This Lincoln Park 2-Bedroom Penthouse is 38% Off the 2007 Price: 744 W. Fullerton
This 2-bedroom penthouse at 744 W. Fullerton in Lincoln Park has been on and off the market since February 2010.
It is a short sale and was actually under contract last June but came back on the market in October.
There are only 4 pictures of the unit so it’s hard to get a good idea of what it looks like.
The building was constructed in 2007. It has upscale finishes including Viking kitchen appliances and the master bath has a separate shower with Grohe body sprays.
The unit also has a private rooftop terrace with southeast views.
The unit is now listed 38% under the 2007 purchase price of $584,500.
Is this a deal?
Dennis Meunier at Conlon has the listing. See the 4 pictures here.
Unit #504: 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1500 square feet
- Sold in October 2007 for $584,500
- Originally listed in February 2010 for $589,900
- Reduced numerous times
- Lis pendens foreclosure filed in January 2011
- Was listed in June 2011 as a “short sale” for $360,000
- Under contract
- Re-listed in October 2011 for $360,000
- Currently still listed at $360,000
- Assessments of $240 a month
- Taxes of $5743
- Central Air
- Washer/Dryer in the unit
- Bedroom #1: 11×13
- Bedroom #2: 11×10
Horrible photos! It’s not that difficult/costly to get someone who knows how to use a camera to come over. Looks like the place has some beauty to it, too bad you’d never know it based on the limited number of horrible shots.
penthouse? This is just the top floor of a 4 story building.
There are smart buys in LP and dumb buys in LP. But you discover the nature of the purchase only after you sell.
Why sellers allow their property to be marketed this way is one of the great mysteries of the 21st century. However, I suspect that quite often it’s because the agent is a friend or relative. Great basis for making a business decision.
Looks like it has potential, but I’d like to see pics of the private rooftop…
Tiny unit and uninformative photos. Must be including the outdoor deck in the SF calculations, because a 15′ x 11′ livingroom doesn’t translate into a 1500 SF unit. Looks like a glorified dorm-condo for well-situated parents to buy for their DePaul kid. That original purchase price is ridiculous; huge premium for “Viking appliances and Grohe fixtures”.
Grohe Body Sprays? Those kinky Germans.
I toured this unit and the quality of the bathrooms and the kitchen is much better than some of the typical 2/2s that are on the market. That being said, the set up is a little weird – the spiral staircase leads to the roofdeck, which is nice, but it’s really inconveniently located (apparently it is removable though). There’s also a balcony, which is literally a slab of concrete that just cuts into the size of the “living room” (I put that in quotes because its just a part of the kitchen). This unit was nice, but overall just not worth $360k – I’d say $300, if they’re lucky.
At this location traffic is going by on Fullerton all the time. Combine that with the fact that the outside of this building would be considered ugly for a Bus Station, and you have a complete disaster. Somebody actually paid 584K for this?
Nicholas:
Agree completely with your observations.
Judging from the listing photos. the agent trying to sell this place isn’t trying very hard.
While Nicholas mentioned noise on Fullerton, I don’t think it’s that bad there… drove that stretch daily for about 8 years. The big issue is that it’s right across the street from Children’s Memorial Hospital, so the buyer can expect 5+ years of demolition and construction across the street!
“Why sellers allow their property to be marketed this way is one of the great mysteries of the 21st century. However, I suspect that quite often it’s because the agent is a friend or relative. Great basis for making a business decision.”
Agree Gary. I am not an agent, but I am continually amazed how many people I know who use relatives or friends to sell their places who are clearly not the right people for the job. A friend down the street was using an Aunt (part time realtor) who lived in Highland Park to try and sell a condo in Lake View. Never makes sense to me at all.
That being said do agents in general just ignore short sales?
This is such a listing fail. Is there any profession more full of people who are publicly and obviously clueless and clearly don’t give a shit about doing a good job than real estate? What kind of commission discounts are banks getting from selling through terrible agents like this?
