I said, \u201cStuff leaks. There are people living above.”<\/p>\n \u201cHow often does it leak?\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe once a year. You should have insurance on your gowns.\u201d<\/p>\n Jim, the <\/strong>dry cleaner, wanted<\/span><\/span> month to month. And he wanted paint jobs — extra work. That was strange — the paint-job request. You need at least $10,000 to start a business, and Jim wanted odd jobs on the side? And what was with the month to month? \u201cMonth to month is common,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n No, it’s not, not for commercial leases. I told him if he gave me a security deposit by Sunday, we\u2019d do a\u00a0 one-year lease. But he didn\u2019t come up with the money. I called Kim. She wanted to look over the lease. I said, \u201cJim might want the store. I’m at the show-me-the-money phase.\u201d<\/p>\n Jim needed more documents, whatever that meant. Kim said she\u2019d be by at 3 p.m. with the money.<\/p>\n At noon, Ron, my maintenance guy, called and said there was a flood in the store. “Water is coming in from the ceiling. Two inches. Build an Ark. It\u2019s just flooding like crazy.”<\/p>\n \u201cRon, she\u2019s due in three hours. She won\u2019t rent if she sees a flood. She\u2019s picky. Make the ceiling white. I don\u2019t care if you use toothpaste.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t<\/strong><\/span> paint wet plaster.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe I can get her to come tomorrow,” I said.<\/p>\n I got Kim to show at 8 a.m. the next morning, and she rented the place. (The leak was from a hole in the gutter in back, plus the downspout was out of alignment. We fixed all that.)<\/p>\n Kim rented for nine years. The dry cleaner, who knows what happened to him.<\/p>\n —<\/p>\n
\nThe storefront <\/strong><\/span>was vacant a couple years, and then suddenly two people wanted it. 1.) Jim, a tailor and dry cleaner\u00a0 2.) Kim, who sold bridal gowns. Jim said he had 20 years experience running a dry cleaners down the street. The shop went out of business in the middle of the night. Twenty years was good, but closing in the middle of the night wasn’t. As for Kim, the bridal-gown woman, she was picky, like “this door isn\u2019t secure” and “what\u2019s with the stain in the ceiling?”<\/p>\n