Another long one - Posted by Karl (Oh)

Posted by Karl (Oh) on March 22, 2001 at 07:18:17:

Why would I blame myself when its much easier to blame someone else? lol

Yes, I do feel bad about what happened, only as far as my business not getting a great deal on a used trailer. Mostly I feel sorry for these people, they’re in a tough spot, and they just made their life a little tougher. Believe me, I didn’t lose any sleep worrying that I upset these folks yesterday.

I’ll bet they’ll be calling me back in a couple weeks when reality sets in and they need to make a quick sale. Give me one more shot at them face to face, we’ll be regular pals when they’re holding some of my cash in their unreasonable, irrational little hands.

Thanks for your post, John

Karl Kleiner

Another long one - Posted by Karl (Oh)

Posted by Karl (Oh) on March 22, 2001 at 24:05:19:

I?m staying up late tonight trying to work on my taxes, but I keep slipping into typing posts about mobile homes. It?s a lot more fun. Having trouble sleeping? This story should do the trick?..

My PM has been telling me about an ?abandoned? mobile home in another little park he runs up the road. The home is a nice ?85 Redman 2/2 in good shape, just yellow from years of cigarette smoke. The owner was an older woman who passed away two months ago, and no one has been in touch with the park to let them know what?s going on with the trailer. So my PM asked me to investigate, possibly get the home declared abandoned, get possession, and resale the home. He just wants the lot rent to keep flowing.

So I filed a police report on behalf of the park, did some investigating with the BMV and auditor?s office, talked to some of the neighbors, finally tracked down a sister of the deceased owner who wants nothing to do with the home. It seemed that none of the relatives we could find were interested in claiming the home.

Today my PM told me that the son of the woman called him to talk about the home. He said that they would try to sell the home through probate to settle the estate. He?s not sure how its going to work out, but he mentioned to the PM that they only thought the home was worth around $2k. BINGO!

So I called the son today about possibly buying the trailer, and talked to his wife. She told me the whole story, and I told her what I did and that I might be interested in buying the home. She said that her husband was thinking about fixing it up and renting it out. I told her that the park didn?t allow rentals. I explained how easy it would be for them to just sell it to me. I was a cash buyer, could take care of back lot rent, etc. We had a nice chitchat, I told her to talk it over with her husband, gave her my number, and hung up.

A couple hours later I stopped into my PM?s office. He had just got off the phone with the son. The son was calling with an extremely angry complaint about me for the things I said to his wife. Apparantly I told her that they couldn?t fix up the home, I wouldn?t let them rent out the home, they had to sell the home to me, and they needed to pay back lot rent right away. The whole time the guy was on the phone, the wife, who couldn?t have been nicer to me on the phone, was yelling in the background about how badly I treated her, and all the terrible things I said to her. The PM said she was off her nut. My PM tried to calm the guy and explain what my role was, and that he had given me their number, and that he thought I would probably pay them their $2k for the home if they wanted to sell. The guy ended the call by saying he wouldn?t sell the home to me in a million years.

Just to keep it professional, I called him right back, but got his answering machine. I apologized for whatever I might have said that was offensive, gave a quick explanation of what I did, and that I was just trying to help out him and the park, and wished him luck with his trailer.

So here?s a guy stuck with a trailer, he wants $2k for it, I?m offering $2k, but because his wife is wacko, he won?t sell me the home. Isn?t the best part of this business all the interesting people we get to meet?

Karl Kleiner

Re: Another long one - Posted by John/Indiana

Posted by John/Indiana on March 22, 2001 at 01:06:51:

Wow,Karl! Sounds like some of my in-laws.A person means well,trys to help,gets stabbed from behind,ya know?Whatever you do,don’t blame yourself.You were just trying to help.I had a similar incident last weekend.Had just about cut my first deal.A couple had built a house,were selling the trailer they lived in during construction.Asking $4500,we negotiated $2500 moved/setup(his relative moves mh’s),because he wanted it out of there bad.Guy told his wife,she hit the ceiling.She was insistent on $3500 cash,while he & I had negotiated $500 down,balance 90 days.In the meantime,I drove by today to see if it was gone yet,lol.Someone tried moving it,with a tractor.Tractor & trailer both mired in,kinda muddy!!!Oh heck…you did what you felt was fair Karl…and you meant well.I know you feel bad about what happend,but it wasn’t your fault.I bet the son & his wife are real up close & personal all the time,lol.John.