It’s tough to tell how different this unit is from #202, which sold in September for $445k. It seems like 202 might be in the back and have a private terrace, and pretty nice finishes. Even with the winter coming and the piss-poor quality of the listing photos and details, it seems like someone might be interested in 504 around $350k. However, with that comp from 202, I’ll bet the bank wouldn’t accept it, and that might have killed the previous contract as well. Buildings like this also commonly have serious water intrusion problems.
The location – on busy Fullerton – kills it for me. If you want modern and on a busy street, buy something in River North many floors up so its quiet. To me, you live in LP if you want tree lined street with a vintage or walkup. Totally inflated price previously — do people really think an LP address no matter how terribly located should add a premium? I don’t.
heh I own the kitchenAid version of that fridge. THEY ARE THE SAME (except for the doors)
“The big issue is that it’s right across the street from Children’s Memorial Hospital, so the buyer can expect 5+ years of demolition and construction across the street!”
the exact point i was going to make.
it wont be the construction that will be the worst it will be *either* the increase congestion from all the new residents or the drag down on condo values because all the new empty condos.
either way its deciding the lesser of two bags of shyte
“That being said do agents in general just ignore short sales?”
It depends. Some people who just churn these out snap some crappy photos and put the property on a lockbox. I guess they figure they’ll just cut the price until they get a buyer and then tell the bank they can’t do any better. The seller doesn’t care (but maybe they should – longer discussion). However, some banks are trying to get better price realization these days.
“Is there any profession more full of people who are publicly and obviously clueless and clearly don’t give a shit about doing a good job than real estate?”
It’s hard to think of one. Perhaps used care sales?
“What kind of commission discounts are banks getting from selling through terrible agents like this?”
It’s not the bank choosing the realtor for a short sale. It’s the homeowner.
“Perhaps used [car] sales?”
I dunno, a lot of those guys are sleazy and will try to rip you off, but at least many of them are relatively good at their job, which is to sell cars to people at as high a price as possible. It seems to me that there is a much higher correlation of how good they are at selling cars to how well they do. In my opinion, used car sales is not nearly as rent-seeking a behavior as real estate sales. Also, there’s no illusions about what a car salesman’s role is and where his allegiances lie. Many folks in real estate will lie and mislead for their own benefit while at the same time pretending to be on your side.
“It’s not the bank choosing the realtor for a short sale. It’s the homeowner.”
You’re right, I saw that it was in foreclosure but didn’t realize that it wasn’t REO yet.
I think the differences between rent seeking are explained by the different compensation schemes. A realtor who gets owner to come down 10% still gets 90% of previous commission. Same can’t be said for car salesman.
And there are many occupations shadier than either, despite the flak on here. I always found the ‘Suzanne researched this’ ad hilarious though as it was her commission she researched and it showed the the b1tch wife was looking for an excuse to buy.
Realtors can’t be blamed for the financial decisions of lemmings or idiots.
“It seems to me that there is a much higher correlation of how good they are at selling cars to how well they do.”
The “superstar” agents that get discussed on here from time to time do seem to be quite good. I’m sure the best car salespeople are good to. I don’t know that it’s clear in which profession skill is more correlated to performance. I tend to think that in a regular market, it may be easy for a mediocre agent to sell a house than it is for a mediocre car salesperson, but I don’t really know that. And there are probably (proportionately) more mediocre real estate agents than car salespeople, as dealerships will not allocate scarce sales opportunities to bad staff.
“In my opinion, used car sales is not nearly as rent-seeking a behavior as real estate sales.”
I’m tempted to say that rent-seeking behavior is not being used correctly here.
The very idea of a “penthouse” at Fullerton and Halsted is kind of funny when you think about it, especially when you’re talking about a 4-story building.
Location: not bad. That part of Fullerton is not bad. If you want quiet, move to a tree lined street or the suburubs. This is city living. Wha’t nice about this part of Fullerton is that you don’t have to walk far to get food or catch a cab like you would if you live on a ho-hum tree lined street.
Unit: I looked at the floor plans in 2007 and thought it was too much per square foot. I have no idea how they are saying this is 1500sf. More like 1190.
“And there are probably (proportionately) more mediocre real estate agents than car salespeople, as dealerships will not allocate scarce sales opportunities to bad staff.”
