Country Retreat - 55. Great Tenants

“Oh you will pay this amount I am certain of it, and if you don’t, then I am sure the courts will be happy to force you to do so as it is clearly stated in our contract for your management of the property, that you will keep the property clean and in good order, with regular monthly inspections and a full property report to be submitted to me. As well as this quote, you will also be receiving an invoice for the cleaning of the cottage and the cost of mowing and slashing the grass, which you are also contracted to manage,” I informed her.

“But you can’t do that?” she complained, “Oh yes I can, maybe you should go back to your office and re-read the contract. Now I have photographs of all the damage that the property has sustained during your lack of management, which I will be happy to send to you on Monday, but for now, I have work to do to clean up this mess. Good day to you,” I said to her, as I walked away with Hunter following me, as we walked along the boundary firebreak down to the beach.

Once she eventually left, Giles arrived and he was smiling broadly. “She had a good look around the cottage, and she was not at all pleased at what she saw, cursing the whole time and slamming the car door as she left, and I caught it all on video,” Giles informed us. “Serves her right for not doing her job properly,” I responded, as we took a walk along the beach. A few minutes after we arrived back at the vehicle, a tractor with a slasher attached on the back and a Ute towing a trailer with mowing equipment on the back arrived.

“Hi, I am Tom Parks, and this is my wife Julia and teenage son, Isaac. We spoke on the phone earlier about doing some work for you,” the man said as he climbed out of the tractor cab. I introduced myself and my two friends to them and explained the situation about the property, and that I used to live in Allendale East and work in Mount Gambier.

“Do you by any chance own the old church on William Street?” Julia asked me, “Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. We didn’t arrive until late last night, and after a brief look at this mess, we stayed at the hotel in Port Macdonnell last night. What is wrong with my former home?” I replied sounding very worried. “Nothing of major concern, we know who lives there now, and noticed that the once beautiful garden is now overgrown with weeds, the rest of the place looked in good order,” I was informed.

“Just a moment please, I need to make a phone call,” I said fuming that yet again my properties were not being looked after properly as I stepped a few metres away from the group, “Hello Mr Kingston, is there another problem?” the real estate agent asked when she answered the call. “There certainly is, I expect to see you at my William Street property in half an hour to discuss a few matters about this property,” I said angrily, and there was hesitation at the other end.

“Yes… I will be there, see you then,” she replied sounding very worried before I ended the call and turned to face the contractors again, “Sorry, I seem to be having some great difficulties with the property manager of the real estate agency in Mount Gambier, we need to go and check out my other property to see what is wrong there as well,” I said to Tom and Julia, while their son was unloading the trailer.

“Yes ok, but…” I heard Julia say as we walked away, not bothering to stop and listen to what they had to say as I was furious now, and fifteen minutes later we arrived at William Street. The garden was indeed full of weeds and the shrubs and plants were very overgrown, which I was not happy to see, but the rest of the property looked to be in good order, as I approached the front door and knocked.

“Hello young man, is your mother or father available to speak to me please?” I asked when a boy aged about ten answered the door. “Jakey, who is at the door,” I heard a female voice call out, “Three men and they don’t look like wise men either,” the boy replied cheekily, and I laughed out loud at this comment. “Jakey, that is not nice to say that… Hello, I am Susan, my parents and older brother are out doing an urgent contracting job at Racecourse Bay, can I help you in any way?” the teen girl asked.

It didn’t take me long to add up all the clues, “Are your parents Tom and Julia Parks and your brother would be Isaac?” I asked, “Yes, how do you know that?” the young lady said who looked to be about 14 and I chuckled, “It is my property down there that they are cleaning up for me, and I also own this place. I was my home until a few months ago,” I replied, as I heard a vehicle turning into the driveway, and I wasn’t surprised to see that it was Julia.

“I am sorry for leaving so fast, if I had stopped and listened to you, I would have known what I learnt just now,” I said to Julia, who smiled. “All I was going to say was that it was our understanding that contractors were meant to maintain the gardens and I was going to suggest that we make alternative arrangements. Please come in and have a cuppa,” Julia said to me.

The house was spotlessly clean as we entered and looked around. The boy – Jake had disappeared into one of the front bedrooms, which had toys scattered around the large rug on the floor, and I smiled as he happily played with them. “Mum, Chrystal has stormed off in a tantrum again, leaving me to hang up the washing,” another boy said as he entered the living area via the laundry, and I heard Julia groan.

