Apr. 19, 2007 - Own A Piece Of History

**********WARNING************

This post has nothing to do with real estate!

You can own your own piece of Gene Molloy memoribilia by going to Gene's Board and clicking on the For Sale catagory.

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.

Apr. 4, 2007 - The 411 As I See It

Things in the business of real estate are changing all of the time.  You really need to know what it takes to get the job done for buyers and sellers.  You can not be caught standing still when the market shifts.  Chances are the path to the successful resolution of a deal will be a little different tomorrow than it was today.  That is why a proactive agent, living a proactive real estate lifestyle is almost always going to be, and stay, successful.  That is why I stay proactive.  That is why I do everything I can to see where the market is heading and to try and be there to greet the market when it takes a detour.  Doing anything less would be a failure of my duty to serve my clients best interest.

As some of you know, I make the claim that real estate is my lifestyle, not my job.  I had a job once.  I woke up at the same time everyday, Monday through Friday.  I traveled the same route everyday, Monday through Friday.  I saw the same faces everyday, Monday through Friday.  I practiced the same routine everyday, Monday through Friday.  Nothing hardly ever changed and there was not much new to learn.  I was able to do what I was being paid to do pretty much the same on the first day as I was on last.  Fortunately I was able to leave that job at a relatively young age with a nice passive income.  It will pay my bills until the day I die so there is no need for me to get another job.  There was, however, the need to do something besides try and figure out what to with a seven day weekend.  Hence I embarked upon the real estate lifestyle where I found an ever changing landscape.

It is easy for me to stay motivated in this lifestyle.  It is a continuing educational process, keeping an eye on new developments.  As a keen observer of the market, one gets an almost unfair advantage.  I liken the majority of the people who stand still in this business to a block of Chicago Bungalows, they are all lined up in even fashion, a little different, one from the other, but for the most part indistinguishable and unremarkable.  They are products of another age.  Most of them suffer from functional obsolescence.   

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.

Feb. 14, 2007 - Introducing The New Gene Molloy

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, moms and dads, readers of all ages, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce to you the new Gene Molloy.  No longer will I be know as Gene Molloy the real estate agent.  From now on I shall be referred to as Gene Molloy the real estate broker.  That's right folks, after much studying, test taking and the proving of my upstanding moral character I am now a full blown real estate broker.

The difference is almost undetectable to the naked eye.  It's kind of like waking up on your birthday and looking in the mirror.  You look and feel pretty much like you did the day before, but you have officially attained a new level of maturity.  You may even be eligible for a new perk or two.  Perhaps you qualify for the senior citizen discount that eluded you yesterday.  Maybe you can finally buy into that new 55+, active adult community you've been longing to move to.  I'm sure you get the gist.  You simple just have more options than you did before.

Actually, I'm pretty proud of myself.  Because of all my newly acquired knowledge, the last deal I turned into the office was absolutely flawless, proving that if nothing else I have become a better i doter and t crosser. 

Of course posting to my blog has suffered because I was so tied up and I apologize if I sent anyone into withdrawals.  Maybe now I can get back to it on a steadier basis.  There are still rants to rant about and raves to rave.  The home buying and selling public still needs to have their questions answers.  The people out there that are an asset to the industry still need to be recognized.  The people out there that are a detriment to the industry still need to be exposed.  I can not and will not rest on my laurels.  I will forge ahead.  As a matter of fact, I am looking at a just sold post card right now where the sender says "I'll sell it in 69 days or I'll sell it for FREE...GUARANTEED!*."  I notice that asterisks there, do you?  Getting out my magnifying glass I see the tiny blurred print says "*some restrictions apply". Check back in folks, because my next posting is going to be about what those "restrictions" just might be.  

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.

Dec. 6, 2006 - December Already?

It would seem that I have taken to doing monthly posts, would it not? That is not by design or intent, that is just one of those things. Remember when you were a child and someone (usually a parent) would ask you why you did or did not do a certain thing and the only legitimate answers you could give were either "Because" or "I don't know"? That is somewhat the case here.