I do believe that 80% of realtors are pretty bad. Part of the difference in the model of used car sales from the real estate model is that the used car dealership is providing leads to the sales people so they have an incentive to make sure they are good. Real estate brokerages typically do not provide leads and really don’t care how good the agents are because they all represent incremental business to the brokerage from friends and family at the very least.
“I’m tempted to say that rent-seeking behavior is not being used correctly here.”
Why not? I define rent-seeking to be a party acting to receive a portion of the benefit of a transaction or activity in excess of that party’s economic contribution to the transaction or activity, through established and enforced political, social or cultural systems, institutions or requirements.
The only institution that prevents sellers of cars from working without car salesmen is the car dealership, and those institutions are only marginally protected under applicable law (e.g., in Chicago, there are some requirements to be a car dealer and to get the benefit of avoiding paying sales taxes on purchases of cars for resale). There are few (if any that are material) licensing or certification requirements to sell cars, and those don’t seem to prevent all sorts of people, including individuals from selling cars. I would expect that most used cars are sold through dealerships (although maybe not), but I expect that one could demonstrate much of that arises out of consumer preference for availability of cars and related services.
If you did a similar analysis for real estate transactions, I suspect that this analysis would strongly demonstrate rent-seeking behavior.
This place is still a lot nicer than that tiny 2/1 walk-up posted about a few weeks ago where a movie was filmed. I believe these properties are about the same price.
“Why not?”
So I’ll confess I didn’t entirely follow the logic in the prior post, but I took your general point to be that it is the existence of significant rent-seeking behavior in real estate that is the reason why there isn’t much correlation between skill and success (not whether there is more or less rent seeking in selling RE versus cars). As I said, I tend to think that the “superstars” in real estate tend to have earned their positions (or, at least, their positions are not the result of rent seeking). As I also said, I do think there may be more mediocrity in real estate, as a result of easy entry (partly for the reason Gary suggested), but I don’t see that as attributable to rent seeking.
I could conceive of a rent-seeking explanation for low skill-success correlation if entry into selling real estate were strongly protected by legal/institutional factors. I don’t think there are significant entry barriers to becoming an agent–indeed, the opposite. It may well be the case for homeowners wanting to sell their themselves there are significant barriers, but I don’t see that as causing low skill-success correlation among those actually selling real estate today.
Perhaps you can explain the relationship, but I didn’t see it explained, and it wasn’t obvious (to me). I thought maybe you were using rent seeking in the sense of people seeking rents in selling real estate (which rents may well have been the result of rent seeking to some degree) by becoming agents. But clearly you know the generally agreed definition, so that wasn’t it.
OT, Jenny, you should absolutely buy yourself a new transformer prime for xmas.
damn sabrina is bringing out all the blasts from the past, when I was looking at these back in 08 I thought they were grossly overpriced too!
DZ, did it just take you three paragraphs to say to JJJ that you thought he was talking about something else?
“did it just take you three paragraphs to say to JJJ that you thought he was talking about something else?”
Better than (a) no paragraphing and (b) the payoff being “nyc is better than chicago” or “all y’all are [morons/have no taste/other insult]”.
“did it just take you three paragraphs to say to JJJ that you thought he was talking about something else?”
Did you just spend your time reading three paragraphs of what some person on the internet wrote to some other person on the internet saying that he thought the some other person was talking about something else? (That would make us about even for my having read your blog posts about furniture refinishing. I look forward, however, to more of the honeymoon series.)
I did (and still do) think he was talking about something else in his initial post. Most of the three paragraphs explain why I don’t think that something else made sense.
“I don’t think there are significant entry barriers to becoming an agent–indeed, the opposite.”
