Real Estate Management and Maintenance Tips

Identify The Real Problem

by Marvin Levin

Several years ago, we acquired a small office building in Placerville, California at a foreclosure sale.  It was located directly across the street from the courthouse, and our vision was that it would become an office center for people connected with county business.

Because of the courthouse location, the District Attorney had offices on the 2^nd Floor. 2^nd Floor tenants reached their office by using an exterior stairway and then proceeding to walk along a wooden deck.

The wooden deck was constructed with two 2”x 8” planks.  It is possible that 15 years earlier the builder knowingly (or unknowingly) saved a little money (about 15%) by purchasing the deck lumber without it first being dehydrated in a kiln.  So, as time passed, the deck boards continued to separate and that made it dangerous for women walking in spiked heels.

A few weeks after escrow closed, we received a call from the assistant district attorney warning us of the dangerous condition. The call was followed up by a letter. 

We received three bids to repair the deck by adding different kinds of covering material. The bids ranged from $10,000 to $16,000.  I was pleasantly surprised a few days later when our project manager called me to say that he could fix the problem for only $200. 

Pause for a moment and ask yourself what you might do.

Our project manager gave both women in the district attorney’s office a $100 gift certificate to a local shoe store so that they could add comfortable shoes without the spiked heels to their wardrobe. He also distributed an article about the health risks of walking on extremely high-heeled shoes. He then placed a warning sign at the bottom of the stairway indicating that it would be dangerous to walk on the deck with spiked heels.  He also notified our insurance carrier of all of the above facts. 

Five years later, we sold the building without any additional complaints. To the best of our knowledge, no one suffered any injury from walking on the deck.

If you run into a challenging property, please contact me.