0:00

How you doin

0:01

Oh, it's a good day.

0:01

Are you a Friends fan?

0:03

A what?

0:03

Friends.

0:04

Like the show? Yes. Oh.

0:06

Um, that's why you didn't get that. How you doin

0:08

Is

0:09

Is that a friends thing?

0:10

Yeah. Joey Tribbiani. Come on.

0:12

I watched a couple episodes, stopped forever.

0:14

forever. No,

0:16

No, but I've always wanted to start it.

0:18

start it. Is

0:21

is it? That's how it is for a lot of shows.

0:34

Welcome to another episode of the Realty

0:36

Chicago podcast I'm, jamie,

0:40

and we are here to share with you the most

0:42

interesting stories we can find in Chicago

0:44

real estate. And if you like

0:46

what you hear, please don't forget to like, and

0:49

subscribe, tell all your friends and family

0:51

and even submit a question. A story,

0:54

if you want, even. Yes,

0:55

please. We

0:56

can do it.

0:56

all of the things. You can do it anonymously.

0:59

Yep. Meaning we won't tell who you are.

1:01

have a google form that they can fill

1:03

out and just stay anonymous. We don't even have to know

1:05

who they are. Nice. Yeah.

1:06

So we really will be anonymous. Yep. That'll be exciting.

1:09

I'm

1:09

I'm very excited about this.

1:11

I know. Please fill out some

1:13

stories, like we gotta find. All

1:16

right, so I thought

1:19

today we could talk about the

1:21

fact that Chicago has the world's only

1:24

backwards flowing river.

1:25

When you say backwards, like against gravity?

1:28

Wait, you really didn't know this? I thought this

1:30

was common knowledge in Chicago.

1:32

No, I didn't know

1:33

They reversed the flow of the river.

1:35

No, reverse it. No, they did. In

1:38

1900.

1:39

Oh. And then they never turned it back?

1:41

No.

1:41

No,

1:42

no, I just thought that there was a thing they can do I could Flip

1:44

it when they need the green dye to go one way

1:46

and then turn it back the other way when it's Not

1:48

st. Patrick's day.

1:49

the river was so polluted

1:51

from waste

1:53

and Nasty things then

1:56

it was flowing directly into Lake Michigan,

1:59

which was obviously polluting our drinking water

2:02

so they spent eight years

2:04

on January 1st they reversed

2:07

the flow of the river

2:09

so that all the polluted water would actually

2:11

flow to the Mississippi.

2:13

Nice. I had no idea. I

2:15

did. I didn't know this was a fact. Yes.

2:17

Yes.

2:17

So, note to self, do not go swimming

2:20

in the Mississippi. It is full

2:21

Don't go swimming in the Chicago River.

2:23

I

2:24

do that either. I don't know.

2:25

No, no, no, no, no. I

2:26

even touch that water.

2:28

No, you shouldn't. Anyone who's kayaking

2:30

in the river, like, you're fucking

2:32

Yeah, it's gross. I've never been on the Chicago River and I never will.

2:34

No.

2:35

No.

2:35

Absolutely not. If you get,

2:38

I think it's, if you are submerged

2:40

more than half of your body in the river,

2:42

you are supposed to go to the hospital

2:45

to be checked for waterborne illnesses.

2:47

That's

2:47

Like, Don't fuck around in the river.

2:49

That's nasty. The lake's one thing. The lake is much

2:51

much

2:51

cleaner. Well yeah, the lake's fine, but the river, that's

2:54

the river. That's nasty. Nasty.

2:55

I just never wanted to go in it because I just figured it was full

2:57

of poop and probably dead bodies and

2:59

it's gross Do we know how deep the chicago

3:01

river is

3:02

I have no idea.

3:03

All right. Well,

3:04

Well, the project was named one

3:06

of the seven wonders of engineering

3:09

by the American society of civil

3:11

engineers in 1995.

3:13

Depth of Chicago river at

3:16

its deepest point. The Chicago river is 21

3:18

feet deep.

3:18

Oh, that's not that deep. I

3:20

mean, I think it's deep for a river.

3:23

No, that is shallow

3:24

for

3:25

Um, the Mississippi river averages

3:28

30 feet. Below Cairo, where the

3:30

Ohio River joins, the depth averages

3:32

50 to 100 feet deep. The

3:35

deepest part of the river is in New Orleans,

3:37

where it reaches 200 feet deep. So,

3:41

I think 21 feet's a little shallow.

