“Not bad!” Aneeta said. “All of that time watching HGTV has really paid off.” She laughed, and Maja laughed along, thinking that the line sounded a little tired, like it had been trotted out one too many times at cocktail parties. “You should see some of the dumps that I’ve had to work with recently,” Aneeta continued. “But after I put in a new kitchen and new paint, you’d never recognize them. So, believe me when I tell you that your house is going to be okay.”

“I thought you were finding the properties through Adil’s bank,” Maja said.

“That was only one,” Aneeta said. “J.P. Morgan doesn’t usually hold that sort of loan, but these mortgages were part of some kind of bundle that the bank trades in. They went belly-up and the properties reverted to the bank. One of them was nearby, so we went to look at it. That’s not Adil’s job, obviously, but he was curious to see what the bank owned. You know Adil, he’s such a lawyer right to the core. He was worried about liability. They were never expecting to have to foreclose, so there was no system in place to move the properties off of their hands. But they’ve closed out a lot of those loan products now. I get most of my properties at foreclosure auctions.”

“There’s a lot to pick from?” Maja asked.

“You wouldn’t believe it,” Aneeta said. “But I look for ones that haven’t been renovated at all, out near Quakertown and Levittown. We fix them up, give them a more modern vibe, and put them back on the market. The whole thing takes maybe six months. We make a killing.”

“Wow, that’s so fast. But what about the homeowners? Do you ever have to kick them out of their houses?” Maja asked.

“Oh, no! They’re always empty by the time I get them. I mean, these people buy houses that they just can’t afford. I have no idea what they’re thinking. They get in over their heads, and then they just trash these places. No maintenance, front lawns with weeds up to your knees. It’s terrible for the neighborhoods, as you can imagine. The neighbors are usually so excited when we get them back in shape and back on the market. And they sell fast. I’m practically doing a public service.”