Do you feel that chill in the air? Are goosebumps lining the back of your spine? It must mean it is Halloween, which makes it time to announce the winners of our “Share Your CRE Horror Story” contest!

We had a lot of horrifying (and interesting) stories shared by your fellow commercial real estate professionals, and one winner has been randomly selected to win a $200 Amazon Gift Card!

But before we share who the winner is, here are a few standout CRE Horror Stories:

1. “As a property manager, the most horrifying thing that I have ever experienced is the drainage tub breaking off at 1:00 in the morning. The drainage tub was connected to where all the cars were parked, and due to back up pressure the tub broke and water came pouring out everywhere.”
2. “As a property manager, I had to deal with a fire in a building full of compressed sawdust logs. The Fire Department actually physically pulled all of the boxes of logs out of the building, in order to save the building which didn’t have a sprinkler system. This has led to the ongoing problem of sorting out various repercussions. It has been 10 months and we still don’t have a building permit, we hit asbestos, fire sprinkler code issues, and bad consultant reports are just some examples of what we have had to deal with. It will be one year before the space is ready to re-rent at the minimum.”
3. “I hired a long time contractor to paint the exterior doors of an office park. His regular painting crew was hired by a film studio to work on set, so he hired some unknowns and put them to work. Rather than rolling and brushing the doors as I asked they spray painted the doors dark green. They proceeded to open the door to spray the inside of the doors, however, they didn’t encapsulate the area they were painting or drape the furnishings. There was paint around the door, on the walls, and paint particles throughout the office. They opened the back door to allow for airflow, which led to deposited particles in every office, on computers, keyboards, laptops, monitors, desk, and seats. As the property manager who had to go out to meet with the tenant, I was mortified. This was total devastation and there was absolutely no excuse for this situation. What a mess.”

Sound horrifying? You haven’t seen anything yet…

Here is the winning entry:

From Debbie, from her property management days…

“I had to deal with one of our tenants employees as he stepped directly outside of their suite, knelt down, and began to light a fire. As it turns out, this practice was a ritual based on their religion.

Can you imagine if the fire had gotten out of control? I immediately phoned the tenant and advised them that (with all due respect to their religion), we cannot condone starting fires on the property for the safety and protection of all the proprietors and their patrons.”

Congratulations, Debbie!

We’ll be reaching out to you shortly to get you your $200 Amazon Gift Card!