“I got this Mum, you stay with the visitors,” Susan said as she headed outside via the back door, with the other boy following her. “That was Toby, my middle son,” Julia said to us, as she began to prepare some afternoon tea. “How many children do you have Mrs Parks?” Hunter asked politely, which made her smile. “Five, three boys and two girls. Isaac is 16, Susan is 14, Toby is 12, and the twins Chrystal and Jake are 10,” Julia replied.

“That is quite a big family to squeeze into a place like this,” Hunter stated, “Not really, the girls have the bedroom and lounge upstairs, as their rooms, Isaac has one bedroom and the younger boys share the other bedroom at the front, and us adults have the wonderful master suite and outside decking, and private garden, so it all works out well,” Julia replied smiling and I glanced over to the window that revealed the patio and enclosed garden which were looking very well looked after, just as I remember it.

“I used to maintain the gardens here before, may I go out and do some work out there please,” Hunter asked Julia, who looked a little surprised she looked towards me, and I just shrugged my shoulders smiling. “That would be wonderful if you don’t mind, there are some gardening tools in the far end garage,” Julia responded.

Giles followed Hunter outside, while I remained with Julia. “Now what were you going to suggest for alternative arrangements?” I asked Julia, “Well, maybe a slight deduction in rent in exchange for our family looking after the garden,” Julia asked. “How about we have you not pay rent for one week in exchange for a big cleanup of the garden, to get it back to the way it was, and $50 a fortnight off the rent to keep it well maintained?” I suggested.

“You have a deal, Mr Kingston,” Julia replied right away, “That is Oscar to you, as I am much younger than yourself, and I will have a new rental agreement sent to you, as I will be terminating the property manager and real estate agency so you can direct credit my account for rent from the start of next month onwards,” I replied. “One more thing I want to ask, we have friends who are desperately looking for long-term accommodation, and we were wondering if you would consider renting your cottage at Racecourse Bay for a minimum of 24 months, once the cleanup and repairs are completed?” Julia asked me.

“Yes, as long as they are going to look after the property that would be fine. Would Tom be interested in a contract to look after the property out there, to keep it in good order for me?” I responded, “Yes, I think that will be possible,” Julia replied. After the chat, I went out to see what the lads were up to, and I was happy to see that a good amount of the weeds had been removed from the front garden and the side hedge had been trimmed away from the driveway. “Wow, that didn’t take you very long to do this,” I said in surprise, as Toby appeared with an empty wheelbarrow. “it helps when we have a garden gnome with us,” Hunter replied.

“Hey, I’m not a gnome,” Toby complained, “No you are definitely not that, Hunter is just teasing you, and well done with all your help here Toby,” I responded, as I frowned at Hunter. “I’m sorry Toby, I was just kidding, you're just my garden leprechaun,” Hunter replied. “Hey, I am not that either,” Toby complained. “No mate you are not that either, just a helpful young lad, who deserves a little reward for all your help,” Hunter answered, before taking out a $20 note and handing it to the lad. “Wow thanks for that,” Toby replied smiling.

Fifteen minutes later, Julia appeared with a tray containing a jug of juice and four cups, “Drinks break,” she announced to us, as she glanced at the improved garden and smiled. “How about we give this job to your Toby, and you can earn some pocket money for it?” Julia announced to her son, “Yes, please! Will I get $20 for it?” Toby asked, “Hmm, not sure about that, we will see,” as she glanced towards me, and I smiled and nodded my head yes.

“After some thought, yes, I think $20 will be agreeable for twenty hours of work,” Julia said to her son. “Hey that’s not fair, that slavery pay,” Toby complained, and we just laughed at this, “Ok, you win, how about four hours of work, do you agree to that?” Julia asked her son, “Deal,” Toby replied holding his hand out for his mum to shake, which she did, and Toby got to work loading up the wheelbarrow once again and disappeared out the back to unload it.

“A hard worker, you have there Julia,” I stated, “Yes, he is always finding ways to earn extra pocket money. Now I must get back to the other property to help with the cleanup,” Julia replied. “Ok, thank you for all of this, and for taking good care of my former home,” I responded, just as the real estate agent arrived. After a brief discussion about the state of the garden, which was also part of the contract with the former gardener, I informed her that I would be reviewing the contract with the real estate agency regarding managing my two properties.