May. 31, 2006 - More Condo Or Co-op

The infamous author of Columbus Best Blog, Maureen McCabe asked me if we have Co-ops in Chicagoland. Why yes Maureen, we sure do.

As I said yesterday, there is more to said about the differences between the two forms of ownership, so why don't I just say some of it now? Remember I said in a condominium you own your unit and in a cooperative you own shares of stock in the corporation that owns the building and you get a proprietary lease to live in one of the units. A proprietary lease means you get to occupy the unit as if you actually owned it.

Co-ops are popular among people who like to kind of choose their own neighbors. By way of setting their own rules they can exclude people who don't fit within their chosen parameters. Since they are actually selling stock in a corporation and not real property so to speak, they can be rather discriminatory about who they let in and who they don't. There have been celebrities who have been denied ownership in co-ops because the other share holders believed that the peace and quiet of their building would be upset by having famous residents. Florida is teaming with co-ops that are age restrictive.

Most of the time you have to pay cold hard cash for a co-op. In a condo, the governing body (the association) can always put a lien on your unit if you fall behind in your assessment. The lender can secure your loan by means of a mortgage lien on your unit. You can't very well put a mortgage on a stock certificate now, can you? And since the other share holders in the co-op would be really thrown off kilter by someone getting into the red on their assessments, you can be pretty sure that you will undergo a very deep, grueling intrusion into your finances if you should desire to live in a co-op. 

As always, if you have found yourself receiving my blog postings via e-mail, it is because I have either blogged about you personally, blogged about something I know is of interest to you, or I consider you to be a person of deep thinking and intellect and I would love to have you occasionally commenting on my blog. If you would like to be removed from the list simply send me an e-mail saying so.

May. 30, 2006 - Condo Or Co-op

As strange as it may seem, I have gotten an inquiry from Mark in the Los Angeles, California area, about the difference between a condominium and a co-operative. I knew I was almost famous, but nation wide????????

I can see how, to the naked eye, a condo and a co-op might look pretty much the same. Which ever one you live in, you are still pretty much an apartment dweller. The difference is in what you own.

In a condominium you own the unit in which you live, plus a predetermined percentage of the common areas such as the lobby, hallways, elevator, etc.

In a co-operative you own shares of stock in the corporation that holds title to the building and you are granted a proprietary lease to live in one of the units.

In either situation you are still paying assessments for the operation of the building and the up keep of the common areas. This is usually in the form of a month payment. 

There is more to be said on the subject, but time is tight and I have to stop for now. I guess you'll just have to keep coming back, eh?

As always, if you have found yourself receiving my blog postings via e-mail, it is because I have either blogged about you personally, blogged about something I know is of interest to you, or I consider you to be a person of deep thinking and intellect and I would love to have you occasionally commenting on my blog. If you would like to be removed from the list simply send me an e-mail saying so.

May. 26, 2006 - Once It's Gone............

Once it's gone, it's gone forever. That's what it says on the tee shirts worn by members of the Des Plaines Theater Preservation Society. I am sure that is true.

For a while the Preservation Society's fund raising efforts consisted of running old films, live concerts and open house tours of the grand old theatre building in exchange for some sorely needed work on the building and the marquee. Non voting memberships were being sold to the general public as well, giving members a discount on admission to Society sponsored events.

The problem is the building is owned by Bhagawakar Properties, who are doing a bang up business showing "Bollywood" films, and not by The Preservation Society. Now that the Bhagawakar group has had all this free work done in exchange for allowing the preservationist to put on their fund raisers, they want to start charging the Society for any further use of the theatre building.

The Society would love to buy the building. I can't say that I blame them, I'd love to own some Downtown Des Plaines frontage myself, but unfortunately I am not a multi millionaire. Neither, I am sure, are they, and that is what it would take to give this project legs. So if you think you would like to find out more, click the link to the Society up above. If you like what you see, give them some money.

As always, if you have found yourself receiving my blog postings via e-mail, it is because I have either blogged about you personally, blogged about something I know is of interest to you, or I consider you to be a person of deep thinking and intellect and I would love to have you occasionally commenting on my blog. If you would like to be removed from the list simply send me an e-mail saying so.

May. 24, 2006 - Are You Really Going To Charge Me For That?

Hi kids. It's been awhile huh? Sorry. I've been busy.

Remember when I talked about how there are people out there who try to sell us real estate agents all kinds of stuff and how if we foolishly buy everything that comes down the pike we have to try and make it up in our commission structure? Well here's another one. Good old friendly Dr. Bill. Yes indeed folks, Dr. Bill wants to sell me and my fellow agents a list of agents names and numbers.

