A few weeks ago, a group of friends, including Deb, from Mink Home Staging, and I were at a seminar down south.  We decided to stay overnight on the Saturday, and duly checked into various places on Saturday night.  

Deb and I were sharing, and, tired from a long day, we were both sound asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows.

We knew we had to be up early in the morning.  What we didn’t know was that we would be wide awake long before …

You see, at about 11pm, we heard an alarm going off.  In a very deep sleep, I remember struggling to wake up, wondering what on earth was going on.  Then it hit me – the fire alarm was sounding through a speaker.  I was bewildered.  What was going on?

Deb wasn’t much help, either.  It was dark, but very noisy.  The alarm continued to ring.  She found a light switch, and snapped on the lights.

My first thought was that we were in a high rise building, on a floor where to jump to the ground would not be a pretty sight.  Best to assess the situation first…  I got out of bed and cautiously opened the door to the corridor.

Well, here I am, in my PJs, peering out into the corridor – straight into the faces of all the neighbouring occupants – all in their PJs, all looking as bewildered as I felt, and all uncertain as to what to do.  No help there.

Ring reception, I thought.  So I dialed a number.  Nothing.  Maybe the phone lines were out.  Without my glasses, I couldn’t read the number to ring on the phone, and, in actual fact, I was ringing the wrong number.  Finally, I rang the right number.  The phone rang, and rang, and rang …

All this time, the alarm is still going off – harsh, fierce, piercing, and constant …

I finally reached someone at reception, who informed me that we were not to vacate as yet, that they were trying to isolate the problem, and there would be a public announcement as soon as they could work it out.

Great, I thought.  We could all be burnt to death before they work out if there is a fire …

I could hear fire engine sirens screaming through the night, adding to the din.  All on their way to a fire – a fire supposedly right where we were.

The mind still racing, I thought about our options.  We were on a side of the building where the pool was, and it had a roof over it.  If we had to jump, we could jump onto the roof, about two floors down, and jump down again from there.  Not good for the ankles, but better than being in a fire.

Or, maybe, we could climb down our balcony, and jump onto the balcony below.  Or, maybe the firemen would get us on their ladders …

Or, or, or – the thoughts raced through my mind.  Finally, an announcement … stay calm, stay where you are.  The siren went off again, and again, and again – three times in all.  Interspersed with announcements telling us to STAY CALM!  You’re kidding me …

Finally, an announcement – the problem has been resolved, no issues, apologies, please go back to sleep … Sure!

Well, the upshot was that a bunch of young people had broken the fire alarm at the front of the building.  Small thing, huge consequences.

Property is a bit the same.  Sometimes what seems like a bit of fun can have huge consequences.  The important thing is, have lots of contingencies!  Just like the multiple exit strategies I had to get out of the building if it was on fire, so you too should have multiple contingencies and exit strategies to move out of a property deal should it go all wrong.

With the market and the economy in such uncertain times, this is more important than ever.  And, just as we were working out our options as things changed in our emergency, so you too need to be working out options and keeping a close eye on what is happening with your property projects.

Stay safe!  

PS  Thanks to all of you who have asked about our house sale – YES!  We sold it – in less than two weeks!  So, we’re on the move – watch this space – we’ll tell you more about it in another Nugget …