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Author: Robert Worthington (page 2 of 2)

Realtor, Guerilla Technologist

February 10, 2010

Real Estate Broker Sued for secondhand smoke

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Realtor, Guerilla Technologist

Author website

Alyssa Burrage was smoked out of her $405,000 condominium.

Burrage has a history of asthma and has smelled smoke since she first viewed the unit on the south end of Boston in 2006 with her real estate broker.  The broker assured Burrage the smoke she smelled was from a previous owner and the stench would disappear.

After Burrage moved in she discovered the smoke was coming from a smoker in the unit below her’s.  The condo association refused to fix the problem as did the lower unit where the secondhand smoke was coming from.  Burrage moved out and leased the condo in May of 2008.  She states, “I’m certainly not a person who’s on a soapbox saying people shouldn’t smoke.  But when it affects somebody else, that’s where the line needs to be drawn. It’s an awful thing to not be able to escape from something that’s hurting your health.’’

Neither the real estate broker, Joseph DeAngelo, nor his lawyer would comment on the case. In a joint court filing summarizing the case, DeAngelo and his employer, Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty, deny that Burrage questioned him about smoke in the condo.

“DeAngelo never made any misrepresentations, or any representations at all, concerning the source of the alleged smoke smell,’’ the broker’s lawyer, Jay S. Gregory of Boston, said in the filing.

Burrage also sued the condo unit below her, and later settled out of court, because the lower unit condo owner stated that it was cheaper just to settle out of court.

Should Brokers be REQUIRED to disclose ACCURATE information about smoking to prospective buyers?

December 19, 2009

Are email drips equal in ROI to snail mail drips?

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Realtor, Guerilla Technologist

Author website

When I established Worthington Realty about 1.5 years ago,  I wanted to always be experimenting with what I could do to convert leads to closed sales.  So I set out to have the best email drip campaigns as well as the best snail mail campaigns.  I have had much more success from a snail mail campaign than I have had from an email drip campaign.  I often question myself…what I am doing right and what I am doing wrong!?!

The snail mail has a thick stock cotton style envelope.  Inside is a high definition business card, high definition tri-fold resume & a typed letter about me on one side & how I can help on the other side.  I feel the presentation even though I’m not in person and doing this by snail mail is so powerful that customers call; about 2 out of 100 mailers to be exact.  Generally speaking, I usually list and sell the property.  I ask myself the question, what if I implemented a follow up snail mail campaign after the initial mailing?  I will report back with my results in a future post.  Can I close more snail mail sales as opposed to just one mailer, why not 3 or 4 snail mailers, especially on quality listings?

The email drips seem to have less response than a snail mail campaign.  Surely I have closed leads off of my website and then referred from those sales.  BUT, my conversion rate is far less than 2% like the snail mail.

My take is simply this.  Email drips do work, but are easily forgettable to consumers.  Snail mails are more expensive but since the consumers are physically touching quality materials, they are not easily forgettable as apposed to emails.  Your thoughts?  So much for my quest to go paperless…

October 28, 2009

Please do NOT extend the $8,000 tax credit

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Realtor, Guerilla Technologist

Author website

If you are on the far left, there is no need to read any further, for what I am going to say, is from a capitalist “conservative” mindset (which only means to left wingers that…I must be a hate monger for not wanting to extend the first time home buyer tax credit to those poor innocent people who can’t afford a home in the first place).

To extend the tax credit is simply going to increase the national debt load beyond what taxpayers can already afford to pay, yet weakening the economy even deeper.  Simply put I’m sick and tired of Realtor’s wanting the extension of the tax credit because it only benefits a few parties to a transaction instead of bettering the country.  We need to look at the big picture.  The fact is the tax credit must end at some point in time; that is a fact!  Realtors need to put their own personal interest aside and do what is best for this country, not themselves!  Extending the FREE money tax credit will only increase the pain of debt until the US dollar is worthless.  So the FACT is…Americans must be willing the do the tough thing!

What is the tough thing you might ask? well, for me,  I have refused to work with buyers looking for the tax credit!!! YES, you heard me correctly.  I know that if I am against the tax credit, then I must ACT as I believe.  I BELIEVE the government should not be handing out any of my money “tax payer money” to try and stimulate an economy that is FALSELY INFLATED in the first place.

How about this for a thought.  How about Americans need to live their WAGE so no tax credit is needed!  Here is my thought for the day.  WHAT IF, your home cost 125k instead of 300k?  what if you drove cars 10 years old with no car payments?  Could YOUR WIFE be a stay at home mother for her CHILDREN if this were the case?  Would the 10% unemployment rate drop to near zero if Americans lived their wage so Read more

September 29, 2009

World Health Organization lowers the safe breathing radon gas level: further complicating Real Estate transactions

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Realtor, Guerilla Technologist

Author website

New standards released by the World Health Organization (WHO) on September 23, 2009 have taken a huge stance on the odorless cancer causing, radon gas.  The World Health Organization has taken the already safe4.0 pCi/L and reduced the safe breathing gas level down to 2.7 pCi/!  Who cares, right?  Well, I care especially living the Midwest where we have basements.  Basements are a wonderful source for radon gas leaking into the home through cracks in the basement floor.

You’re writing an offer to purchase with a customer and it’s determined for the safety of the family you’ll go ahead with a radon gas test.  Typically radon gas tests start out at $125 up till about $175 in the Wisconsin market.  The home inspector you’ve hired happens to also tests for radon gas so he kills two birds with one stone.  The home inspector hands over his findings; the report states the average level of radon gas in the basement is 3.2pCi/L.  Perfect were all set to go!  Actually we are not.  The buying side of the transaction states the NEW industry standard is now 2.7pCi/L according to the World Health Organization!  The Selling side states, the World Health Organization does not over-ride the Environmental Protection Agency’s safe operating level of 4.0pCi/L.

The Realtor now has a problem that needs to solved between buyer and seller in order to get a commission.  Who is correct is this matter; buyer or seller?  Remember…RADON kills…right?

The National Association of REALTORS has advised the EPA standard is still operative or law. The World Health Organization’s suggested standard has no legal or regulatory status as a binding authority.

READERS!  IT’S IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND —> As industry professionals we need to draft accurate contracts without complicating our transactions.  Simple and Effective are the two words that immediately come to mind.  Remember to specify in your contracts what level of radon is acceptable before mitigation is required.   Just because we know the EPA standards legally apply, does not mean the buyer uses the EPA standard even though its law.

Below I plagiarized a statistical graph from the EPA.gov website.

EPA estimates
that radon
causes
thousands
of cancer
deaths in
the Read more
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