3:43

okay. Yeah, you're right. I was going to basing

3:45

my knowledge off of the Rio Grande in New Mexico,

3:47

which is. Extremely shallow. Anyways.

3:53

day. Yeah. All

3:55

right, do you have your two truths and a lie ready for us?

3:57

Hmm? Well

4:05

then.

4:05

I have mine.

4:06

Okay, well, we're going to let you go first.

4:10

And I will come up with mine as

4:12

we go.

4:13

Okay.

4:13

we can, I can. We can do it. We can just riff.

4:16

It's fine. You don't need to do a whole.

4:18

we can do it later and I'll, you know, I'll

4:20

think about it as we go along.

4:21

Okay, great. So,

4:24

mine are, I've

4:26

walked in on a live stream

4:28

of the building's lobby in someone's unit.

4:32

I've taken a potential

4:34

client to their dentist appointment.

4:37

Or, I've had to break

4:39

into a listing through an open

4:41

window.

4:42

I am going to say that that one is

4:44

true. The window I

4:46

can see you shimmying through a window. and

4:49

I kind of just want

4:51

the first one to be true because I want

4:53

to hear all about how the police

4:55

came in and apprehended this man afterwards

4:58

or woman. So I'm going to go ahead and say the lie

5:00

is the dentist.

5:02

Okay.

5:03

Are you going to tell? I mean,

5:05

I mean, of course I'm going to tell.

5:08

Well, I didn't know if you were going to wait and tell

5:10

us on the next episode or tell us today. Oh,

5:12

no.

5:13

It must have been too long ago that we recorded

5:15

our last episode because I

5:18

revealed these in the last episode.

5:19

geez. Did you?

5:20

And you had the same guesses, I'm

5:23

know what? I'm nothing but consistent.

5:25

Okay. So story number one,

5:28

um, I did a

5:30

listing presentation with a

5:33

previous teammate, which means

5:35

we go and we present ourselves and our

5:37

marketing, et cetera, et cetera. And

5:39

with that comes a tour of their

5:41

unit. So this woman,

5:44

had been there. I think she was an original owner of

5:46

this 1970s building. She

5:49

had been the board president for like 20 years.

5:51

She no longer was and she was

5:53

moving because she was elderly and

5:55

just It was her time to go find,

5:57

you know, different care. So,

6:00

we go through the whole process, and

6:02

then she takes us to her unit, and

6:04

we look around, and it's

6:07

a unit of someone who has lived there for

6:09

almost 50 years. Like,

6:11

packed full in

6:14

a hoarder type of sense. Which

6:17

I guess is not uncommon. and

6:19

we're going through each room and there's stuff everywhere

6:21

and blah, blah, blah. We get to our office

6:24

and there's a desk, there's

6:26

notepads all over the desk

6:28

and a TV. Like

6:31

a old school TV

6:33

so huge like a box frame.

6:35

It's got the big butt in the back. That's sticking

6:38

out It's like taped together. I can tell

6:40

this thing's really old.

6:41

it have rabbit ears too?

6:42

don't remember. But on

6:44

the TV is a live stream

6:47

of the building's lobby.

6:49

Um, why?

6:50

was

6:53

Did you ask?

6:54

No, it was a very uncomfortable

6:57

situation.

6:59

Let me ask this question. How many units

7:01

were in the building?

7:01

Um, a lot. Like

7:04

it was a, it's not a high rise,

7:06

it was a mid rise, maybe 15

7:08

to 20 stories? Maybe

7:10

not that many.

7:11

So I mean, my brain is just

7:13

Yeah.

7:14

of things right now. So does she have her

7:16

own hidden camera or is this like

7:19

she tapped into the building security

7:21

feed?

7:21

My assumption is because she was

7:23

the building president at some point,

7:25

the association president, she had tapped

7:28

into the feed

7:30

that was the security cameras of the lobby,

7:32

which I also forgot to mention when we arrived

7:35

and the front door man called up, we

7:38

overheard him being like. Yeah,

7:40

it's two women. They're here

7:42

sitting down in the lobby, which

7:44

makes me think she was like, Oh, is it two ladies?

7:47

Like she's sitting there watch. She sat there

7:49

and watched us walk in.

7:50

Hmm.

7:51

And we left and we

7:53

were just like, What the fuck?

7:55

And That's, that's

7:58

I wonder, I'm thinking of a perfectly

8:00

good explanation here.

8:03

Trying to give her the benefit of the

8:04

giving her the benefit of the doubt. I

8:06

wonder if every unit has the ability

8:08

to see that camera.