You need a license to do almost anything in real estate, and the more material of these licenses require hundreds of hours of class time. In order to have access to properties and be able to share commissions, don’t you also need to be a member of the MLS and adhere to their rules? Don’t you also need to be affiliated with a broker in order to be a salesperson? (Serious questions, I haven’t been up to speed on that stuff for years.) Basically, the whole system is set up to require you to be affiliated with the establishment to be successful. I would agree that these aren’t necessarily strong barriers to entry (obviously, there are plenty of idiots in real estate) , but I do think that these barriers to entry result in a high percentage of those who have surpassed the barriers to entry being affiliated with the cartel. I also strongly doubt that there are any people who are very successful in selling real estate who are not part of the MLS and doing things more or less in the traditional way. And real estate professionals generally fight against any activity they perceive as infringing upon their cartel – just look at all the comments on the Redfin forums regarding the quickly discontinued ratings of individual agents about how Redfin is using “their data.”
“It may well be the case for homeowners wanting to sell their themselves there are significant barriers, but I don’t see that as causing low skill-success correlation among those actually selling real estate today.”
I think that the q
This is too detailed to
Good points DZ. 😀
Truthfully, I had to google rent seeker and I still don’t know if I understand it at the high level you have discussed it. If I understand correctly (or even in the same zip code of “correctly”) a better anology than car saleperson might be financial advisor or tax preparer. They get paid whether you do well or not.
Whoops, sorry for hitting return and sending my previous comment accidentally too early. I was also going to say that I don’t think that correlations between skill and success or barriers to entry establish that real estate sales is a rent-seeking behavior attractive to those unable to provide real economic benefit*, Rather, my view is that it’s a rent-seeking behavior (which would be kind of complicated and time-consuming to demonstrate, so I’ll just say that I think that it is without demonstrating it), with material but not that formidable barriers to entry, and that’s part of the reason that there are a large number of idiots in real estate. However, I have not done any formal analysis of my views here, nor have I done much reading of the work of those who have, so it’s primarily idle supposition.
* I think that it was the idea that I was making this assertion that resulted in your comment and disagreement, and I agree that putting my reference to rent-seeking after the discussion of skill and success correlation was confusing and misleading. Sorry about that.
“You need a license to do almost anything in real estate, and the more material of these licenses require hundreds of hours of class time. In order to have access to properties and be able to share commissions, don’t you also need to be a member of the MLS and adhere to their rules? Don’t you also need to be affiliated with a broker in order to be a salesperson?…I would agree that these aren’t necessarily strong barriers to entry …. but I do think that these barriers to entry result in a high percentage of those who have surpassed the barriers to entry being affiliated with the cartel…I also strongly doubt that there are any people who are very successful in selling real estate who are not part of the MLS and doing things more or less in the traditional way. And real estate professionals generally fight against any activity they perceive as infringing upon their cartel – just look at all the comments on the Redfin forums regarding the quickly discontinued ratings of individual agents about how Redfin is using “their data.”
The barriers are not huge but it keeps total idiots out of the business – like 90 hours to be an agent (now called a broker). The licensing requirements have just gone up and it will be interesting to see if it results in a significant decrease in the number of agents in the business, given how bad business is. What they don’t teach these folks is anything about the market or how to analyze data or how to answer the phone or how to use email or how to market a property or how to communicate and that’s where most fall short. They offer a ton of other training but it’s pretty worthless – sort of like the caliber of what you would get if you took a class on using the Internet.
There is no cartel but everyone is a member of the MLS and the NAR and one of the local associations. It’s just dues. Total cost is around $1000/ year. As for doing things non-traditional ways…I was actually surprised to discover that there is less offense to that than I expected. I initially feared I would be boycotted. Would like to know more about the comments on the Redfin forums. What is this in reference to?
“There is no cartel but everyone is a member of the MLS and the NAR and one of the local associations. It’s just dues.”
And an agreement–subject to fine and possible expulsion from the cartel–to deny the existence of a cartel whenever it is discussed in your presence.
Right?
“And an agreement–subject to fine and possible expulsion from the cartel–to deny the existence of a cartel whenever it is discussed in your presence.
Right?”
I think Gary’s answer to that has to be no.
“I think that it was the idea that I was making this assertion that resulted in your comment and disagreement, and I agree that putting my reference to rent-seeking after the discussion of skill and success correlation was confusing and misleading.”
Thanks for politely tolerating the almost surely excessive nitpicking.
“I think Gary’s answer to that has to be no.”
Maybe if we take up a collection to cover his fine, we can get the real story.
