Vance

Vance, a man who invests primarily in stocks and does a considerable amount of day trading, was looking for a quarterly profit. We had enough homes that this was working out ok. If there was $100 dollars profit sitting out there, he wanted his share.

The issue this caused was it did not leave us money for emergencies. If something broke, I had to call him and ask for money. “Don’t we have the money to fix it?” he would ask. I would then explain for the zillionth time, no. Because he wanted all the profits divvyed out last quarter our bank account was low.

Vance wasn’t afraid of risk the way Jim was. But, he wanted everything he invested back out as soon as possible. That is why day trading is so appealing to him.

One of the properties we owned, we had purchased before the Phoenix real estate boom. Because the tenant moved out a year later—in the middle of the real estate boom—we sold it for a mind-blowing profit. Vance thought I was a genius. When the next property became vacant in a similar fashion but the timing wasn’t as great, Vance changed his opinion. Mind you, Vance made a profit on this property too. It was just not the mind-blowing anomaly we had seen the year before.

In 2007 when the Good Pastor was booted out, it was too much of a strain on Vance’s good humor. It cut into our profits. The frustration of uncertainty got to be too much for his reserved nature. He had never dealt with a deadbeat before (neither had I—and all Vance got was updates from me).

All of the landlord horror stories Vance had heard danced in his head. This was no longer the investment tool for him. He panicked. He questioned everything: “Why haven’t they paid? Why did you pick those people? Why did you select this house? Why? Why? Why?” It was very difficult not to take Vance’s questioning personally. In fact, I took it very personally.

It is my opinion—I have nothing to base this on other than a few comments Vance shared with me that I have strung together as well as his uncharacteristic actions and erratic behavior—that Vance got himself into some sort of serious financial hardship. I truly believe this played a major role in Vance’s behavior.

The homes are still there. There are new renters. They are cash flowing. But one bad situation and Vance was through.

Mr. Partner bought out Vance’s interests last year.

to be continued