The Real Estate Deal

939 words

Photo by: AS Photography

“I’ve got the key somewhere,” said the real estate agent. 

While he ransacked his pockets Violet and Ed spent the time eyeing the street. The buildings were all close together, rather cramped even. Some looked like old barn doors. Some windows had been boarded up. It was a dark and dusty environment, not very appealing at all. 

Violet shuddered. “Why is he showing us this?” she whispered. 

“He said it was a diamond in the rough,” replied Ed.

“It would have to be something extraordinary for me to like it,” she replied dourly.

Ed turned to the real estate agent who was still looking for the key. “Gil, why the paddle lock?” he asked. “Why not just a regular lock?”

Gil pulled out the key and inserted it into the lock. “I’ll explain inside,“ he whispered secretively as he pushed the door open and they stepped inside. Gil immediately closed the door behind him. 

He reached out and flicked on the lights. They were standing in a cavernous vaulted room. Skylights were evident but covered over. He flicked another switch and the shields rolled away allowing the blazing sun to fill the room. 

As they looked around there were boxes upon boxes stacked in the middle of the room. As they edged around the boxes Violet spied a kitchen worthy of a restaurant. 

“What is this place?” she asked.

“This is the hidden jewel, a once in a lifetime find. It is a place steeped in history,” he intoned from practiced rehearsals.

“What does that mean?” Ed inquired.

Gil looked down at the floor as if trying to make a decision.”I am showing you this residence because it stipulates in the last Will and Testament of the owner that it is to be shown precisely today to a man named Ed and his wife, a woman named Violet. 

Ed and Violet looked stunned at this admission. “Us? His will said to show it to us?” said Violet with quiet determination. 

“Yes. There are conditions.”

“Conditions? We don’t know who this guy is. We haven’t even looked around and there are conditions?” sputtered Ed. He thought it was preposterous, possibly a set up of some sort.  

Gil sighed. “I am only the messenger. Before you look around further these things are for your consideration. First, The boxes cannot be opened until you have closed the deal. What is in the boxes cannot leave the premises. Second. If you close the deal you will be given title to the property. It will be yours if you live here for one year. After a year it is yours free and clear. No money down. No money owing. Simply yours. Third, everything that exists in this building right now is to stay in the building for one year. No exceptions.” 

“No exceptions,” commented Ed. “Not even if something breaks down?” 

“I misspoke. The only exception is if something needs to be replaced due to mechanical error”

Violet glared at him. While she was not at all interested in what he had said, it fueled a competitive streak in her. “We have conditions, " replied Violet. “What is wrong with the building? Why would we want this building? Why would we agree to those conditions? Can we get someone to look at the building? Why this building? This neighbourhood is so run down but this, this looks amazing. Can we do research? Can we ask questions?”

Ed looked at her knowing full well what she was doing. He sat back and watched as the rockets sent their sparks into space.

Gil rose to the occasion but in the end there was no way they were going to accept any conditions, even if the house was basically free. The neighbourhood was horrible. The house, they discovered, was a mansion hidden amongst the rubble. Having a different set of expectations they could not wrap their head around it and accept the deal. In the end, to them the deal was too good to be true, therefore untenable.  

Gil returned to his office feeling like he had gone to war. In a sense he had. While Ed watched, Violet effectively tore apart all of the arguments that Gil presented. 

Gil stuck his head in his boss's door.  “It became apparent early on that they were not interested.”

“Did you choose carefully?”

“Yes. They had all the right attributes but something in the back of their mind said no. Actually a lot of things in the back of their minds said no,” he chucked sadly.

His boss regarded Gil with watchful eyes. “That’s fine. Return to the list. Cull a few profiles. Prepare for the next couple. Sometime soon someone will accept our terms and then the experiment begins.”

As he turned to leave Gil sighed a small sigh of relief. “Soon,” he thought to himself. “Sometime soon.”

A few days later Gil was back at the door.

“I’ve got the key somewhere,” said the real estate agent. 

While he ransacked his pockets Janet and Gord spent the time eyeing the street. The buildings were all close together, rather cramped even. Some looked like old barn doors. Some windows had been boarded up. It was a dark and dusty environment, not very appealing at all. 

Janet shuddered. “Why is he showing us this?” she whispered. 

“He said it was a diamond in the rough,” replied Gord.

“It would have to be something extraordinary for me to like it,” she replied dourly.

Gord turned to the real estate agent who was still looking for the key. “Gil, why the paddle lock?” he asked. “Why not just a regular lock?”