“And an agreement–subject to fine and possible expulsion from the cartel–to deny the existence of a cartel whenever it is discussed in your presence.”
There really is no cartel. Believe me, if there was I’d be all over it. In fact, I got into the business because I believed there was some degree of collusion going on and wanted to undermine it. However, there is a very tiny grain of truth to your statement. We are trained to never refer to “standard commissions” because that would imply price fixing and mislead consumers into believing they could not negotiate commissions. The only penalty that would come from using that terminology would be imposed externally – e.g. dept of justice – though I guess that might be also be viewed internally as an ethical violation.
“There really is no cartel.”
So, how much is the fine? Can we get it together between a few of us, or do we need to hold a fundraiser?
“So, how much is the fine? Can we get it together between a few of us, or do we need to hold a fundraiser?”
I think Gary is outside the cartel but wants to perpetuate it so that he can continue to profit from undermining it. (Just kidding, Gary.) After all, not reporting a cartel is not a crime (AFAIK).
There’s a huge amount of morons in every profession, not just real estate… And with it being so visible with realtors it’s easy to pick a good one. Much harder to filter out the idiots when you’re shopping for example for a lawyer or dentist.
I’d have to say that recruiters/headhunters are equally bad… cannot tell you how often I get emails for jobs that have so little connection to my actual experience or voice messages that don’t give any info about the job, location or company.
The barriers to entry are the main issue with Realtors. Since real estate transactions are not something consumers engage often, they do not necessarily know what to look for or how to properly hire a Realtor. Since the barriers to entry are low, they often just go with someone they know since everyone knows “someone in the business.” Not wise, but it is the path of least resistance which is the American way.
The RE brokerage model also encourages mass hiring as well. Since the profession is 100% commission based, brokerages really do not have much to lose by hiring warm bodies regardless of their performance. Anyone can get a scrabble together a few deals from friends and family, so the brokerage benefits from those transaction with very little lost in terms of upfront investment. Eventually, 80% wash out at some point while 20% can make a real and lucrative living.
The other issue is that RE attracts a lot of folks who see $$$, but don’t really understand what it takes to be successful year in and year out. Being a Realtor is really just running a small business. Most RE are woefully under capitalized and can’t afford the upfront investments or the ability to go several months with no commissions. In short, seller’s get crappy photos because the Realtor they hired can’t afford to front the cash to hire a better photographer or doesn’t have the time or inclination to learn how to do it themselves.
While commissions seem high, they really just reflect the commensurate risk associated with the service providers. In other words, there is a very high likelihood of not being paid for services provided as a Realtor and the commission rates reflect this reality. In addition, consumers are reluctant to pay upfront for services provided even if the cost may be cheaper. Consumers simply do not want the sunk cost regardless of the outcome of the transaction. The current commission structure allows consumers to get the services desired without necessarily having to front the cash or pay anything if the deal fails.
Russ is correct and has summarized the issues very eloquently.
“Thanks for politely tolerating the almost surely excessive nitpicking.”
No worries at all, I find it enjoyable to talk through this stuff.
“While commissions seem high, they really just reflect the commensurate risk associated with the service providers”
“Russ is correct and has summarized the issues very eloquently.”
Good thing I wasn’t around for this one.. I would have just said “dirty bunch of whores”
“While commissions seem high, they really just reflect the commensurate risk associated with the service providers. In other words, there is a very high likelihood of not being paid for services provided as a Realtor and the commission rates reflect this reality. In addition, consumers are reluctant to pay upfront for services provided even if the cost may be cheaper. Consumers simply do not want the sunk cost regardless of the outcome of the transaction. The current commission structure allows consumers to get the services desired without necessarily having to front the cash or pay anything if the deal fails.”
This sounds like another justification of price fixing to me, and the fact that the cartel has prevented unfixed prices from gaining traction doesn’t mean that consumers don’t want alternative structures. Your first three paragraphs, I totally agree with.
“This sounds like another justification of price fixing to me, and the fact that the cartel has prevented unfixed prices from gaining traction doesn’t mean that consumers don’t want alternative structures. Your first three paragraphs, I totally agree with.”
