6/16: The Real Deal/The Real Estate Pros

Speeding in his car, Richard explains the problem. He bought a Johns Island house last year and when he went to renovate it, there was a “whole fam damily was in there!”

Immediately I stop the show and ask Jethro if I heard that correctly. I did. He actually said whole fam damily.

Jethro claims this is a Southernism, and that's pretty famn dunny.

A year ago: Richard let Gus stay in his foreclosed house. He was supposed to pay rent to Richard. Back then, Richard gave him a white ’59 Chevy as a gift.

Now: Gus hasn’t paid rent in a year. He wants to sell the white ’59 Chevy to raise money for the rent. Richard tracks him down and works a deal to hold the car as collateral for the rent.

Mr. Repo Man arrives with the flatbed truck to get the car from Gus. Richard and Gus discuss the situation rather civilly. Gus owes $14K in rent. Richard asks Gus to call him every week so he can get updated on his financial situation.

Richard tells us that this is about holding people accountable. Will Gus pay the rent?

One month later: Gus has to sign the car over to Richard. Ginger and Richard wait for Gus to arrive at the office. Will Gus stand them up? He hasn’t arrived at the offices… Yet.

After the commercial
Gus shows up. He tells Richard that he’s had lots of money problems this past year. He hands the title over to Richard. While Gus owes $14,000, the car was only worth $8000. Ginger tells us that there was a deficit to work out.

Gus walks out to his Jeep.

3 months later
Last episode Larry works at Trademark now. He still look good! Yay!

Gus still hasn’t paid rent. Ginger feels the burn, but Richard and Larry would like to keep giving Gus a chance to make good on the rent. Richard asks Larry to go talk to Gus.

Staying or Paying?
Larry arrives. Because of the tense nature of eviction, the camera people film Gus and Larry’s discussion from the car. Larry stands on the doorstep and stammers a great deal while talking to Gus. You can tell Larry really hates doing this kind of work.

Y’all c’mon! Ginger exclaims when she hears that Larry didn’t actually serve him notice. Richard and Larry would like to continue working with Gus. Ginger is angry. She files eviction papers.

After the commercial
1 month later
Gus has been evicted. Ginger drives to the house and hopes that Gus isn’t there. He isn’t, but the house is trashed. Not only did he not pay rent, he also didn’t take care of the property. Ginger looks creeped out and angry.

Next day, Carlos the painter is supposed to meet Ginger at the house. But he’s lost. As it turns out, Carlos thought he was supposed to go to James Island. Alas, when he arrives at thee house, he is left to clean out a completely trashed house.

Ginger has to go to a Greenville job site. She’s like to take care of the whole problem without Richard’s involvement. Can Carlos handle the timeframe? He assures her he can.

But then, Richard calls Carlos and discovers Ginger’s surprise. Since he feels responsible for the Gus mess, he decides to take step in and take control.

Bug control arrives at the house and sprays for termites and fleas. Lots and lots of spray. Under the house, he finds fungus.

After the commercial
Carlos and his daughter are hard at work. Despite the lack of sleep. Carlos is bouncing off the walls. Carlos is a morning person. Now that the exterior of the house is finished, they begin cleaning it. Carlos finds dirty magazines and promptly fetches his rubber gloves.

Per Richard’s instructions, Carlos won’t return Ginger’s calls. Instead, she talks to Richard. He claims he can’t find Carlos. Meanwhile, Carlos is hard at work in the background.

And then… A broken water line. Richard calls Vance. If Vance can fix the water line, it’ll be his listing.

After the commercial
Despite having another appointment in another hour, Vance arrives. Vance thinks he can fix the leak… In white pants. He digs a whole next to the pipe and find the leak. He turns the water off. Vance attempts to solder the pipe, but it doesn’t work.

To get proper supplies, Vance visits several hardware stores. His work clothes are dirty. When he comes back to the site, he changes into a t-shirt. Too bad he doesn’t have enough time to finish the job. With muddy arms, he changes back to his business clothes to go to an appointment.

After the commercial
The landscaping is done. Vance fixes the pipe.

When Richard awards him the listing, Vance discovers a rat snake on the ground. He captures it and scares Richard by waving it around.

Vance loves snakes, and has Richard awards him the listing. Vance was a childhood firend of Richard. He picks up the rat snake. and scares Richard.

Not only is the job finished early, but the house is sold immediately. Ginger is shocked. The profit? $57,250. Richard still hopes that Gus will be okay.

During the credits, Ginger and Richard joke. Then Vance gives a nutty, scary, goofy laugh. Which makes me laugh for a full minute afterward.

A sedate episode. I thought the Gus thing would get ugly. I'm glad he went quietly... Or off-screen. Whichever.

What I learned: I'm surprised that Richard let him go for a year without paying rent... And that he honestly thought that he'd come up with $14K - or $6K after the selling of the car. So, I guess the theme of this show was more about having good employees. If Ginger didn't take up the slack, Gus wouldn't have ever been evicted.

Question: Did Ginger really wear a raincoat that got ruined by the rain? Funny.

Trivia: Vance is Richard's childhood friend. Talk about getting in on the ground floor.

By the way, I love Vance. I like that he's the wacky, resourceful one. Business meeting, hardcore plumping and snake handler. How can anyone not like him?

II think show editors have conspired to make Ginger seem flaky. I'm glad this episode, we were allowed to see her as a business woman. Very nice.

Final thought: More Vance please.