Smart-ass Remark by Estate Agent!

Thursday January 8

Today would have been Jayne’s father’s (Bill) birthday. God bless him.

It was raining today, to I asked Gonzalo to go with me to Quito. I wanted to buy some seeds and I was told by another friend that it’s in front of Plaza San Francisco.

When we were walking there I got a call from the real estate agent. He told me he’s on his way. I told him that we changed our minds and won’t need his services. Do you know what this IDIOT said? He said, “Screw you!”

Then he hung up the phone right away.

This guy is really sick! I can’t understand their mentality.

I told him yesterday to meet at 10am as I had someplace else to go. He said he’d call to confirm this, well when he called it was 10.23am. And the fact that they were on their way it could have been close to 11am by the time he arrived. He should have called earlier – but I would have said the same thing. At least he would not have been on the road.

I was thinking if this jerk called home first and Jayne told him the same thing that I did, he would probably said the same thing to her (screw you), which would not have been nice to say to a lady.

No wonder people are poor – because they work to be poor. Even if he isn’t he just has one less house to sell. You can be sure that he will never get any more recommendations from Matt – so he’ll lose more money in the long run. Good!

I can’t get out of Ecuador fast enough and I’m sure Jayne feels the same way.

Jayne and I already decided not to use him after what happened yesterday – with not calling and lying saying he sent a text message. Now his true colors came out. This is how problems are really a blessing in disguise. Having a guy with a bad attitude showing property is not good.
What this real estate agent did shows that he’s a coward. When he lied he sends a text. This way he will not have to answer questions and he doesn’t doesn’t show his emotion – which reveals that he’s lying. Also, by saying something nasty and hanging up shows that he would not have to hear any rebuttals.

Then Gonzalo and I went to the store that sells seeds. I bought about a dozen packs of seeds that came to $5.50. I told him he could have the rest of the day off and I’d see him tomorrow.

Then I went to Papaya Net to get something to eat and go on the internet. Shortly after I got on the internet I called Matt to see if he was in his office. He was and said to come now.

When if first got there I met an American and his Belarusian wife. She speaks Russian of course. I spoke with her a little in Russian. Matt told that they bought an apartment on the same street that I have mine and have had it since July 2007.

I told Matt I the story of the so-called ‘real estate agent’ and he was surprised. He said he can’t figure Ecuadorian thinking either.

We discussed of other ways for me to sell the house – which I had already thought out. He said he would list the property on his website and put an ad in the Quito newspaper. I’ll also place an ad on eBay.

Idiot Real Estate Agent!

Wednesday January 7

Today Jayne and I prepared for the real estate agent to come by cleaning up the house. He told me he’d be here at 2pm. We rushed around to get everything done.

Two o’clock came and went. Then 3 o’clock came and he still wasn’t here.

What the hell is wrong with these people?! Jayne and I were pissed!

I gave him a call and he said that he sent a text message to say that he couldn’t come. I told him that I didn’t receive any messages. He told me that he didn’t have a car at his disposal. I knew at this time it was BULL!

He asked if he could come tomorrow and I said that it would have to be in the morning at 10am as I have to be somewhere else later. He said he’d call to confirm this.

I told Jayne he was lying. This guy has our home phone number and he could have called here as we were home all day. When you have a business meeting you don’t use a text message when you should call first. He has my cell phone and home phone. I told Jayne that when I talked to him he sounded like he just got out of bed. He did not have the enthusiasm as yesterday.

For a business meeting you call and talk to the person, you only use a text message when you can’t reach the person. Plus, like I said there were no missed messages.

If he had any business sense he could have taken a bus here and it would have cost him only 30 cents. Just because he speaks English he might thing that we are depended on him – well he’s wrong!

What I’ll do is when he calls tomorrow (if he calls) I’ll tell him ‘You’re fired!’ I get a gut instinct that he will not be a good agent. So maybe this works out for the better. After all, he wants an exclusive listing and if he doesn’t have the initiative to be here, he will probably do very little to sell the property.

I’ll tell Matt that this guy is useless. I’ll have him (Matt) put my property on his website and to place some ads in the city newspaper. I know he will do a good job.

Last night Jayne and I saw a documentary from a DVD that Richard made for us, of which he got off the internet. There was very important thing that was said by the speaker that I never thought of. He related a story whereby real estate agents were going to the farms and homes in the area of Colorado where they had buyers who wanted the properties no matter what the price. Some people started to ask who the buyers were and they wouldn’t reveal it. Finally one did and said that they have wealthy Chinese businessmen who want to buy property with their US dollars.

The real estate agent called yesterday. We had seen this documentary last night. I think that God is telling us something. Had we not seen this film we might still sign on with this lazy estate agent of which he would have an exclusive (this is the only way his company works). Now we have been warned and now have the freedom to list the property on eBay.

The wealthy in China knows that the dollar is collapsing and China – collectively – holds about $1 trillion! They know that the US Treasury bills are only paper, too. So they are looking to put their dollars into something of value – and property is what they are investing in.