Just think about it. I could throw out all these useless business cards I've collected over the years. I would no long need the free directory the Association gives me once a year. I could abandon the national real estate forums I participate in. I wouldn't need any of this free stuff any more because I can buy the names and numbers from Dr. Bill and pass the cost on to my my clients via higher commissions. Isn't that a splendid idea?

Won't you please leave us alone Bill Bailey?

As always, if you have found yourself receiving my blog postings via e-mail, it is because I have either blogged about you personally, blogged about something I know is of interest to you, or I consider you to be a person of deep thinking and intellect and I would love to have you occasionally commenting on my blog. If you would like to be removed from the list simply send me an e-mail saying so.

May. 20, 2006 - I've Had Another Title Bestowed Upon Me

Back in the early days, when I was in taking classes so I could take the real estate license test, I had a couple of titles bestowed upon me by my instructor, Terry Watson. When we got to the part about forms of ownership. I was intrigued by "joint tenancy with the right of survivorship". Terry referred to it as 'last man standing" ownership. I opined that if I could find some very elderly investors who would be willing to put me on title in lieu of a commission, in a joint tenancy with right of survivorship situation, that would be the way to go. Terry dubbed me "The Gordon Gekko of Real Estate". You remember Gordon Gekko, the Michael Douglas character in "Wall Street". He is remembered for saying "Greed is good". Of course, Terry was an interesting and amusing teacher and I was just playing off his "last man standing" comment.

There was another exchange between Terry and myself concerning gaining clients. It had something to do with the fact that the license course does nothing to teach you about how to actually become the top dog, heavy hitter, go to guy, in your market area. I said then, and I maintain today, that I wasn't to concerned about that because I was going to create a reputation for myself and that people would simply want to work with me based on that alone. I said that I only want to do the business that I choose to do, and if I didn't like what I was hearing at a listing presentation or a buyer prequalification, I would just get up, thank them and walk away. Terry dubbed me "The Carlito of Real Estate" based on that conversation. You remember Carlito the Al Pacino character in "Carlito's Way".

Recently Bill Randall, one of the co-hosts of the "My Kind of Town" radio talk show program, referred to me as "The Denny Crane of Real Estate" when he was introducing me on the show. Denny Crane is the William Shatner character on the TV show "Boston Legal". He is an eccentric goof ball, but his reputation wins cases, all one need do is drop his name.

Now that Seattle area RealtorŪ, Ardell DellaLoggia, has referred to me as "The Bill Maher of Real Estate". I must say that I think she is finally getting it. I believe she is beginning to understand the fact that my style is different than her style. The thing that aggravated me the most about her was the fact that her tone has been that of the Blog Queen from the Land of Microsoft, both in front of, and behind the curtain. Now it appears that she has gotten the concept of "to each his/her own". When the folks behind the key boards want help they will generally ask for it. 

As always, if you have found yourself receiving my blog postings via e-mail, it is because I have either blogged about you personally, blogged about something I know is of interest to you, or I consider you to be a person of deep thinking and intellect and I would love to have you occasionally commenting on my blog. If you would like to be removed from the list simply send me an e-mail saying so.

May. 19, 2006 - Blogging In A Plain Brown Wrapper

Some real estate bloggers squabble a little sometimes. They come in all shapes and sizes. They have different mind sets. They have different purposes. They have different styles. They have different audiences in different parts of the country.

Some blogs are technical. Some are funny. Some are personal. Some are about housing styles. Some are lists of other blogs. Most are a conglomeration of a lot of things.

One real estate blogger recently sent out a post to a national blogging forum trying to teach other bloggers how to steal pictures from the internet to kind of dress up your blog. I'm sure it was just a mistake, but as we all know (or should know) ignorance is no defense. Any how, the idea was that people need visually pretty stuff to look at while they are reading your blog.

I guess I should apologize to my faithful readers. My blog comes in a plain brown wrapper. Yeah, I know, I should probably put my high school year book photo on it, instead of the true to life image that appears up there to your right. If nothing else, perhaps I should have my mustache airbrushed out so I would appear to be a young, vibrant stud muffin. Would you like to see me in my speedos maybe, standing in front of Molloy's Pub in Dublin?

Sorry, no window dressing here. I do have the delusion though, that if you want a good REALTORŪ to help you buy or sell some real estate in the greater metropolitan Chicagoland area you will call me anyway. I'm almost famous.

