Marion fired.
forty-fiveSASSY
Sassy sat across from Tom at his desk, feeling smug. She could definitely afford to buy the house she wanted. Now she needed to know the next step.
“You said to write down what I want to do,” she said, ripping open her Cracker Jack box and pouring a bunch into her hand. “Here it is. What’s next?”
“Hold on,” he said carefully, sliding her binder toward him. “You don’t want to pull the trigger until you’re positive. The worst thing would be to make a mistake and let everyone know you’re not experienced.”
“You look it over,” she said, popping caramel popcorn into her mouth, “but I’m pretty sure I’m positive.”
“You can’t be ‘pretty sure you’re positive.’ Not with something this big. You either are, or you’re not.” He leaned over her notes, frowning in concentration as he flipped from one page to another. He placed his finger on one column. “Is this number… Oh, I see. So you’re comparing last year’s sales.”
He nodded as he read, interested, but not noticeably impressed, which was disappointing. She had wanted him to be astounded by her excellent grasp of the business. So she pulled out the file she’d been working on all morning and opened it flat on the table.
“I was looking at this house in the Annex.” She set a map in front of him detailing the buildings from Bedford to Spadina and from Bloor to DupontStreet. “A recent sale was fifty-three thousand, but that buyer was purchasing the building to knock it down and build a low-rise. I would want to renovate. Looking at this floor plan, I believe we could have eight rooms in this one house.” She pulled out another sheet. “And this is a list of the contacts I plan to make with the community health centres.”
He leaned over the new pages, nodding as he read.
“What do you think?”
“Sassy, this is really good. You’ve covered a lot. But considering the scale of what you’re thinking, I need more. I need a full business plan and proposal. I’ll give you an outline of what I mean. You’ll have to do the work, though.”
“Naturally.” She set her notes aside and started out on a fresh piece of paper. “What do I need to do?”
“This is going to take time, Sassy. It’s not a one-afternoon-of-research kind of project.” He looked meaningfully at the Cracker Jack box. “Are you sharing?”
“Help yourself. I have another box at my desk.”
He might inhale sandwiches like an animal, but he was more careful with his snack food. He poured out a few kernels, set them on his desk, then ate them one by one, careful not to get his fingers sticky.
“All right. Business plan. Some of these elements you’ve seen in smaller projects, but working on a plan this size is going to teach you way more.”
“I’m ready.”
“I hope so.” He stuck up one finger. “Think of it as if you’re writing a book. Chapter by chapter, but it all ties together in much straighter lines.”
“And it will have a happy ending.”
“That’s the plan. So let’s start with the overall plan and costs. Show me current comparable prices per square foot, like what you’ve done here but on a wider scale. Break down what you want to do. The term you should use is ‘affordable housing.’ Oh, and write a note to yourself: you’ll need to find out about rezoning, since this will not be a private home after what you want to do.”
Sassy wrote down everything he said, and in her mind the assignment took on the shape of a tree. The first branch was for the initial cost, and each little twig growing off it was a subtopic for her to research, like finding comparable buildings’ prices and recent sales, factoring in renovationcosts with added fees for inspections, and even incidentals like hydro and electricity. With that done, she could begin to put together a time-line.
Another branch was for additional funding. With her inheritance and her unexpected share of the Isabella Street building, she might be able to buy one of these houses flat out, but how would other costs be covered?
“The next section of your business plan is where you explain why the government should consider helping out. Outline how this project would support underprivileged people—veterans, in particular, if that’s what you want—by providing undermarket rental housing. Look into how to create a nonprofit company to keep your taxes low. Talk about the need for volunteers, in order to keep labour costs minimal. Maybe even create a rough schedule for them so it can be visualized. I like your idea of including a network of like-minded groups, like Marion’s colleagues. From there, you can build in other potential benefactors, charitable groups, et cetera. The entire project needs to demonstrate efficiency. Help them see that their money will be well spent. A positive return on their investment.”
He shook more candied popcorn into her hand, then his, then he unwrapped the prize. A little blue plastic horse. He pushed it toward her, unimpressed.
“We’ll be operating on a loss in the beginning.”
“Okay.” She chewed on the end of her pen, trying to take it all in, but she kept getting distracted. She picked up the little blue horse, galloped it over to Tom’s hand, and bumped him with it. “You’re awfully smart for a hunk.”
“Huh?”
“All those looks and a brain as well.”
He rolled his eyes. “Focus, Sassy. Now you have to talk about your tenants,” he continued, his brows drawn together. “How would it work for the people living in the building? Talk about what you envision for everything inside, including number of bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens. Would they be independent apartments or will the facilities be shared? Will the rooms be furnished? What else will be in the buildings? You’ll have to consider a minimum rent, probably.”
