It's not the first time that does it to you

"Your house is wonderful, I really like what you've done with it."
"Thank you. Not having hardwood floors was one of the few real flaws with the place when I found it, I'm really happy to have gotten that fixed finally."
"How long have you owned it?"
"I don't."
"What?! You don't own the place, but you're putting floors in and redoing the entire front of the house?"
"Well, there's a funny thing there. The owner was an old lady who died three years ago. Her children can't stand each other, and it's been tied up in the estate ever since."
"But I don't see how..."
"Well, after the first year of the rent checks not being cashed, it was starting to kinda burn a hole in my bank account. So I thought about it for a while, and decided to invest it all. Occasionally I'll pull some out and spend it on home improvements. If anyone ever figures out to come ask me for back rent, I've made more than that on the dividends, and they'll probably let me deduct all the improvements anyway."
"And in the meantime, you're not paying property tax on it."
"Exactly. Worst case, the county eventually grabs it for back taxes, I pay those off, and I've won. Now where'd I put that chianti..."

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Once is curious. Twice is suspicious. Three times is a condition.