From Cocky Ghostbuster to Tired Forrest Gump

Before the Financial Crisis and this real estate cool down, it had become routine for me to be feeling pretty triumphant as I left a closing after selling one of my resurrected properties...like Bill Murray and the Ghostbusting team shown below.

 

However, The Bungalow with it's Detached Garage and The Duplex have been different.  I bought it all as one property at the start of 2008.  Two Pig's Ears, one gigantic sow, and the worst property on the street by far.  You know what they say, "Go big or go home."  Well, I did just that.  In the worst economy since The Great Depression, I subdivided the land...so I owned the two worst properties on the street.  (see Subdividing the Bungalow and The Duplex).

While trying to be a husband, father, and step-father, I juggled; stacks of water, electric, insurance, and tax bills, credit card and credit line payments, and the schedules/needs of contractors, tradespeople, inspectors, and vendors.  And on top of those usual challenges, I also had to deal with drug dealers infiltrating part of the property, someone trying to steal a pricey air conditioner for copper, the loss of a new friend in the neighborhood who was cheering me on until he went to be with The Lord, the eviction of a pair of Waffle House waitresses who weren't paying rent, and an irritating medical issue that's too personal to share (but pretty funny for everyone else when I do).  Then to add to my neurosis, I was borderline OCD about keeping twelve different doors closed and locked when I wasn't there.  (See It's An Adventure.)  So I signed my name over and over again today and then let out a sigh while my daughter sat next to me at the conference table with her coloring book and crayons. 

I came, I saw, I finished my mission.  I don't feel like the Ghostbusters.  I feel more like  a worn-out Forrest Gump and I'm glad I have a Jenny of my own to give me a comforting hug and tell me she's proud of me even though I have nothing to show for it but my pictures, lessons learned, and some stories.

I didn't make any money on this pair, but I got back what I put in.  Some may see this as a loss.  Others may look at it as a tie.  I worked pretty hard to get there and I'm glad I made it.  I think I'll see getting back to where I started as a victory and begin looking forward to the next chapter.