8:09

Lord, let's hope so. Like,

8:11

I don't know, I'm

8:12

like It's like cable TV and you

8:14

every unit you

8:14

go to like

8:15

channel zero and it's that one

8:17

camera. That's my thought and

8:19

also my hope.

8:21

Same.

8:22

also I kind of hope it's not

8:25

just to make it even more fun.

8:28

happened. Nothing happened.

8:30

That was it. We were just, like, shocked.

8:32

We didn't really know what to do. I

8:35

didn't know what to do. The other

8:37

person didn't know what to do. We were

8:39

like, do we say anything? Do we do

8:41

anything? And

8:44

then That was it.

8:46

Did you sell the unit?

8:49

I ended

8:50

going with a different agent,

8:52

I'm assuming.

8:54

So it did sell?

8:55

I actually don't know. I never went back and checked.

8:58

That's one where you're just like, maybe I don't

9:00

want my hands in this one. of curiosity,

9:03

is it ethical? for

9:05

you to look up the listing, see who

9:07

sold it and give them a call and just say, Hey, I have a question.

9:10

Oh! Like, I mean, I know you

9:12

can

9:12

that, But I would just be

9:14

curious. Yeah. I have no

9:16

idea. I mean, yeah, I guess I

9:18

would have to go back and even look what

9:20

building it was.

9:21

Kind of like, you know how on one of our previous

9:23

episodes I gave, I used you some homework.

9:25

Oh yeah.

9:26

To check on the guy whose unit she cleaned.

9:29

Gotta call her. Yeah.

9:32

Hey, remember me? I cleaned your

9:34

unit. you need to sell?

9:35

need any

9:36

unit? Exactly. Okay, so that was one

9:38

of the

9:39

The

9:42

other one is, got

9:46

a lead from an online

9:48

source and went

9:50

to meet her and from

9:53

the jump, it was bizarre.

9:55

she was coming from the suburbs, her,

9:58

brother or one of her family members was

10:00

living in the unit with

10:02

her furniture she's,

10:06

I'm in the lobby. I'm like, Hey,

10:08

I'm here. Let me know when

10:10

you arrive. And she's like, Oh, I'm just going to be

10:12

like 10 to 15 minutes late.

10:14

I had an emergency with my dog. And I'm

10:16

like, Oh no, I hope your dog's okay. And

10:19

Turns out her dog, like, was

10:22

outside and she couldn't find it.

10:24

Anyways, that was bizarre.

10:26

Then she shows up, we go to the unit. She's

10:29

She was an over sharer, to put it

10:31

nicely. Um, I

10:33

learned so much about

10:36

this woman.

10:37

Did

10:37

you know? I

10:39

learned so much about this woman in like

10:41

45 minutes. I think I barely

10:44

even talked about real estate. As

10:46

I learned about her boyfriend.

10:49

How I think they recently broke up. Her

10:51

brother who was living in the unit. I

10:53

mean, the list goes on and on. She was looking,

10:56

she was trying to find a new job. And

10:59

then in the midst of all of this, she was like,

11:01

the reason I wanted to do this appointment

11:04

today was because I have a dentist appointment

11:07

after this in the loop. And I'm like,

11:09

oh, okay. And she's like, I don't

11:11

remember what time it was or I don't

11:13

remember exactly the location.

11:16

Do you mind if I just look it up? And I'm like, no,

11:18

I don't mind. Do what you gotta do. So

11:21

she's on her phone. She's checking her email.

11:23

She's like, I can't find it. I know I got a confirmation.

11:26

I can't find it anywhere. And

11:29

she's like, I don't remember the name of my dentist.

11:32

And I'm like, okay. She's

11:35

like, I know exactly what building it was in.

11:37

I know the address, but I don't remember the

11:39

name. So I pull

11:41

out my phone and I start googling

11:44

and I google the address. There's like 10

11:46

dentist offices in this one building

11:48

in the loop. I'm like, does this sound right?

11:51

Does this sound right? And then she's calling each

11:53

individual dentist. here

11:56

Yes.

11:57

Oh,

11:58

And the poor thing She's

12:01

calling. After a few, she just starts

12:03

bawling. She's like, I don't know who

12:05

it is. I can't find the information

12:07

and I'm like, don't worry. We're gonna figure

12:09

this out And I don't think

12:12

we figured it out, but for some

12:14

reason she was talking about how

12:16

she got a great parking space. Oh, she was

12:18

gonna walk. She was just gonna walk to the dentist

12:20

because it was close enough, but it was like

12:22

a terrible day outside. It was windy

12:24

and cold and I'm

12:27

pretty sure I offered the ride. I don't think

12:29

she asked because I wanted the listing.