This gave me an idea – to somehow get the attention of the wealthy Chinese – of listing my property on the Internet. Of course, I already had plans to put the house on some website. So, if the Chinese – or any other foreigner – who has a lot of money to buy property, can by here in Ecuador. After all, their dollar will buy much more than in the US or Europe.

I’ll look first on eBay! eBay has the largest listing of property in the world – even though they have listing for every other conceivable thing available. I’m sure the Chinese, Japanese and other countries that are holding billions of dollars know about eBay and their real estate listing. And hopefully they will look there.

The reason why I didn’t just want to use Matt’s website was that he hasn’t got any clients to buy for the past year because of the economy. When I see him tomorrow I’ll talk to him about putting my property on his site and to place an ad in the city newspaper.

I’m sure you see that just about everything that is done in Ecuador there is a problem, delay or cost more money to get it done.

Tuesday January 6

I went to Quito to get money out of the bank. When I went to withdraw I was told that I had to go to the desk. When I spoke to the woman she said that I could not withdraw what I wanted to but had to take all the money out.

Another problem in Ecuador!

I would have still had plenty of money in my account but I guess because of the bank’s stupid rules if it dropped below a certain amount you have to close the account. So this is what I did. I’ve had problems with this bank anyhow, so I closed it and got all my money.

I know other banks have minimum limits but I’m sure not set as high as here. You’d think that with this being a poor country they would allow lower limits, but such is not the case.

While I was at the bank I got a call from a real estate agent saying he got an email from Mathieu saying that I want to sell the house. He said he can come by tomorrow afternoon, so we made plans to meet. He said that his company only deals with exclusive listings. Other agents can sell but they will split the commission. Well, I hope his company does a good job. He told me that they have a website so I want to take a look at that first. And also see what kind of advertizing they will do. I will start out with a short contract – say 3 months.

The Day After

Friday January 2

We got up early as Matt wants to leave about 9am. There was no water in the bathroom as they have to fill up the tank on the top. The bathroom is too far from the house so if you have to take a pee in the morning, you have to get your clothes and shoes on and get a flashlight. He should have had it built closer. He should have another one build as Amparo, when she is there, doesn’t like to share with the workers. Plus if you are to have several guests you have a long wait.

We left about 9.15am. It was exactly a two hour drive back. The road to Matt’s farm goes past the tourist place of Middle of the World, where there are stores, a monument and a museum. This is where you are exactly on the equator. Jayne wasn’t there but I was there when I first came here in 2004. The real location is 300 meters away, where there is another museum. Where the big tourist attraction was build they had used the French explorers who surveyed it back in the 18th Century. This was found to be wrong using satellite measurements.

The road to the farm is on a good paved road but once you get off it you have to go down a dirt road for about 2 miles.

Matt dropped us off near his home where there are more taxis. When we got home we talked about our trip and had a cup of coffee. When we were there the coffee we got was weak so it’s not like having coffee. I don’t like strong coffee and I usually have one or two cups a day, but I do like a regular strength of coffee.

I went the mall myself as Jayne didn’t want to go. I just wanted to catch up on my email. When I was there I noticed two guys walked in. I thought to myself, they look like Russian Mafia. They were not tourists by their dress. There was much noise in the restaurant as it was busy and they had the music on but I did pick up some Russian words. Later I asked if they spoke Russian and they said they do. I told them I lived in Moscow. He said that was nice.

I got the cue that they weren’t interested in talking to me. This would be true if they were Mafia. The funny thing is that Matt just told us earlier today that the Russian Mafia are getting into the flower business (probably threaten others to sell out or to deal through them).

I really don’t have time for Russian criminals (or any criminals).

All in all it was nice at the farm, but there were some things that could have been done better.

New Year’s Day 2009

Thursday January 1

Some people got up about 6am while others got up around 6.30am. There is a lot of work to do for the guests. The first thing that was done was to kill the pig. I wasn’t outside at the time but was awake. Then I got up and saw them gut the pig. Matt had bought the pig about a month ago for the purpose of eating it on New Year’s Day.

We had breakfast, but again it wasn’t much as each person got one egg. So, Jayne and I were still a bit hungry.

The first guests arrived about 11.30am. in total there were about 23 of us including the children.

I knew about half the people there, as there was Judith’s family and the family of the godmother of Amparo’s new son.

With more children there they were riding the horse and mule constantly. Jayne and I felt sorry for the animals. What I should have done was as soon as two kids came back to say it’s our turn. I told Matt that the animals are being ridden too often and he said they didn’t look tired to him. Imagine!

If this was my place I would have organized it and say something like this, “The animals need a rest so wait 30 minutes. Then have ridden it enough it’s time for the adults to ride if they want to.” This is my character and by doing this it will give the animals rest and show discipline to the children – which the parents should have done. When kids act badly it’s a reflection on the parents.

