A Year in Review

There is so much that happened, I doubt I could condense 2007 into one entry. It was a stressful year.

If 2006 was infancy, 2007 was toddlerhood--with my company struggling to find independence, testing boundaries and reverting back to safety nets and when necessary. I definitely needed naps. Lots of them. And, there might have been a couple of temper tantrums.

Here's a quick recap:

1. My fabulous real estate agent turned out to have a bit of anger management and personality issues. She also could not grasp my big-picture. I could have lived with that had she been a bit less bitchy to me. I canned her after she bit my head off for not calling her back quickly enough. Somewhere in there she forgot I was the client. After I fired her, I found out she had been unkind to a few tenants, did a few things on my behalf that are questionably legal and has a bad reputation among Birmingham agents. When this came down, she told me my company wouldn't survive without her. When asked about her, I just say she chose to focus her business in a different direction.

2. I found a different agent who sees the big picture vision and is a delight to work with. But, he doesn't do property management and made this very clear. So, I have taken on property management responsibilities.

3. I have needed serious help this year and found a few folks who have stepped up to help. I am very grateful to them. One collects the rent, another handles some handyman work (once every six weeks) and both will drive by properties when necessary to make sure the places look ok. There are a couple others I have been fortunate enough to call upon when I need an errand or two.

4. We bought two houses, and foreclosed on two existing mortgages. We had a worst-case scenario happen--one we weren't prepared for. I had three vacant homes at one time--all managed long distance.

5. I let too much slide, figuring it was easier to let time fix it instead of taking care of the issue when it came up. In a few cases, time helped. In a few more cases it didn't.

6. I started flying out every three months to take care of business. We have permission from my husband's company to move--but our house has to sell. So far, it hasn't.

Looking back, it seems like there was much more drama than this, but now I can't remember anything else. Our company is now ready for preschool.