12:32

It's like, how would I give you a ride? So I gave

12:34

her a ride to the dentist.

12:36

but goes above and beyond for her clients. I

12:38

do.

12:39

Did she become a client?

12:41

She did not. We're still in touch. Um,

12:44

but she sell? Yeah,

12:46

she didn't sell. She ended up moving back into the unit herself.

12:49

And the best part was, I

12:52

don't know if it's the best part or the saddest part. She

12:54

texted me later. And she

12:56

was like, So it turns out my dentist appointment

12:59

was not today. It's some

13:01

other day. Wow. You

13:04

Well, You know, You

13:07

gained a client for life.

13:08

I think I did. I think when she's ready,

13:11

she will call me.

13:13

Absolutely for a ride to the

13:15

to the dentist. Yeah, you know

13:17

what? Listen, people Sometimes people just

13:19

need someone to be there and

13:22

be empathetic, and I am very

13:25

Oh

13:25

it's one of my weaknesses.

13:26

it's a

13:27

I don't actually think it's a weakness, but I,

13:30

I lack Oh

13:32

Empathy In

13:34

many situations.

13:36

Do you have an example?

13:38

Not one, that Doesn't

13:41

make me look like a complete asshole?

13:43

Well, that's kind of what I was hoping for.

13:46

I was hoping to just call you out.

13:49

because I mean, in

13:51

that situation, I would just, I

13:54

would offer to take her, but

13:56

I wouldn't move until she found the confirmation. Like,

13:59

sorry. No.

14:01

See, so if she was like, I'm just gonna walk,

14:04

I'm just gonna go and find

14:06

Have a nice day. Call me later.

14:07

Even though you don't have to wait for her,

14:09

like she's going anyway, it's on your

14:12

way

14:12

no, I mean, if she wanted a ride to that

14:14

building, I would offer a ride to the

14:16

That's exactly what I did. That's fine. And I gave

14:18

her a ride to the building.

14:19

Okay.

14:20

Yeah, I didn't stay there or walk her

14:22

up or like try and help her find

14:24

the dentist.

14:26

You kind of helped her try to find the dentist. I

14:27

did, I made calls for her on her

14:29

behalf.

14:30

You're an adult.

14:32

Yeah. Also, she's crying

14:35

and needing help. I just wanted to help.

14:38

Tears don't do it for me.

14:40

Yeah, you're a cold hearted

14:43

bitch.

14:46

Well, like we're, we're, we're

14:48

grownups here. Let's let's not cry. Let's figure out a solution.

14:51

Let's let's work. Let's work

14:53

I tried to find the solution. And she cried.

14:55

And she cried. Poor thing. Poor

14:57

Poor thing. That's okay. Again, client for life. You

15:00

go above and beyond. hmm.

15:04

I am. I think I'm ready.

15:06

Oh, hell yeah.

15:08

my two truths and a lie.

15:11

Let's hear them.

15:12

In no particular order.

15:14

Okay.

15:15

Um, these are all potential

15:18

actual people. Well,

15:20

I just wanted to throw that out

15:21

there.

15:22

have had someone show

15:24

up to a closing with cash.

15:27

I have had someone

15:29

want to bring me jewelry

15:32

and antiques and

15:35

gold and silver to show me that

15:37

they had sufficient funds? to close.

15:40

Yes. And

15:43

I had one woman that

15:46

put on her application

15:49

that her down payment was coming from the

15:51

Lord.

15:51

Oh my god. Okay, this is a difficult

15:53

one. Her down payment's coming from the Lord.

15:56

That's like a little DeLulu. These are all

15:58

DeLulu people. I kind of believe

16:00

that someone tried to Okay, hold

16:02

on. What was the second one again?

16:03

The second one was someone tried

16:05

to bring me gold,

16:08

silver, and antiques. To

16:10

show that they had funds.

16:11

as a down payment.

16:13

Correct.

16:13

I cannot believe that's true. Fucking wild.

16:16

And then the first one again,

16:17

That I had someone show up to a closing.

16:19

With cash. I don't believe that one,

16:22

because you're too good of a lender

16:24

to let someone do that.

16:25

First of all, thank you. Um, But

16:27

as we have heard, I do

16:29

tell people what to do and what

16:31

not to do, and sometimes they still do

16:33

it. But in this situation, you are correct.

