The Gene Molloy Real Estate Blog

January 2008

Jan. 31, 2008 - The State Of The Business

It's true, sometimes I ignore my blog. I only seem to get back to it when I have something to rant about. Sure, once I get on a roll and back to blogging I dispense a tidbit of useful information here and there before I get to busy to blog again, but sometimes my entries get far and in between.

This entry is a rant, to be sure. Inspired by "The State of The Union", I have titled this "The State Of The Business".

I have been somewhat busy doing work on a deal over the last few days. There were some issues with the buyers wanting their home inspector to do a roof inspection on the roof of a condominium. The access hatch to the roof is locked. Researching The American Society Of Home Inspectors' Standards of Practice, I found that under Section 13.2 General Exclusions Paragraph E. Line 6 it states that "Inspectors are NOT required to inspect common elements or common areas in multi-unit housing, such as condominium properties or cooperative housing". I also found that their definition of inspect is: "To examine any system or component of a building in accordance with these Standards of Practice, using normal operating controls and opening readily openable access panels". Add to that, the liability issue posed to the Condominium Association by having someone who was not required to be, and not really qualified to be up there, up there seven stories in the air on a windy, snowy, icy day, there was no way that this "roof inspection" was going to take place.

Then came the part were up until today, the last day of Attorney review, nobody had called the management company for the condo docs, the rules and regulations or the budget. Fortunately, I happen to have copies of all of the needed documents so I was able to supply them at the last minute. That's a good thing too, cause without that this deal might never get to the closing table. After all, isn't that what we tell our clients our only mission is, to get them to the closing table? Yes indeed, we tell our clients that by hiring us to represent them, they will have nothing to worry about. We as their agents will dot the i's and cross the t's because we know what it takes to get it done. At least that's what I tell my clients.

The problem here is, I don't have any clients in this deal. The sellers interviewed me. They didn't like my market analysis. They thought I wanted to list their condo too low. They hired another agent who ultimately, in the 335 days that the unit was on the market, lowered the list price to what I wanted to list it for on day one. That same agent thought nothing of calling me up to bail her out because I list a lot at this particular property and I have a splendid relationship with "management".

This my friends, is a fine example of The State of The Business. No wonder the housing market is so shaky. Some of the people who were supposed to be looking out for their clients probably didn't have good hearted professionals like myself looking out for them.

Do me favor would you? You don't really need to understand what this means, just pray for the thinning of the herd.

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.

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Jan. 5, 2008 - What's It Worth?

It took a while to get some of my investor type clients properly trained. I have told them time and time again to call me before they install a $3,200 gold plated toilet bowl, complete with a bidet, in a $230,000 house.

First of all, not every buyer wants or needs a bidet. The wow factor is just not that great. I guess you could say that they are literally flushing their money down the toilet.

I know what sells. That is my area of expertise. I know what the houses in a given area are worth. That is my area of expertise. I am not a construction estimator, but I have a pretty good idea what any given upgrade job should cost. I also have a sense of what value would be added by doing some remodeling and upgrading. Some of it comes by way of experience, but most of it comes by way of research.

I have found a pretty good research tool. It's Remodeling Online. It's a pretty spiffy cost vs. value site that let you chose the area of the country and gives you the average return on investment for whatever job it is you are thinking of doing.

I love to browse the value of different jobs done in different parts of the country. It's proof positive to the old adage that all real estate is local.

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.

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Jan. 4, 2008 - Loss Mitigation

First and foremost, since I have ignored my blog for about a month, let me take this opportunity to say that I hope your Holidays (whatever it is you celebrate) were everything you were hoping they would be. Fortunately I am back here in time to wish you health, happiness and prosperity in 2008.

On Christmas Eve some dastardly evil doer stole the table out of the lobby of the Condominium in which I live. Since I am the President of the Board of Directors it fell to me to file the police report. Des Plaines Police Officer Mike Meyers (honest) showed up and asked the usual questions. "Any signs of forced entry"? "No sir". "Anybody report any suspicious characters on the premises"? "No sir".

There was no forced entry because no one has to force their way in. As much as you harp on the fact that there are rules and regulations that need to be adhered to when you live in a Condominium environment, many people apparently think that they do not apply to them. There is a reason you are asked to wait until the garage door closes behind you before you pull off. There is a reason you are required to greet the delivery man, the pizza man and anybody else you don't personally know in the lobby. That reason is security, loss mitigation if you will.

Thieves are wily enough without a member of the association giving them free access to the building. They have been know to follow the mailman into the building or come in the garage door while the waste hauler is rolling the dumpster to the garbage truck. There isn't too much you can do about that.

That's why, as a part of Condominium living, you, the resident of a Condominium, have to do everything in your power to help secure your environment.

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.

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