I say somewhat the case because I have actually been doing things. I was doing my self study Broker School hours. Any of you who might be interested in that will be happy to know that I received an 84% on the final exam. Now I just need to take the actual State Exam, but I probably will not be doing that until after the Holidays. I want to do better that 84% on the State Exam, even though that is more than enough to pass, so I want to study a little more. It's an ego thing.

My last remaining listing of 2006 just went to contract on Monday. I have two deals in the pipeline that I need to shepard home, one buyer side, one seller side. Once those two close it looks as if I will be unemployed. If you have been waiting for a good time to get a hold of me to do some business for you, now is the time. You can get my undivided attention. Thank God "Real Estate Is My Lifestyle, Not My Job". If I had to depend on the next deal to pay the bills I guess I would have to go out and get a job.

If I sound depressed, it's probably because of the results of the elections last month. On the County level things are really a mess. Nepotism reigns supreme here in Cook County. The unfortunate part of the whole political picture here in Cook County is that County politics play out for the benefit King Richard M. Daley and the City of Chicago. Suburban Cook County is the odd man out. Even though The Suburbs voted largely in favor of the losers in this election, the City votes are enough to carry the cities chosen ones on to victory. I hope US Attorney Fitzgerald keeps a real sharp eye out for political monkey business now. I predict that there is going to be some really juicy shenanigans going on very soon.

There may be one bright spot in all of this. Maybe I will have some time now to tend to this blog, 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.

Oct. 26, 2006 - A Shameless Name Dropper

The wonder of it all my friends is that I never planned it this way. When I left The ERA office that I was affiliated with in the beginning of my real estate career the Broker there told me that my business was probably going to  fail. He offered to personally take me under his wing and teach me what it takes to be successful. Well Norb, I think I've done pretty good without that guidance. Thanks for the offer though.

Since changing offices I have been interviewed on the My Kind of Town radio program, I was featured in the Agent Snapshot of Chicago Agent magazine, and I was asked to review a book by June Fletcher (whom I forgot to give a link to, so here it is), who has a real estate column in The Wall Street Journal. My opinions and style have been mentioned on various real estate blogs throughout the land and I have successfully sold millions of dollars worth of real estate. Somewhere along the line I have become successful and knowledgeable enough that my opinion began to count.

After my post about June Fletcher's "House Poor" yesterday, I got an e-mail from my friend and neighbor Aimee DeBat (who was instrumental in introducing me to Chicago Agent Magazine). Aimee thought it was a small world because she has met June. That doesn't surprise me though, because Aimee's Dad is Publicist and Syndicated Real Estate Columnist Don DeBat. Aimee is a talented copy writer as well, and she has some really great layouts. How's that for shameless name dropping?

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.

Jul. 10, 2006 - Look Out Jack...........Genie's Back

When we where about to leave for Florida I really wanted to say good bye to all of my faithful readers and tell you I was going on vacation, but I had to put up a new listing and tie up the loose ends on my existing ones. As you know, I have been pretty busy. I have actually been back for about a week now, but I had to try and tend to more loose business ends before I could come out to play.

On the way to Treasure Island, where we had a condo on the Gulf, we stopped to visit a couple of friends of ours who live in The Villages. We had seen the DVD they send out about two or three years ago and I wasn't really very impressed, I kind of thought it seemed like Disneyland for Seniors on Steroids. But let me tell you something, when we stopped to visit Alex and Mary Jeanne Reich, our friends that live there, we were absolutely blown away. We have to check back in January or February to make sure it's not to cool in the day time. If it checks out, I think we will seriously consider moving there in a couple of years.

We had the distinct pleasure of bumping into Macho Man Randy Savage in Gruppers Grill on Treasure Island. I knew he looked familiar, and I thought maybe he was maybe the bouncer from The Rusty Spoke here in Chicago or something like that. After making some small talk and chit chat, I realized I was in the presence of WWF greatness. We had a real nice talk and as we about to leave I apologized for busting into his space. His final words to me were "Hey man, no sweat, we're all just beach people here".