16:38

I, thankfully, knock on wood, I have

16:41

yet to have someone try

16:43

to show up to a closing with cash. I've

16:46

had many people ask, especially

16:48

if the cash to close isn't being paid. You know

16:51

five plus figures

16:53

Yeah.

16:53

but no one's done it thankfully but

17:00

So when I first started there

17:02

was a woman that Wanted

17:04

to bring me gold

17:06

silver antiques because

17:09

on her application I She

17:11

stated, you know, X number

17:13

of thousands of dollars, but didn't

17:15

input where they're coming from.

17:18

Didn't say checking, savings,

17:21

retirement. Was she

17:22

planning on selling them?

17:24

No.

17:24

So she wanted to give these to the seller?

17:27

Awww. Like this, this was her down payment. She

17:29

didn't know who she was going to give it to, but she, here's my

17:31

down payment. And it should be worth

17:34

X number of dollars and I had to,

17:36

break her heart.

17:38

I did. Um, I tried

17:40

to use empathy.

17:43

I

17:45

I I was very nice. I wasn't mean.

17:47

But I said, well, you're going to

17:49

have to liquidate these.

17:51

Yes. That's a fair response.

17:53

See? And she said,

17:56

why? Yep. And I said, well, because

17:59

all of your money has to be in liquid

18:02

money to be able to use it for your purchase.

18:04

Did she ask how to make money

18:06

liquid because it's solid?

18:09

she did not.

18:10

Darn.

18:12

So I told her, you know, once you've

18:14

sold everything and have,

18:17

Proof that you've sold it. Show

18:19

me where the money came from. Don't just show

18:22

up with 50, 000 in cash.

18:25

Cause, I mean, I don't know

18:29

where the gold and silver

18:31

and antiques came from. They, you know.

18:33

So, I'm like, I just need to show where they came from. And

18:36

we can use the funds. Nothing ever came of that.

18:38

Um, yeah.

18:40

I'm sure she held on to her. Paraphernalia

18:43

Well, I guess it's maybe one thing in her mind

18:45

to like trade it for a house and

18:48

another thing to actually like

18:50

put it online and sell it. You

18:52

know, like that's a very different interaction.

18:55

You don't necessarily have to take that stuff, you know to

18:57

sell it online I get it some people can't She

18:59

was older So I get it. Some people aren't

19:02

very computer savvy and want to do it online Take

19:05

to a pawn shop. You

19:06

can take it to there's plenty of places,

19:08

dealers or Purchasers.

19:10

But what I'm saying is like the trade for cash

19:14

Is it like different than

19:16

a trade for something else valuable, which

19:19

obviously cash is valuable But I could

19:21

see in her mind being like, oh i'm

19:23

trading this for a house

19:26

Versus oh i'm going to sell

19:28

my family's valuables

19:30

to then gain a house

19:32

like

19:32

that difference You Being

19:35

a little bit more difficult

19:37

I get it. But we're also assuming

19:39

these are family heirlooms, Jamie Book. I Well,

19:42

I mean, don't, don't assume. I

19:45

assume the benefit of the doubt with your lady that had

19:47

the closed circuit TV camera of the lobby

19:49

and everybody had it. This

19:52

is why we source funds, Jamie Book. We have

19:54

no idea where they came from.

19:56

You think she's Stealing

19:58

Stealing them, maybe she murdered

20:00

somebody, I don't know.

20:01

Okay, but here's my question. Does

20:04

it matter if she stole it?

20:06

Like, do you have to have

20:08

proof of where the artifact

20:11

came from? Or do you just

20:13

need proof that she sold it and here's your

20:15

certificate or bill of sale?

20:17

That's actually a very good question. Now

20:20

that I think about it, I don't think so.

20:25

so. I no

20:25

idea. You know what we would probably I mean

20:30

To the letter of the law, I suppose then

20:32

I would need proof

20:34

of acquisition Like a paper

20:37

trail of everything because what we look at

20:40

Here's your real estate wisdom for the day We're

20:43

gonna look at a two month history of

20:45

your bank statements So

20:47

if in one of her last two

20:49

months of statements, I see You A 50, 000

20:52

deposit from Pawn

20:55

Stars. I'm going to say,

20:58

okay, where

20:59

Sounds a lot like something else You

21:04

clearly have never seen the show. Uh

21:09

huh.

21:09

I've seen the Antique Road Show

21:12

That doesn't sound nearly as interesting

21:15

as Pawn Stars. it.

