On my way to the Kirribilli Club, I had to pass the old hole-in-the-wall on Blues Point Road. The windows were shut with no sign of life which I hoped would've changed by the time I'd come back at the appointed hour to meet the rental manager for a quick walk-through inspection.
The lease had run out in the difficult-to-relet leading-up-to-Christmas period. Weeks earlier, the rental manager had told me he was going for a higher rent in the new year. I'd told him not to frighten off the tenant.
He must've because the tenant, a young Japanese, had already left. The rental manager said he had returned to Japan which was sort of strange because when I got back to the flat after the long lunch at the Kirribilli Club, the previously closed windows were wide open. Not a stick of furniture, no sign of any human habitation, but the windows wide open.
"Did you open the windows?" I ask the rental manager. He hadn't. Who had? Had the tenant made a quick dash back from Narita International Airport just to open the windows for the inspection? I wondered as I toddled back to my hotel, much in need of a cup of tea and a lie down but not for long because watching the "human zoo" in action all day long on Blues Point Road is better than watching any Reality TV show.
Before immersing myself in the street's coffee culture, I walked the few metres up the road for one more look at the flat. The windows were still wide open! By this time it was well past five o'clock and I couldn't contact anyone, and even if I could've, I hadn't brought the rental manager's contact details as our meeting had been arranged weeks ago.
What to do? The weather forecast was for torrential rains in Victoria with the wet front moving up the coast. I spent an uneasy night worry-ing about water damage to recently replaced carpets and paint work.
Next morning I 'saddled up' early and checked myself out from the still sleeping hotel. Up the road and next to the flat was a new real estate agency whose manager had previously done an advertising 'blitz' with me following his sale of a unit in the same block as mine.
I asked them if I could use their computer - there are no more internet cafés as everyone except me now has a smartphone - to track down my elusive rental manager. They - Stone Real Estate - were so helpful and their office just a stone's throw from the flat that I'm thinking of giving them the management. I hope they'll leave no STONE unturned.