About 6pm I got a ride on the horse. Jayne didn’t want to ride either animal at that time. I just took it for a short walk and did not make it run. Then there were two stops of about 5 minutes each. Probably the horse sensed that I was thinking of its health.

When I got on the horse, I had my ‘cowboy hat’ that I wore all day and my dress boots. Matt wanted to take a picture of me and said I looked like John Wayne. Then the worker that lives there got his old shot gun out and gave it to me. Matt said go get those Indians.

Anyhow, I took a lot of pictures while we were there. I’ll post them on this website.

I had fish, as some were saved from yesterday and yucca and some kind of corn. I didn’t want to spend all day picking the bones so some meat was left on it when I finished. There as a dog and cat sitting by me and I gave the fish to them. Jayne had the pig. She said it didn’t have flavor and it was tough.

Matt has chickens, too, but not enough eggs to feed even 6 people. He should have bought eggs at the market.

In the evening we talked on the cabana and drank wine. (They also had beer there but it was finished when all the guests went home. So there was just wine left.)

We all went to bed about 7.45am. We did sleep well there and the bunk beds were comfortable.

Matt had asked me to give the workers about $5 before I leave and he’ll ask the others to do the same. He said that they had to work hard as they never had to cook for guests before (I could tell by the lack of food for breakfast and lunch).

This is some nerve asking the people for money! Especially me, as Jayne and I were the only playing guests. I had given him $30 the week before to contribute to the food and drinks. Plus I bought a bottle of champagne, to be sure that we had this for midnight. Then when we were at a store the sold fireworks, I contributed $10 (half of what he spent). Then there was the restaurant that I paid for his meal, which must have come up to $10 for his share. Then we stopped at a store where he needed small change, and I forked over $2. The champagne cost about $3.

In total I spent over $50 and we did not get $50 worth of food and drinks there.

The other wrong this is, that this was a party and people understand that it’s free. I doubt if he asked them to contribute money to the workers. I don’t think Ecuadorians would like that. I know that Jayne and I didn’t like it. He should pay the workers extra money and not guests.

When we left (Friday) the workers waved and we waved back – but I did not pay them anything. They should get paid extra but that should have come out of Matt’s pocket!

New Year’s Eve

Wednesday December 31

We got up early and had breakfast. We then left about 8am. Amparo, her daughter, Bernadette and the baby will leave tomorrow with her friends. Matt just took his son, Juan-Carlos. Then we picked up two boys who are the children of Ampro’s friend.

We made some stops at different stores so Matt could pick up some things for the party. Without stopping I was told that it’s exactly a two hour drive. Matt has a Chevrolet pickup truck with a back seat in it.

Matt and Ampro’s farm is 12 hectares – most of it on sides of mountains. He has a family living there that is sharecroppers. It’s good to have people living when you can’t live there full time. Otherwise people will steal what you have in the home and what crops you have. The farm cost him $40,000.

There is a home for the workers – which include a husband, wife and three children. The cabin next to that is where Matt’s family stayed. We also stayed there, too. It’s rustic there, as there is are indoor bathroom. The two bedrooms are separated by a burlap curtain. There is not even a wall between the rooms and hallway but one long burlap curtain.

He did have a cabana build which is rather large, and an outdoor dining room where there are two brick ovens build. Both building are made with wood and bamboo with a thatched roof.
About 100 feet from the house is the bathroom with a shower.

Matt has many kinds of fruit trees on his property, including papaya and avocado plus exotic fruit that I don’t know the names of. He also has yucca – which is a starch vegetable that grows underground. There are bamboo and teakwood trees, too. They also have a horse and two mules.

Matt showed us around the property. One place we walked to is down the ravine where there is a small waterfall.

The three boys that came with us rode the horse and mule (just one mule was used for some reason). They took many rides on the horse and mule with practically no stopping to let the animals rest. That is a shame. I wanted to ride but I thought I let the horse rest a bit but before I knew it they were off on it again. So, Jayne and I didn’t get to ride today. The horse doesn’t look well yet the kids rode all day.

We had lunch there but it wasn’t much. The worker didn’t cook much but Matt didn’t say or notice that there wasn’t much food.

Later in the day one worker and two boys caught fish that Matt raises in three ponds he has. He has another one but it was empty for some reason.

For dinner we had yucca and fish. I don’t recall the name of the fish but they were small and bony. I only had one fish as there is not much meat on it and a lot of picking of the bones to get to it.

In the evening we sat in the cabaña and drank wine. We told Matt about our plans of selling my properties and moving to Cyprus. He was sorry we were doing it. We told him the main reasons of doing it, which are:

Jayne’s family would not be able to visit us here and we would not be able to visit them as it’s very expensive to fly back. Also, that the house will continue to get moisture from the foundation. This will create an on-going expense plus property value will continue to drop. Ecuadorians pay less and less for a house the older it is.

At midnight we lit the fireworks to welcome in the New Year. Jayne went to bed about 1am and I along with the rest of the people went to bed about 1.30am.