As always, if you have found yourself receiving my blog postings via e-mail, it is because I have either blogged about you personally, blogged about something I know is of interest to you, or I consider you to be a person of deep thinking and intellect and I would love to have you occasionally commenting on my blog. If you would like to be removed from the list simply send me an e-mail saying so.

May. 18, 2006 - Getting Back To Business

I got a call from an old buddy this morning. It was good to hear from him as we haven't talked for awhile.

He is a business man. I remember him when he was a working for someone else's company as a sales rep. Now he owns his own business and is doing pretty well by most standards. He inspires me to think big.

We talked about what's going on in real estate these days. The fact is, I have had this same conversation with a few people lately. They want to know what's happening. Since "What's happening out there?' seems to be on so many peoples minds, I might just as well turn the answer to that question into a post, eh?

It has been my experience as of late that the buyers refuse to be bullied. There are plenty of properties to choose from. Sellers should not expect obscene profits at lightning speed, even if they have me representing them.

One of the things that is driving this scenario is the gimmick mortgages that people took out to buy more house than they couldn't really afford. I was never an endorser of the interest only, adjustable rate, 125% equity loans, etc. Taken out in the hay day, they are all coming back to haunt people. I have seen some very shrewed negotiators get some very good deals lately.

As long as sellers are willing to be reasonable with their list price, they will not be disappointed, however, now is a great time to be a qualified buyer.

As always, if you have found yourself receiving my blog postings via e-mail, it is because I have either blogged about you personally, blogged about something I know is of interest to you, or I consider you to be a person of deep thinking and intellect and I would love to have you occasionally commenting on my blog. If you would like to be removed from the list simply send me an e-mail saying so.

May. 17, 2006 - Allow Me To Explain

As most of you who read my blog know, I make an effort to let my true self shine through. Some of you who know me personally already know that I can be a grumpy curmudgeon. Most of the time I have a war within myself trying to stay "politically correct", something I must do because, after all, I am a REALTORŪ and I have a code of ethics I must abide by, not to mention a business to run. I will, however, speak my mind, which I have done in rants about unloyal clients, sloppy agents, etc.

I do that because I believe my readers are very smart people, who are able to learn the lessons in the stories without me having to spell them out like they were third graders. The fact is, if my posts offend you, you are probably someone I wouldn't want to work with any way.

My first Broker once told me that I should try and befriend every agent I meet because someday I might have to do a deal with them. As with many things I learned from my first Broker, I strongly disagree. Why? Because I would rather befriend my clients so that they can feel comfortable knowing that I am working in their best interest rather than just trying to get to the closing table with my friend, the agent, so we can both get paid. I have other streams of income so my bills will get paid, I don't have to sell out clients to get to the closing table.

Any way, there is this agent in Seattle who knows so much about how people should blog, that she sent an e-mail to a blogging forum instructing the nation on the do's and dont's. I wish she would have mentioned me by name when she used me as an example of how not to blog. When I called her on it, she claims she didn't base it on me, but she hit my "Congratulations" post so dead on that I will never be convinced that it wasn't.

So here's the link:  http://ardell.realtownblogs.com/zz-on-blogging-and-bloggers/blogging-dos-and-donts/ Check it out for yourselves. In fact, you will be able to access her whole blog once you check out this post. After reading some of her stuff do you feel like an informed consumer............or a third grader?

As always, if you have found yourself receiving my blog postings via e-mail, it is because I have either blogged about you personally, blogged about something I know is of interest to you, or I consider you to be a person of deep thinking and intellect and I would love to have you occasionally commenting on my blog. If you would like to be removed from the list simply send me an e-mail saying so.

May. 11, 2006 - Why Buy A Home Warranty

As you are driving around checking out your prospective new neighborhood you notice some homes with a sign rider that states that this home is covered by a home warranty. If it was one of my listings the rider would state that the home was covered by a 13 month HWA home warranty. You look at your significant other and ask "What the heck is a home warranty?". I realize you asked your significant other, who may or may not know, but allow me to clarify that for you.

A home warranty is peace of mind. It's risk management of sorts. Putting a home warranty on your house as a seller gives you peace of mind knowing that if a covered appliance or mechanical system breaks down during the time the house is on the market, it will be repaired or replaced, quickly and professionally, for a relatively small deductible or service charge. What could easily have been a major expense, turns out to be a minor inconvenience. For the buyer it's peace of mind knowing that the older mechanical systems and all of those used appliances that you bought with the home are covered for at least one year from your closing date (13 months on one of my deals remember, I recommend the 13 month HWA home warranty).