21:18

I'm

21:18

I'm just imagining someone scrolling

21:20

and reading wrong, and then being like,

21:22

What the fuck is this?

21:24

Yep.

21:24

Make

21:27

that when we transcribe this, the spelling is correct.

21:29

correct. Yeah,

21:31

But yeah, if I

21:32

see that

21:32

deposit, I'm going to say, okay, well, where did this

21:34

come from? Because it's a large deposit.

21:37

Greater than her monthly

21:39

Okay, Okay, But say I

21:41

steal a car three months

21:43

ago and

21:46

then I sell it

21:48

for 20, 000

21:51

and I have a bill of sale. Are

21:53

you going to ask me where I acquired

21:55

this car or are you just going to say, oh, you

21:57

got a car here and

22:00

just give me the bill of sale, show us where you got this funds

22:03

and move on with your life?

22:04

So let me ask this question. You stole the

22:06

car three months ago.

22:08

Maybe it doesn't matter when I stole the car, but

22:11

Actually, it does. Okay, because

22:13

if you stole the car three

22:14

ago,

22:14

ago Sold it deposited

22:16

the money I

22:19

look at bank statements for the last two

22:21

months There's

22:24

the loophole. Oh,

22:27

God. Don't nobody come after

22:29

us saying we said it was okay to steal

22:31

a car for your

22:32

Exactly But if

22:35

it was within the last two months,

22:38

I would probably ask for,

22:41

well, the bill of sale. I'm going to ask for the bill of sale

22:43

because I'm going to make sure that it matches up with the deposit.

22:46

And, I mean, if it's not your name on

22:48

the bill of sale, that's

22:50

a problem.

22:52

well, obviously I would fake the bill of sale and it would be

22:54

my name on it. That's

22:55

No, that's fine. You're the one committing fraud, not me.

22:57

not me. Okay. I got needed.

23:00

Perfect. Alright. I got my question

23:02

answered.

23:05

This is the real tea how to commit

23:07

fraud Oh my god, don't say that.

23:09

We do not condone this.

23:11

And then my other

23:13

Oh yeah, I forgot. I was so excited about this

23:15

story. Really?

23:16

See, I would have thought that

23:17

the other one would have

23:18

been more exciting,

23:19

They're both quite exciting, if I'm being honest.

23:23

This woman I actually met in person.

23:25

Oooh.

23:26

I think this was also 2018 2019.

23:29

Yeah. she filled out an application.

23:32

And in the same section as, you know,

23:34

the other person with the gold, silver,

23:36

and antiques, there was down

23:39

payment and there was nothing. There was nothing there.

23:41

So, as I'm going through the application with her, I,

23:43

you know, Oh,

23:44

Oh, it's the same person? No, it's a different person. Oh.

23:46

I'm saying the same section.

23:47

Oh, got it.

23:48

Assets, but as I'm going through the application

23:50

on the phone with her or she'd be sitting sitting with

23:52

her. I'm like, okay You know, we have your your

23:54

your income information she wasn't working she was

23:57

Receiving government funds. I'm like, okay, you have

23:59

your income information We know,

24:02

you know a general idea of what you

24:04

can spend monthly on a

24:06

home Where what's your source

24:08

of funds and she just

24:10

looked at me and said the Lord

24:12

Oh, she said it in person. Yes. Oh.

24:15

and I said, okay,

24:18

And in my brain, I'm just, I'm, I'm trying,

24:21

I'm,

24:21

Trying to be empathetic. I'm trying my best.

24:23

And I just said, when

24:26

are those funds going to be deposited?

24:29

That's going to be, um, the name of this episode,

24:31

Terrence Tries Empathy.

24:35

And she said, you know, um, When

24:37

the time is right, he will provide. And I said, Amen.

24:40

Once

24:41

are you gonna liquefy that?

24:48

You're going to hell, not me. So I said,

24:51

Okay, um, When

24:53

those become available, just

24:55

let me know, but if you're

24:58

looking to purchase a house at X price,

25:00

He'll need to provide about this much. impressed

25:04

with

25:05

with your response. was Very

25:07

mature,

25:08

Yes. Mm hmm. So,

25:10

once the meeting concluded, she never

25:12

answered my calls again. No,

25:15

not once.

25:16

Hmm.

25:16

No idea why, I was very, very

25:18

nice.

25:19

The Lord did not provide.

25:20

provide. happened. I I'm really

25:23

kind of disappointed I think

25:25

about it. I would have liked

25:27

I would have liked to see that miracle. Maybe not

25:29

a miracle, but, that would be a great story too.

