A car drove through the center the day before closing

Everything was done. Price agreed, diligence behind us, closing on the calendar for the next morning. The kind of deal where you exhale a little the night before.

Then a car drove through the front of the center.

Not a fender bender in the parking lot. Through the front. A tenant space out of commission, real damage, and a closing scheduled for basically breakfast.

Here's why nobody lost their mind: the purchase agreement already spelled out what happens when a property gets damaged before closing. What counts as material. Who carries the insurance. Whether the buyer can walk or has to close anyway. How a repair or a holdback gets handled. All written weeks earlier, back when it felt like boilerplate nobody would ever need.