Saturday 7 February 2009

A Reason To Be Thankful

A friend bought this house at auction last August, spent tens of thousands in refurbishing it to the highest standard, put it on the market (including with me) just in time for the constriction in the property market and then let it out last month as he could not achieve a sale anywhere near his desired price.

This morning the house was gutted by fire. He is devastated and in tears, however, I reminded him (easy for me to say, I suppose) that the tenants did not die in their sleep, especially as there were no smoke alarms installed.

There is always a reason to be thankful although sometimes it is difficult to see it.



32 comments:

Shubby Doo said...

AMEN that nobody was hurt... tell him to dry his tears...God will give him an opportunity to have something better

that pic is scary o!...what caused this?

is this house in the UK or america? cos if he had home insurance he could get a payout to the value of the refurbished house...which may be better than the value of a sale in the current credit crunch

Shubby Doo said...

p.s
i know a fire caused this...but i meant what was the cause of the fire!!!

Jinta said...

~ shubby ~ the house is in london (croydon), cause of fire unknown so far but fire brigade investigating.

you will find that insurance is unlikely to pay out as no smoke alarm, so it did not comply with safety standards

Afrobabe said...

Wow, Thank God no one was hurt..

Hard to tell him God gives and God takes away at this moment so hold that counsel to yourself...

Wasn't the house insured?

Afrobabe said...

Just saw ur response to Shubby, kai...it wont be funny at all at all if insurance refuses to pay for the house oh...

Jinta said...

~ afro ~ i can tell you for certain that even if he was insured, they wont pay out. something in his reaction tells me he is unlikely to be insured anyway

ShadeCrown said...

Gosh.....so sad... having seen a lotta hses on the market, some landlords dont take this fire safety ish serious, and not just fire safety sef..other lil things that shud be done b4 renting out a hse.

I hpe d insurance settles him tho.

Rebirth said...

awww..... thank God no one was hurt cuz he'd be sued for not installing smoke alarms..... hmm no insurance? thats tough... God will definitely make a way

Jinta said...

~ sha ~ you're right. unfortunately, for most landlords, renting a property out becomes expensive if things are done properly.

~ funms ~ it's going to be very tough for him, i daresay

Jay said...

omg!! how horrible. Thankfully no one died but it must be so painful if he isn't insured...that just sucks!poor guy

EXSENO said...

I lived in a double wide trailer and it burned down a few years ago. The insurance that I had on it I had to buy when I bought the trailer because it was financed, the coverage was much more then the place was worth at the time. it was old and need lots of repairs.
They paid the full amount of the insurance coverage which was a lot. I was very grateful!

Jennifer A. said...

Wowwwwwww...

You know what? You're right! There's always a reason to be thankful to God. That no one died in a fire that could have taken enough lives...judging from the pictures...

Anonymous said...

ooooooooooooo no

Jinta said...

~ jarrai ~ it does suck, doesn't it?

~ exseno ~ i think the lesson to be learned is always make sure you get the insurance, it has a purpose

~ jaycee ~ to think also it occured in the middle of the night

~ oyin ~ oh no, indeed

Teeee said...

Thank God no lives were taken. Can you see how its the little things that count? You can put the finest, most expensive oven in the house but if you don't have a smoke alarm then.... I also work in property and Gas Safety certificates are my priority!!!! Was this your friend's first property? At least he can learn from this.

Jinta said...

~ teeee ~ possible his 16th or 17th property actually. the requirement now are hard-wired smoke alarms, but the battery operated ones were not even installed. helps me to take a hard look at myself

Buttercup said...

Shucks..thats terrible..thank God indeed.

May God see him and the tenants through this, amen.

Sherri said...

not insured ke!
that's too bad!

how'u feeling mister?

Jinta said...

~ doja ~ omg! surely sums it up

~ buttercup ~ amen

~ sherri ~ too, too bad

me fine, ta. how is you?

N.I.M.M.O said...

Thank GOD no one was hurt badly in the fire.

Well, GOD has done His part, now its up to insurance right?

N.I.M.M.O said...

Dang! Just read the comments now. Especially Doja's 'Einsteinic' summary.

Thankful? Yes.
Insurance? No.

Well, lets be thankful all the same. It could have been worse.

Nigerian Wedding Websites said...

Awww, i feel bad for him.

Writefreak said...

Awww...'o ma se o'
Thank God no one was hurt though...was the house insured? Oh yeah, no smoke alarms installed...May God give him/her greater than this!

SOLOMONSYDELLE said...

oh my! So sorry for your friend but thank God no one lost their life.

O'Dee said...

It must hurt.
Like you said, there is always a reason to be thankful.

For the love of me said...

Oh poor guy. It must be tough for him. But thank God no lives were lost.

Anonymous said...

Omg...poor him!insurance wont cover this?
i cant imagine how he feels..all d money,hardwork!

Praying God will replenish him a 100 fold over

Jinta said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jinta said...

~ n.i.m.m.o. ~ we'd better leave it as thankful

~ 'sewa ~ me too

~ writefreak ~ amen...and the rest of us

~ ms sydelle ~ thank God truly

~ oluwadee ~ there will always be a reason to be thankful

he was decrying having to make mortgage payments during repairs. imagine if he had to make mortgage payments if there had been months, possibly a year plus, of investigation for manslaughter.

~ for the love ~ poor me too. remember, i had to be there to sympathise

~ pink ~ and all of us too, amen.

tobenna said...

Sad story true.
But there has to be a silver lining somewhere.
Good to have you back Jintah, though you've been back for a few months now.

Thirty + said...

Wow o ma se o.

Thank God no one was hurt.

miz-cynic said...

i thot i left a comment here...i agree now
thr really is a cliquey thing going on in blogsville