I Beat the Beast  
by John Occhi, Hemet CA REALTOR®
Mission Grove Realty  

It's true.  I beat the beast... and the beast is my own desire.

Let me try and explain...

I have a habit - not a good one mind you, but a habit none the less.  I open refrigerator doors. OK, certainly rude if it's not my house.  Nothing I should ever do at clients - especially when taking the listing.  However, when I stop by a friend's house, I seem to catch myself looking inside their refrigerator.

Even if I don't look, I crave.  I guess it's like a recent ex-smoker wanting to smoke.  What can I say, I'm fat - so shoot me and put us both out of our misery.

I read a post the about the topic by Rich Kruse  and thought I had to chime in to validate the tip.  In Rich's original blog, I commented about an experience I had several years ago when I ran a tenant screening and eviction service.  Let's say without reliving the memory - it was pretty bad - more details are on Riches blog.

So Back to My Story...

I was doing a BPO (Broker Price Opinion) for a lender that had recently been foreclosed on.  My job was to document the interior condition, provide a rough estimate of repair work and access a fair market value in both the current condition as well as cleaned up and repaired.  Simple enough - I've done 200 of these since the first of the year.

Once I gained entry, I saw personal belongings strewn about the home.  Yes most of the furniture was gone; certainly there wasn't a TV or anything good.  Just a lot of clothes and kitchen ware and linens, board games, puzzles - that sort of junk - but it was everywhere.

When I opened the garage, from inside the home I was amazed at what was in there.  Obviously they had a yard sale and whatever didn't sell by the last minute was just tossed into the garage.

And there it was - a beauty of a fridge - just calling out to me.  My instinct told me it was nice and clean, because, after all - it was here for the yard sale, right?  It had to be clean...didn't it?

             

I reached up and had my hand on the pull to open it and I had a flash back at Riche's article and my own negative experience so many years before.

I gently released the handle and walked away, continuing to take my photos of the rest of the pig pen.

Yes, I am a bit curious - did I make the right choice or not - well I'll never know, but what I do know is that I didn't make the wrong choice!

Now Have a Blessed Day,

John Occhi, Hemet CA REALTOR®
Hemet CA Real Estate