You’re not serious are you? Who do you think belongs to this cartel and how do you join and how do they meet?
It’s not the cartel that is preventing alternative business models from gaining traction. It’s consumers themselves. Do you realize how hard it is to get consumers’ attention with an alternative business model? How hard it is for them to explain to cousin Vinnie or their best friend that they are not going to use him to find a home? Or explain to their wife and friends that they didn’t go with the “top producer”? If you had a natural cure for cancer (no FDA approval required) and went out to sell it to doctors tomorrow imagine how hard it would be for you to convince them to try it.
“If you had a natural cure for cancer (no FDA approval required) and went out to sell it to doctors tomorrow imagine how hard it would be for you to convince them to try it.”
Bet it wouldn’t be hard to convince the people with cancer to try it.
But I can see how you can compare a discovery that would require an inordinate level of creative intelligence and perseverance, with being a salesman.
JJJ, there is no price fixing. Commissions are totally negotiable. Consumers simply have not shown an appetite for alternative business models in any significant numbers.
Yes, the commissions do reflect the risk of non payment for services. Not many people are willing to invest a substantial amount of time with a high risk of not being paid. This is why commissioned sales people typically make more than salaried employees. The brokerages also cannot afford the massive overhead that would be associated with salaried Realtors with spotty revenue generation.
Also, the vast majority of consumers are simply not willing to take on the on the risk of having to pay even if a transaction does not close even if it would save them money. Would you pay your Realtor $2k for their time regardless of outcome or would you rather them earn say $6k or whatever their 2.5%-3% happens to be from only a closed transaction?
In this market, deals fall apart all the time and there is substantial time invested. You’d be paying for that Realtor’s time on each and every deal, not too mention all of the time even prior to finding those properties. However, if the Realtor is only paid if a transaction closes, you get pretty much unlimited time and the Realtor is the one taking the risk of the failed transaction.
The other thing is that closed transactions pay for the failed transactions. The cost structure and time wasted remains even if a deal does not close, therefore, the deals that close must recoup the losses from the failed transactions.
I am not arguing that all Realtors earn their commissions or that there isn’t any fat. However, I think too many folks think Realtors are over paid without really understanding the market dynamics associated. In many ways, Realtors operate similar to an attorney on contingency reaping their 30%. They take the risk of bringing the case to court for a class action lawsuit with no guarantee of being paid. Therefore, when they win, they want a big chunk. If the people in the lawsuit were willing to pay the attorneys upfront along with their costs, I am sure they would make do on much less than 30% of winnings.
what a joke… Ze don’t like attorneys either, but at least he respects they can do something that took a lot of time to learn as well as they can do things that Ze can’t do. The comparison is a joke. Any fucktard can post a listing.
…as well. Everyone that starts their own business enters into a very high risk endeavor, with not just the chance of not getting paid, but of actually taking significant losses. Realtors are, for the most part, parasites.
Ze, you are free to not use one on your RE transactions. Nothing is stopping FSBOs and non-assisted buyers from going it alone. However, the results usually speak for themselves and there is a reason most wind up eventually using an agent. There are plenty of alternative RE models to choose from that can provide more value than a traditional agent in many cases. It is up to consumers to do their due diligence in finding them.
The one thing I will say is that most reasonably successful people don’t have the time to do it right on their own. Time is money. Nearly everytime I have worked with buyers/sellers not using an agent it winds up being a disaster of a transaction. They simply don’t know WTF they are doing and it winds up frustrating all the other involved parties – title, attorneys, bankers, appraisers, etc.
Russ,
I went the FSBO route before. Biggest issue was the garbage broker that didn’t show my offer to her client. Then I bump into him on the street, ask him why no response, and we shook hands right there. Well guess who shows up with a lawyer demanding their legally entitled piece.. guess?? Total piece of trash!
Funniest thing is one of my buddies puts up over 200 mil a year in sales, and is the first person to laugh and agree when I call him a whore.
So today Ze is walking down the street noticing a whole bunch of new boutique shops renovating for openings. Thinking to myself just how much this place is suddenly beginning to look like Oak Street.