25:31

I mean, yeah. Maybe, you know

25:34

Being mature adult Terrence here. Maybe

25:36

she was going to get a gift

25:39

from the church.

25:40

Oh, yes.

25:41

Mm hmm. Amateur Terrence was

25:43

wondering if she just wanted money to just go right

25:45

on the table and pop up.

25:46

Well, I feel like when somebody says the Lord will

25:48

provide it doesn't just mean it pops

25:50

into your bank account. no, no.

25:52

lie, sometimes I think that.

25:54

I'm sorry. Dig deeper. Explain

25:56

Okay. Whenever, I

25:59

always, I always think back to a movie

26:01

that I watched a lot as a kid.

26:03

The Ten Commandments.

26:04

I've never seen it.

26:05

Comes on a lot on TV around Easter. Yeah. Yeah.

26:08

Okay.

26:08

coming up. Starring

26:09

is Easter this year?

26:10

Coming up. Yeah. I

26:12

want to say 60s. Anyway,

26:16

this is the story of, you know, Passover

26:19

and part in the Red Sea and all

26:21

that fun stuff. And I always

26:23

just think of miracles. Things

26:27

are just going popping up turning

26:29

water to wine

26:30

Right into the

26:32

Right into the bank account

26:34

if you woke up and there was

26:36

just a million dollars in your bank account? You

26:39

don't know where it came from,

26:41

you just, it was there.

26:42

Lord provided I'm

26:45

telling nobody

26:46

you just had, there was a note

26:48

on the transfer that said from the Lord.

26:51

know Until

26:54

you saw me riding down the street on a llama

26:56

or

26:56

on a llama That's what you would

26:58

do with a million dollars. You would just

27:01

trade your car in for a llama.

27:03

a llama. galloping,

27:06

did I gallop? Galloping down the street.

27:08

Yeah, he'd probably you

27:10

uh, Did you come into some money recently? I'll be like,

27:13

Yeah. No? Just wanted a

27:15

llama.

27:15

Could a llama even support you? Nope.

27:18

Not gonna lie, no idea. No? I

27:20

just, aren't they about the size of camels?

27:22

No!

27:25

Are they not? I thinking about the right animal?

27:28

so. Wait. And

27:30

and they spit? Yeah. Aren't

27:32

those llamas? Yes.

27:34

They're the size of camels. They are

27:37

not. They are

27:39

not. look look it

27:41

up.

27:42

this up here. 'cause I am, I'm

27:44

crying.

27:44

I'm

27:45

positive that

27:46

No.

27:47

a llama is as big as a

27:49

camel. A camel's

27:51

A camel's like bigger than a horse.

27:53

Yeah. This

27:53

This fella

27:55

Okay. Llama next

27:57

to camel. I

27:59

don't feel like that's an accurate representation. Yeah,

28:03

that is an accurate representation. That's

28:06

why I'm laughing so hard. I'm crying. I

28:10

feel that's,

28:12

a baby llama.

28:14

That's a llama.

28:15

Welp.

28:16

If anybody does photoshop, can you please photoshop

28:18

Terrence on a llama for it

28:21

you know what? I was almost

28:23

certain that the okay Point

28:26

is you'd never know That

28:28

I had a million dollars.

28:31

If Terrence ever says I'm buying a llama, we

28:33

know he's come into some money.

28:35

Won the lottery for

28:39

the Lord provided.

28:40

know that. Yeah, me

28:42

I really want to know what happened to that woman

28:43

alright.

28:44

I want to, Oh, I want to tell you about my, my

28:46

happenings. Um, don't get too

28:48

excited. This is another one of those, you

28:50

tell people not to do it.

28:52

And they do it.

28:53

they do it type stories This

28:56

one had a it had a happy ending. It's fine

28:58

Fortunately timing all worked out but on

29:00

the list of do not do's While

29:03

you're buying a house Unless you tell

29:05

your lender first just do not change

29:07

jobs

29:08

Oh yes, fair.

29:09

So Before closing we do a final

29:12

verification of employment where we call the employer

29:14

Hey, so and so still here is employment

29:16

going to continue

29:17

How soon do you call them?

29:18

That one is done within two weeks closing

29:21

Okay.

29:21

So and are they still here

29:23

is employment going to continue If they say no

29:26

It's a little bit of a problem

29:28

Understandably So,

29:29

Fortunately, we didn't get that

29:31

far We were about a day before we were going

29:33

to actually make the call. We got updated pay stubs.

