The train rattled loudly, shaking as it made it’s way, seemingly at a snail’s pace, from Ho Chi Minh City (also referred to as Saigon), Vietnam. I am on a three week adventure in Southeast Asia, and it’s currently 10pm as I am laying down, trying to sleep on a small, thin mattress in a cramped four person sleeper car on an overnight train, with three other people sharing the small sleeping quarters. The train is loud and shaky and very far from comfortable.
The sleeping quarters. I was attempting to sleep to the right on the bottom.
We have about six hours to go until we reach Nha Trang, Vietnam, a small coastal city, and I just want to catch a few hours of rest. But due to intense jet lag (I’ve only been on this side of the world for a few days — 12 hours ahead of of New York City), and how loud the train is, sleep seems far from likely.
After a few hours of twisting and turning, I sit up, because now I am going to get the melatonin I brought on this trip to put me out. But as I reach for my iPhone to use the flashlight, I notice about twenty text messages in a group chat about a real estate rental deal regarding a two bedroom apartment back in Sunset Park, Brooklyn that I had been working on before I left.
After many showings and a few price reductions (the market was slow – we had to lower the price a few times), I finally had a set of renters, and I had delegated all responsibilities about closing the deal to a colleague of mine because I would be traveling. But now, reading these messages on this rickety ride in the middle of who knows where Vietnam, the clients are asking the agent in this group text thread why it is taking so long to get the lease from management.
If we don’t have the lease today, the renters write, we are going to back out. I had been cc’ed on all texts with the renters, and on all emails with the management about the lease, because it is my relationship with the management. The bus stops with me on this deal. But there was no reason to worry: the management had said they needed a day or two to prepare the lease.
Sleepless in Asia, I spring to action, replying for the first time in days on this group chat, with a flurry of text messages. I had not chimed in in a while because the agent who was now in charge had been doing an excellent job handling everything, but I’m concerned and don’t want to lose this deal.
Hi, there’s nothing to worry about. I have seen the emails with the management, they just need a day or two to prepare the lease. I am so sorry for the delay, I respond with. The actual message was much longer than this.
After some back and forth, the renters go: Ok, thank you for the update. We will continue to be patient. I lay down again on my excuse of a mattress, feeling like a hero. Deal saved. I am the Real Estate Warrior and I work whilst on uncomfortable trains across the world too!
I maybe nod off an hour later, for an hour. We reach Nha Trang around 5am local time.
Seven hours later that day, while on the rooftop of the hostel where I am staying that night, overlooking this cool Vietnamese city, I text the agent in charge, directly: “Hey, so is everything okay now with the deal?”
She responds with: Everything is great with the deal, Sam. You misunderstood. They just were concerned because tomorrow is Veterans Day and they wanted to maybe try to move in before the weekend which is why they wanted the lease so soon.
I exhale and chuckle. Everything was fine from the beginning. I am not a hero, I was just delirious.
What did I learn here? I think that I should trust people unconditionally. The agent in charge had everything completely organized.
The clients signed the lease on Monday and moved in shortly after. From what I’ve heard, they’ve greatly enjoyed their first month living in the apartment.
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5am, Nah Trang. Real Estate Warrior eats pringles for breakfast, happy to have arrived and thinking he has been a real estate hero late in the night.