There are various levels of coverage available and the price and the deductible (out of pocket expense) vary according to coverage. With the top of the line coverage, practically everything in the home is covered and the out of pocket expense is $100. That's not bad considering that your average service call will cost you $75 just to have the service man show up. And that's before they pile on parts and labor.

There is more that can be said about the wonders of a home warranty, but blog posts are supposed to be pithy. I guess if you would like to know more you can call or e-mail me. Maybe if you keep checking in, a home warranty expert will post a comment. Who knows? What I can tell you now is this: If you have been thinking about buying or selling a home and you contact me and hire me to work for you, telling me you read my blog and you want a free home warranty because of that, I'll buy you one.

As always, if you have found yourself receiving my blog postings via e-mail, it is because I have either blogged about you personally, blogged about something I know is of interest to you, or I consider you to be a person of deep thinking and intellect and I would love to have you occasionally commenting on my blog. If you would like to be removed from the list simply send me an e-mail saying so.

May. 10, 2006 - Technologicaly Challanged?

Once in a while, every now and then, from time to time, I like to try and help support the independent business man or woman. I allow free access to Gene's Board to those who would like to take advantage of that. Unfortunately the board is soooooo under used. A few people take advantage of the fact that I allow comments on this blog, and there are some really good comments that are attributed to "anonymous". When "anonymous" speaks people listen. It's just too bad they don't have "anonymous's" contact information. And that is why I sometimes feel the need to push some good information your way.

What would a modern real estate practitioner, or anyone that uses cyberspace as an office for that matter, be without technological tools? And what good would those tools be if one did not have a technological genius available to keep them fine tuned and sharp? It's just a fact that in today's world, you just have to know a good IT guy. That's why I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to Dave Savage. If you have computer glitches or if you need someone to build your custom made dream machine, check him out. And don't forget to tell him Gene sent you.

As always, if you have found yourself receiving my blog postings via e-mail, it is because I have either blogged about you personally, blogged about something I know is of interest to you, or I consider you to be a person of deep thinking and intellect and I would love to have you occasionally commenting on my blog. If you would like to be removed from the list simply send me an e-mail saying so.

May. 8, 2006 - Just A Phone Call Away

You see it on my web sites. It's on my business cards. My direct mail efforts has it on them. It's in my e-mail signature. My yard signs have it on them. You can call me on it, fax me with it, and even use it to send me e-mails. It's (847) 440-7920.

It really doesn't matter where I am. It rings where I tell it to. I can be at home, at the office, in the car, at your house or in a condo in Florida, it doesn't matter. It's the only number you need to know in order to talk to me.

Sure I have a phone at home, but I don't take business calls on it. There is a phone at the office when I go there, but that's not MY number. Yes I have a cell phone, and it comes in very handy when I am away from land lines. I'm sure you would allow me to use your phone if I was at your house and I needed to make a call as well. The only problem I have with that is, if the party I am calling is not available, they might just redial from the caller id when they return my call, as I often do myself. If I have left your house I don't want to burden you with my calls. That's why wherever I am I can log into my number (847) 440-7920 and place the call. That is the number that would show up on the caller id. And why in the world would I want you to pay long distance charges to talk to me if I was out of state? I wouldn't. So just dial my local number.

So you see, you don't need to know five or six phone numbers to track me down with an important call or a fax. All you need to know is (847) 440-7920 and I am just one phone call away.

There is a lot more this powerful communication system does, but I am told that if I make my post too long I might lose your attention so why don't you just go to www.strictlycom.com and see what it can do. Maybe something like this can work for you as well and if so you should contact my guy David Byrd. You can e-mail him at MailTo:dbyrd@strictlycom.com or call him at (312) 242-1025. If you talk to him, tell him Gene sent you.

As always, if you have found yourself receiving my blog postings via e-mail, it is because I have either blogged about you personally, blogged about something I know is of interest to you, or I consider you to be a person of deep thinking and intellect and I would love to have you occasionally commenting on my blog. If you would like to be removed from the list simply send me an e-mail saying so.

May. 5, 2006 - The Story Of Gene And The Flat Fee Lister

Those who have been following my blog know that commission was my second most popular category. That is no longer true. Rants and raves have taken over the number two spot, while commission has fallen into third place. I have promised to tie the commission posts up with a good story, which I intended to do before I had to congratulate the folks in my last post, and here that story is.

Darrell Rosko, a good client of mine, was moving up in the world. We found Darrell a nice little townhouse when he wanted to stop renting and start owning. A wise move on Darrell's part.