Come to think of it. Ze sold his last apartment here using his doorman. My wife mentioned to him we were selling, he told someone else in the building. Place was sold the next day. Flipped him a few hundred as a thank you. Not even certain if he was literate.
So who were the original buyers in this project? Rich ‘rents who wanted to provide their precious offspring with a “modern” and “safe” environment while attending DePaul? Then after graduation they would keep it as a rental/cash cow?
“I went the FSBO route before. Biggest issue was the garbage broker that didn’t show my offer to her client.”
A bit confusing. You were selling I take it. So when you say your “offer” you are referring to your counteroffer? When you didn’t get a response from the buyer’s agent what did you do? What did the buyer’s agent tell you?
Sorry Gary. “offer” to me, always means sale side. “bid” to me, always means buy side. THis was quite some time ago on something not very important to me so I really do not remember the details. I just remember that the offer was not presented. I remember my recourse was to complain to the deaf ears of NAR while theirs was to make certain my transaction could not occur. This despite what should be a fiduciary violation, that should have kept that broker from being entitled to anything, in my opinion. In fairsness my friend is an excellent broker and driving around with him was always fun. He knew the value of everything. None of that “hey Ze, isn’t it a pretty day to go looking for houses”, BS. Funny thing is less than 2 weeks ago I decided I was done with my farm. Sold in 1 day. Tomorrow the home will be empty. I knew who wanted it. Made a call…showed them an offer below their bid, with a time contingency. All done!
ze:
tell me about the farm, via email if you prefer.
Anon,
So for CC purposes, do I start where Ze is now financing one of the Mafia heads in Rio, for the next few years?
Maybe the part about walking into a bank with 2 off duty police officers, with very nice Taurus pistols in their pockets, carrying knapsacks full of cash in denominations down to R$5’s.
For the most part, Ze ain’t good at handling personnel problems, particularly when said personnel can’t tell you what 6*25 is, have never read a book, have children that are 5 years old that do not know what 5 is, but have been playing with machetes since the age of 2. Typical kids, just like those of my HYP friends. Then throw in the head of the mafia guy, who befriended me for unknowingly doing him a favor 2 years ago, telling me that my security would be nearly impossible to maintain over the long term…. well Ze has lots of Rule #1’s. But number 1 of all, is avoid catastrophic risk. Showed him an offer below market, and that was all. Always is. No such thing as a house that can’t sell. Give me the damn thing with price discretion and I’ll get it done in a blink. You just may not like the number. 🙂
“So for CC purposes, do I start where Ze is now financing one of the Mafia heads in Rio, for the next few years?”
You’re like a bad Brasilian telenovela.
anon,
interesting that you would mention the novelas. Let me give you one more interesting link between the 2 topics. Roberto Marinho-who built Globo-which may be one of the most well integrated company I have ever seen. Well his 3 story penthouse apartment in Copacabana, was purchased, after his passing, by the #1 mafia guy in Rio, who re did it with all bullet proof glass, finances the #1 samba school, Beija Flor, and whose wife is the schools queen, as well as my wifes best childhood friend…. By the way they really are not criminals, in their perspective, since their activities are protected by the senate, who gets a piece of the activity in their ‘jogo do bichos’ lottery.
And an FYI.. Never mock the novelas to a real Brasilian, they are sacred here.
“And an FYI.. Never mock the novelas to a real Brasilian, they are sacred here.”
I wasn’t mocking it; I was (obliquely) suggesting we work together on a treatment. With the dreck the majors produce, we could probably sell it as a trilogy.
And then the planned re-boot wherein we replace the primary actors and re-tell the stories with slightly different bad guys. We can roll in variations on your (privately discussed) American adventures, too.
“And then the planned re-boot wherein we replace the primary actors and re-tell the stories with slightly different bad guys.”
This one plays my wife. http://globosite.in/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Deborah-Secco-5.jpg
she looks confident with balls
“she looks confident with balls”
hmmm.. I will now assume anything placed between the greater than/less than symbol, gets deleted.. will try again..
“applause”
relisted yesterday, still as a short sale, but with ask price of 420k. here’s to hoping the greedy bankers get burned.