The Illinois State Police welcomed me back to Illinois with a speeding ticket. We came out of Kentucky (speed limit 70) doing 80 on cruise control. As soon as I crossed the Ohio River I spotted the trooper on the over pass, cancelled the cruise control and dropped down to 65. Too late. There were about seven squads on the other side of the over pass, lights flashing. The sneaky snakes were having a field day with their speed trap. Oh well.

OK, I gotta go. See ya real soon, OK?

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. 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.

Mar. 27, 2006 - Where Have You Gone Gene Molloy?

The answer to this very deep question is......(drum roll).............nowhere, I've been right here, working hard.

When I get busy, the muse leaves me. I get totally focused on the art of doing Real Estate and I cannot write a lick. I can't write about what I'm doing. I can't write about what my friends are doing. I can't even write about what you should be doing, and I am usually pretty good at that.

So here is the update. I put 10 homes on the market, basically in the first quarter of this year. Over the last little while I have sold 5, 1 expired and was not extended, and I have 4 left to go. There are 2 or 3 new listings on the horizon that I am looking forward to.

Now you know if you follow my blog (or if I force feed it to you) that I don't use "office support". Every step of the transaction is handled by me personally. I do my own marketing pieces, update my websites, answer my phone, etc. That is why my clients hire me. Hands on Gene. So when I get busy my blog suffers. Now just in case that braggart, know it all from Seattle who will never get a link from me wants to give me any advise about that, don't bother. I love doing it my way. So stick your know it all pontifications where the sun don't shine, which I guess could be anywhere in Seattle, the suicide capital of America.

I promised Bruce that I would put him in my blog. I am sorry it took so long, but here it is. Bruce does cool stuff with drive ways, cement floors, cement walls and I would have to guess maybe swimming pools. His company is Tri County CTI. You can visit his website at www.TriCountyCTI.Com and see what he is doing. You can also read about it on Gene's Board under the business directory. If you like what he does and have need of his services, don't forget to tell him Gene sent you.

Feb. 6, 2006 - Gene Hits The Big Time

Hey hey, my my, did you hear me on the radio? Yes indeed my faithful readers, I have had the good fortune to be on "My Kind Of Town", a talk radio show that airs live on WIND 560 on the AM dial on Saturday mornings at 9:00 AM. If you missed it, the show will be rebroadcast on Sunday, February 12th at 8:00 PM. For my readers that cannot tune into Chicago area radio, they can listen to the broadcast over the internet by going to http://www.560wind.com.

Although the show was about Des Plaines, I was able to talk briefly about all of my listings, including two which I have taken predated, which are not even in the MLS yet. Can your real estate agent do that for you?

The program is hosted by Bill McNamee, Julie Guy and Bill Randall, three of the finest talk show hosts I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. They are as professional as any I have ever heard, and what the surprising part of it is, is that this is not their day job. They are actually mortgage professionals. Yes indeed. You can check it out at http://www.PinnacleHomeMortgage.Com. While you are surfing their site check out Jay Cunningham, he is someone you should know as well. And don't forget to nominate your town for The My Kind Of Town Award.

On another subject, someone asked me about when the house that sold in fourteen days was going to close. I have no idea. That was not my listing.

 I just have not had the time to tend my blog lately. I have been trying to help buyers buy and sellers sell. I have a potential listing in Aurora, at 1913 Conway Lane. What I mean by that is that I have a listing agreement on that house, but I don't have a start date to begin marketing it yet. I took a predated listing on a nice two flat at 4225 N. Central Park in Chicago which actually starts tomorrow. The Conway Lane house is priced at $328,000 and the Chicago two flat is priced at $470,000. Add to that the fact that I have put in a little time looking at townhomes with a couple of folks and have had to arrange showings on my other five listings and you can see why I haven't been here lately.

As always, if you find you are receiving my blog entries via e-mail, it is because you either put yourself on my e-mail list or I put you there because you have asked a question or otherwise inspired something I have blogged about. I bring the blog to some peoples attention because I believe they may have a comment and I am sure we would all enjoy their opinions. If you get my entries by e-mail and you wish you didn't, just e-mail me and I will be glad to remove you from the list.