222: Suckers
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Here's the kind of thing that changes you from one kind of person into another. Adam and Wendy have been looking for a house for years, which is what you have to do if you don't have a lot of money. And finally they found this house that they liked. And the burgers showed it to them before it came into the market so they actually had a shot at getting the house. And then they were completely ripped off, but ripped off in this way that seems almost calculated to get inside their very molecules and rip them off at the cellular level. The owners of the house, they were very warm and friendly with us and they were very paternal. In fact, they reminded me kind of of my parents in a way that they're very like an academic couple. She seemed like an old hippie, which made me feel like she's pretty genuine. She wore clogs and just seemed kind of cool and long gray hair. They said to us at one point, "We have great compassion for you too because we've got children your own age and so we have great compassion for what you're doing." But it seemed really genuine at the time. An inspector came and pointed out a few problems with the house. For instance, the owners had said that the roof was brand new, but in fact the inspector said it had simply been painted silver and was a web of cracks and problems. The steps leading up to the house were being rebuilt, but the inspector said that the workmanship was no good, it would not last the winter. And then there was a question of the abandoned house next door, "What was going to happen there?" The owner said that they knew nothing about it, nothing at all, but might it affect the value of this house? The owner is insisted on talking about the problems face-to-face. And they invited us over and gave us coffee and we sat right in this room. We sat right here. I think we sat in their couch, which is where our couch now is, and we looked them in the eye and they sat across from us. And that's when I got the first sense that they were playing us. They didn't believe the inspector. They said that's crazy, we have a new roof, and this guy who is doing the stoop is doing a very good job, in fact. They made the point that the roof wasn't leaking on them, therefore it was not as far as they were concerned a problem, therefore why should it really enter the negotiations? Negotiations went back and forth for weeks. When they'd had them barely got their way on anything, but they bought the house anyway because they knew that if they didn't, somebody else would, they'd move in. And then the very first time that it rains, streams of brown water, come pouring into the house. So the water started dripping from there where you can see the brown stains. Water was coming down here. The wall was bubbling out with a big pocket of water inside and the plaster was falling. I just felt totally defeated when I saw that water. I couldn't believe it, how they just kept saying the roof is new, you guys are crazy. You're totally overreacting. You can't listen to contractors who tell you you need a new roof. Yeah, you need a new roof. Yeah, right.
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