Pigs

I have decided that calling someone a pig is probably an insult to the four legged porcine.
We own a duplex in Sacramento, which is just far enough away that I can't manage it myself, so we have a property manager. We recently had a tenant move out and had to do a quick turn around for a new tenant who moved in two weeks later. The turn around time was quick, but we're thankful for a very short vacancy period.
Pat was driving through Sac a couple of weeks ago and stopped by to look at the place to give me a report. He said the place was unbelievable. They left all manner of crap in the house, yard and garage. Including furniture in the driveway.
I sort of thought he was exaggerating until I got the 165 pictures the PM took. Oh my gosh! What slobs! There was clothing, furniture, games, cigarette butts, food and I don't know what else left behind. The cobwebs were so thick on the walls it looked like Herman Munster's house. How can people live like that?

Pat's brother, Ray, is between jobs at the moment and he volunteered to rehab the place for us. He lives in Grass Valley, so it's only about an hour away for him. He needs the work and we knew he'd do a great job. Plus we'd rather pay the dough to family than a stranger who in all likelihood would overcharge us.
It took Ray EIGHT HOURS to clean up all the junk and haul it to the dump. I have the weighmaster's receipt - 1100 POUNDS of crap he hauled out of there. Oh, she also left behind two cats, which Ray took to the animal shelter. Nice lady, NOT. It also took quite a bit of time for him to clean the cobwebs out so he could paint. Oh, and two bedrooms needed three coats of paint due to purple walls.
Ray did a killer job on the place and he is our go-to guy from now on. Our new tenants moved in on Friday and we hope they will be happy and stay a good long time.
I learned a lesson here. I am always lecturing my property management clients that it's an investment - a business, and don't get all tweaked when tenants do stupid stuff to your property. I am upset that this woman had so little regard for our property that she left it in such a shambles. I guess this will make me more empathetic to my clients. Now I know how it feels. Not good at all.