The Not So Handy If He Doesn't Show Up Man.

Just when a second coat of paint is in the first bedroom, a second coat of primer in the second bedroom and a first coat of primer in the upstairs bathroom, things get interesting.

The realtor came over.  We walked around the house while we waited for the handyman to show up.  He gave a few opinions on what needed to and not to be done.  All of which was on the to-do list except for one.  It was to put a lock on the water heater.  I didn’t agree with that and asked him what happens if the tenant needs to relight the heater.  He told me that tenants weren’t smart enough for that. (Seriously, if a tenant isn’t smart enough to relight a water heater, they don’t need to be living in my house.) I agreed to put a clasp on the water heater cabinet to prevent kids from playing with the heater, but that the adults needed to be able to relight the heater so I wouldn’t have to pay him to come out and do it at an extra expense.  

After a while of waiting for this handyman, the realtor got board and started making phone calls and then said he had to go. 

The handyman never did show up. 

Later that evening, I got a call from my husband. We talked about what was done and what still needed doing. There was now a third coat of primer in the second bedroom, a second coat of primer in the upstairs bathroom, and started to clean the game room. The paint in the game room looked ok, so the only thing needed was a lot of cleaning with elbow grease and some Simple Green. 

Apparently, the handyman had called my husband earlier in the day to discuss the costs of hiring him to work on the list I gave him when he was here. (He didn’t mention that he never showed up for his appointment.) He gave my husband his prices in labor and in material costs. They talked about the house. They talked about prices. My husband told him that I can pick stuff up for less money so all we needed was the labor. Then this guy tells my husband, “I know a great place to get paint for real cheap. It’s where contractors take all of their overages to sell, and some of it is even stolen.” 

Yeah, this guy is a creep.