“Okay, so call the guy you bought your current place through and ask him,” I replied.
Tessa smiled and nodded. “That’s what we did, but we simply found that place by driving around, and the agent who handled it moved to Texas. Neither of us have a name for a new real estate agent.”
“Do you think Andrea might know somebody?” Marilyn asked me.
“Maybe. It can’t hurt to ask,” I said.
“Who’s Andrea?” asked Tessa.
“She’s the woman we bought the property through. She’s a real estate agent or broker or something. Maybe she knows somebody,” answered my wife.
I nodded approvingly. “That’s a good idea. I’ll call her tomorrow and ask her. If she doesn’t do it, I’ll bet she knows somebody.”
Tusker looked at Tessa and nodded. “That would be good. We’ve been working some budget numbers and think we know what we can afford, but aren’t really sure.”
“Have you talked to your bank yet?” I asked.
That earned a sourpuss face from both of them. “They aren’t really interested. They want to see another year or two of business before they do any expansion financing. They even suggested we go elsewhere in the future.”
That made me curious. “What, are you late with your payments or something?”
“No!” barked Tusker.
“Settle down, he’s just asking!” said Tessa to him. She turned our way and said, “I just don’t think they want to do business with a biker, even a successful biker. I don’t know if they have a new manager or owner or what, but for the last six months, they’ve been pretty cold.”
I shrugged. “Well, that’s why they have other banks. We’ll just have to find you a new banker.”
“Yeah, sorry, man. It just pisses me off at times. I mean, I make my payments, we’ve got a growing business, we’re profitable, I’m hiring employees — I mean, we are doing everything they say we are supposed to do, right? — and they treat us like something to be scraped off the bottoms of their shoes! Why? Because I have long hair and tattoos and ride a bike? That’s just bullshit!”
“Watch your mouth, honey. Bucky can hear you,” said Tessa.
“Charlie, too,” commented Marilyn.
“Sorry,” he said contritely.
I just shook my head. “Wow, long hair and tattoos! Now that I think about it…” Marilyn, Tusker, and Tessa threw napkins at me. I was chased out of the living room and sent to cook dinner.
Chapter 70: Becoming An Entrepreneur
Monday morning I called Andrea Greene at her office and left a message. She returned the call around noon. “Yes, Carl, how can I help you? Is everything still on track with the closing?”
I should have known her first thought was to our current deal. “It should be. I talked to John Steiner last week and he indicated the closing was the end of this week. I’m calling you about something totally different.”
“All right, what’s on your mind?” she asked.
“Do you get involved with commercial real estate at all, or do you know somebody who does?”
“Yes, I can handle it. I do a little of everything, jack of all trades, master of none, I suppose you can say. What do you have in mind?”
“Well, it’s not for me. A close friend of mine has a business, buying and repairing and selling motorcycles, and he’s doing very well. Unfortunately, his present location is just too small! He is busting out at the seams and needs to relocate and expand. Can you help him?” I asked.
“Probably, but I think I need to meet him first and see what he needs.”
“When can you do that? This afternoon? This week?”
She hesitated slightly, and I could almost hear her flipping through an appointment book. “I’m free this afternoon after two, but then not again until Thursday.”
“Okay, give me five minutes to confirm this.” I hung up and called the cycle shop. Tessa agreed they would both be there. I called Andrea back and gave her the address and promised to meet her there.
Then I got off the phone and Marilyn put me to work doing the laundry. I was definitely starting to think about getting an office, simply to hide from Marilyn when she was in a house cleaning mood.
After lunch, I grabbed my briefcase and kissed Marilyn and Charlie good-bye. I was starting to tote around with me a mini-office in the briefcase, including all the details of the land purchase and the house construction. Now I was adding to it with my planner and address book. Maybe I really did need to set up an office.
I got to the cycle shop a few minutes early. I didn’t see Andrea’s car yet. Tessa noticed me and we waved at each other, but I decided to stay outside and wait for Andrea. She showed up about ten minutes late. “Sorry I’m late! I get lost in these old industrial parks.”
“It shouldn’t be a problem. Come on in, let me introduce you.” I held the door to the shop for her and ushered her inside.
Tessa was already coming around from behind the counter to greet us. “Hi, there, I’m Tessa Tusk. Welcome to Tusk Cycle!”
Andrea held out her hand. “Thank you. I’ve never been in a motorcycle shop before. What do you do here?”
“Well, we do some repairs and maintenance for bikers, but a lot of what we are doing these days is buying and selling used bikes. Tusker — he’s my husband, Jim Tusk — he gets these old bikes in and then rebuilds them and then resells them. Like this one,” she said, pointing at a gleaming chrome and purple lacquered Harley. “He picked this one up as a junker for about a thousand, put another thousand into it in parts, rebuilt it and repainted it, and we just sold it this morning for ten thousand!”
“Very nice!” I commented.
“I wouldn’t have picked you as the motorcycle type, Carl,” said Andrea with a smile.
“Who? Me? No way!” I said, waving my hands.
Tessa just laughed at that, and then a booming laugh came in from the garage. Tusker came in wearing grease stained overalls and wiping his hands on an old rag. His hair was done up in a pony tail, and his five o’clock shadow showed it was around half past four. “Carl? He’s no biker!”
“Tusker, meet Andrea Greene. She’s the broker we’re buying our property through,” I said.
He smiled and nodded, and kept wiping his hands off. “Don’t bother shaking. I get pretty messy in there. I just ripped the engine off a ’52 Indian Chief that has seen better days. When I get through with it, though, it will be a collector’s piece!”
“I have no idea what that means,” I told Andrea. “Tusker and Tessa are some of my oldest friends, going back to high school. I told them they needed to expand, but they have no room to grow here.”
“Yeah, that’s an issue,” agreed Tusker. “My service bays are too small, as is the showroom here, and there’s no parking for our customers, let alone the employees, and I need to hire at least one more person as it is.”
“We have got to move!” chimed in Tessa.
Andrea nodded sympathetically, and then began looking around the place. She did ask one interesting question — “Did you buy or lease this place?”
My friends looked at each other for a second, and then said, “Lease. Why?”
“Well, if you had bought it, you’d have to sell it, right?” They gaped at each other. They had never thought of that. Andrea continued, “If you leased it, you can simply end the lease, or even break out of it early.”
“Is that what we should do on a new place?” asked Tessa.
Andrea shrugged and smiled. “Don’t know yet, we’ll have to see. Let’s find you two a better place first and then worry about the finances.”
I piped up at that. “Andrea, do you know a decent commercial bank? Their current bank is giving them grief.”