After a couple of years of equity building and appreciation, the walls of this entry level townhouse began closing in on him and Darrell decided he wanted a more spacious detached single family home with a yard and a garage, so he gave me a call. Another wise move on Darrell's part.

We put Darrell's townhouse on the market and got a really nice price relatively quick. Appreciation and a good full service REALTORŪ are a magical combination. In the mean time we went out looking at potential homes. One of the places we looked at was listed by a flat fee lister.

You might recall from a previous post that a flat fee lister is a Broker that will put you in the MLS for a fixed price. That fixed price is lower than what you would pay a full service agent like myself, and you get what you pay for. If you list with a flat fee lister, you have to take the calls and set up the showing appointments and you have to call the showing agents for feedback. The only advantage you have over regular FSBO's (For Sale By Owner's) is that you are in the MLS.

As luck would have it, Darrell kind of liked the place, maybe not enough to make an on the spot offer, but he liked it. When the seller called me for feedback, as he had to do because he didn't have a full service agent, I was guarded with my comments, as is always the case. I never want to show too much enthusiasm for a property and hurt my clients negotiating position. Unfortunately for the sellers, and fortunately for Darrell, Mr. Seller, who is not in the business of buying and selling property on a daily basis, was not so guarded. He told me all about his motivation for selling. He was on a dead line and time was bearing down him like a run-a-way locomotive. His back was to the wall. He told me things a seasoned real estate professional would never say to a buyers agent.

Needless to say, I called Darrell and told him of the sellers multiple reasons for needing to sell and advised him that we could probably save a bundle if we made an offer on this place. We came in low, negotiated a nice under market value price on the place, and even worked out some additional concessions on the home inspection. All this because the seller wanted to SAVE money on commission using a flat fee lister. The seller could have paid a commission for full service representation and still put about $20,000 more in his pocket.

The sellers continued to call me with questions throughout the transaction. On each occasion I advised them that I was not their agent and they should be talking to the person who they listed with. Each time they told me that that was not a part of their limited service deal.

It's a good thing Darrell was properly represented, as are all of my clients, he got a really good deal.

As always, if you have found yourself receiving my blog postings via e-mail, it is because I have either blogged about you personally, blogged about something I know is of interest to you, or I consider you to be a person of deep thinking and intellect and I would love to have you occasionally commenting on my blog. If you would like to be removed from the list simply send me an e-mail saying so.

May. 2, 2006 - Congratulations

Well, well, well............Congratulations Paul and Stephanie. See what can happen when you take my advise and adjust the price on your over priced listing. It took less than a week to sell and you get a mention on my blog.

Read on my faithful readers, this is not a private love letter to the aforementioned Paul and Stephanie. Oh no no. There is a lesson here somewhere.

Let me start at the beginning. Maybe you remember my rant entitled "They Just Don't Get It". This is a similar situation, so maybe I am the one who needs to learn the lesson here.

Armed with a meticulous market analysis I went to see the the nice young couple mentioned above. They of course wanted to test the market. Not a bad idea in a sellers market, but in a buyers market, give me a break. However, after making it clear that the price they wanted to list at was going to be detrimental to a quick sale at a fair price, I listed their property at THEIR price, with what I thought was an understanding that a price adjustment would be an option.

I went into marketing mode. Visual Tour, featured property on the front page of REALTOR.COM, featured property on all three of my web sites, 7,500 Hot Marketer e-mails, 3,000 just listed post cards, colored feature sheets on property, open house, all of the little things I do to get a house sold. I put close to $1,000 into the marketing effort. That doesn't really bother me though, because it usually gets made up when I represent the client on the buying side after they sell the property. I love to market, both me and the property.

Can you imagine my surprise when, a week and a half before the listing was due to expire and I talked to them about a price adjustment and an extension on the listing, they shut me down? They wouldn't even let me show it anymore. Instead of just asking to be let out of the listing agreement, I got stonewalled until the listing just expired.

I was not surprised when the property showed up as a new listing priced $11,000 less with a different agent though. I can tell when I am being lied to.

On the bright side is the fact that the price reduction worked. I gave good solid advise right from the start, as I always do. So here are to more pieces of advise I have for these guys: 1) Don't play poker because you give it away too soon, and 2) get your moral compass fixed, you have a child to raise.

As always, if you have found yourself receiving my blog postings via e-mail, it is because I have either blogged about you personally, blogged about something I know is of interest to you, or I consider you to be a person of deep thinking and intellect and I would love to have you occasionally commenting on my blog. If you would like to be removed from the list simply send me an e-mail saying so.