shannon, did you bring this guy just so he could out bid me on all the houses I want?", Jane said hotly.

Shannon smiled and said, "no, I just happened to bump into him and asked if he wanted to go to an auction. I didn't know he was going to bid on any of these houses."

Jane looked at me and asked, "so now that I am not bidding anymore I assume you have all the houses you will need?"

I looked at her and said "Hello, My name is John; neither Shannon nor I knew I was going to bid on the houses but after seeing them I couldn't resist. Now I didn't own any houses yesterday and now I have one more than I need. I don't think I will bid on any more but you never know, if there is one I like better I just may."

The banker dude was listening and wandered back to his boss after that exchange.

Jane said, "well would you guys mind if I hung out with you through the next couple of houses, I would like to see who buys them."

Shannon said, "I think that bald guy over there will buy the next one, he has been very anxious to get over to it and he was pointing at the house and talking to that lady, she must be his wife."

"Maybe", I said, "He doesn't look overly nice, I wonder if he'll be a good neighbor."

Shannon looked at me and said, "you can't pick your neighbors John."

"Yes you can, you can buy all the houses around you and then only sell to nice people", Jane laughed.

"Maybe that's what I will have to do", I said with a grin.

Both girls laughed.

They were right. The houses got better as they went. I bought this one as well. Shannon couldn't believe it and now we had three bankers with us and got offered tea at the next house in a tent set up on the front lawn. No one else seemed to be invited to the tent but we went and had some tea and muffins.

The bank people seemed really anxious to have me sign the papers for the last three houses. I gave the papers to Shannon to look over and told them we would sign them after she had a good chance to look at them but first we had more houses to look at.

As soon as we were out of the tent Shannon asked, "John just how much money do you have to spend on houses?"

"Well I guess about 4 million in cash but I can probably get a little more if I need it."

Both Shannon and Jane stopped and stared at me. I didn't notice at first and walked a couple of steps before stopping and looking back.

"I thought you were driving a used pickup truck", Shannon said.

"I am, that's what I wanted when I bought it", I replied.

I guess anyone would have been confused. I was in my regular work clothes, blue jeans and a threadbare blue jean shirt with a hole where one elbow should be. I looked like I couldn't afford clothes never mind 3 houses.

The rest of the day went much the same way. I purchased all the houses and the crowd started to disappear once they realized I would just outbid whomever if I wanted the house and I wanted all of them.

The bankers were getting very nervous at the fact that the crowd had disappeared and they had so far not received any money for the houses.

Shannon and Jane were really getting into it, after all, this was what they did for a living and now they were seeing a dream come true watching house after house being purchased, too bad there was no commission for either of them.

When we got to the last house I realized that they had truly left the best for last and a couple of other people showed up to bid on this one. Jane told us about the house, this one was to be the builder's house and this house is the one that bankrupted him.

The house was 3000 sq ft with a huge driveway, this was a mansion. It sat up on a hill and the backyard overlooked almost the entire block as well as having a view of the lake below there was a huge swimming pool and a hot tub that could easily fit a dozen or even 18 slightly crowded. The inside of the house was fantastic. The master bedroom was huge, you could fit 2 king sized beds in there and still have room for a party. The girls fell in love with the walk in closets and the master bathroom with a giant Jacuzzi tub. The sliding glass doors opened to a balcony that overlooked the yard and still gave privacy to whom ever was on it. I asked the girls what this house was worth and they both felt it would go for at least a million.