29:36

One of the updated, updated pay stubs

29:38

looked a little bit

29:39

Hmm. Like,

29:41

very different, like from a different employer.

29:43

And so my, uh,

29:45

processor called me and said,

29:47

do you, uh, you know, you know about this?

29:50

I'm like, no, about what? She emailed me over a pay stub. I'm

29:52

like, that's, that's not where she works. so

29:54

I made a quick phone call. I paced

29:56

a little bit first, then I made a phone call. I said, hey,

29:58

um, thank you for sending over your most

30:01

recent pay stub.

30:01

What the fuck?

30:03

Why does it look different than the last pay stub?

30:05

Oh, um, I got a new job.

30:07

I said, congratulations. Terrence tries

30:10

empathy I have so many questions

30:12

for you. Um, When, why,

30:15

why, why, and

30:18

how are you paid? Because if how

30:20

you're paid changes, we may not

30:23

be buying a house right now. And,

30:25

and so she said, last week, I

30:27

forgot to tell you. I said, you know what, it's

30:29

okay. Okay. But I'm paid salary

30:32

and I'm making more money now. I'm like, the

30:35

Lord provides. So it

30:38

all, uh, it all worked

30:40

out just a couple of extra steps. Verification

30:43

of employment through a new employer.

30:45

And we closed.

30:46

Okay, so moral of the story

30:48

is you can change jobs as long

30:50

as you get paid the same and

30:53

more money.

30:54

Definitely more money. But. How you're paid

30:57

makes a difference. If you are

30:59

a salaried employee and

31:02

your pay structure changes to

31:04

a half salary, half

31:06

bonus commission.

31:07

Right.

31:08

No, because then I'm

31:10

using the salary cause I don't have a history

31:12

of the variable income.

31:15

Yep. Okay. There's your real estate wisdom.

31:17

Real

31:18

wisdom. Thankfully

31:20

in this situation it was salary

31:21

to salary. So, and just

31:23

so people are aware, in

31:25

order for bonuses to count, you have to have a two

31:28

year

31:28

history? Two years.

31:29

Okay.

31:30

Same thing with commission.

31:31

Yep.

31:31

The variable incomes is where we need two years.

31:34

Mm-Hmm. Say that again. For the people in the back.

31:36

I'm looking at you. Two years. Don't do

31:38

it. Don't leave your salary job to

31:41

start a business until after you

31:43

close. That's all I got. It's

31:45

my wisdom for the day.

31:46

It's beautiful.

31:47

Thank you.

31:49

talk about you. Yeah, what about

31:51

me?

31:52

do you got going on?

31:53

I'm working on a flip up in Rogers Park

31:55

right now.

31:56

How many beds and baths?

31:59

It's three bed, two baths,

32:02

it's huge. It's gotta

32:04

be over 1, 500 square feet, if not close to

32:06

2, 000. it has

32:08

this beautiful living room with curved

32:10

windows. It was built in the

32:12

1920s by a woman architect.

32:15

We bought it on auction, which is a

32:17

first for me.

32:18

Nice.

32:19

But we bought it with all of the,

32:21

um, basically personal belongings inside

32:24

as well.

32:24

So, Any treasures

32:27

in there?

32:28

definitely a lot of vintage finds.

32:30

So, this person had been in

32:32

there since, I think,

32:35

the 70s? If

32:37

I'm,

32:38

Ooh.

32:39

wait, maybe that's not true. But,

32:41

um, basically, yeah, a lot

32:43

of like vintage, um, vases

32:46

and glassware. But

32:49

the thing with foreclosures and personal property

32:51

is I cannot sell any of it.

32:53

It all has to be donated

32:55

or trashed.

32:57

I have a question.

32:58

How

33:00

How will they know?

33:01

great question, Terrence.

33:04

Ethically, I need

33:06

to be responsible

33:08

Mm hmm.

33:09

because I do not want to jeopardize my

33:11

business or my business partner

33:13

in any way

33:15

Okay.

33:16

Putting something online and

33:18

then one of their family members

33:20

says, hey, that's

33:23

that's

33:23

My grandma's. Oh, I'm

33:25

actually entitled to

33:28

this property or I'm Entitled

33:31

to I don't know what um

33:34

So it's definitely

33:37

more complicated and more complex and I

33:39

don't fully understand everything about

33:41

it, but when you buy

33:44

a foreclosed property at auction,

33:46

there is a difference between the

33:49

physical property in the unit, the real estate

33:51

left behind, and then the personal

33:53

belongings left behind and

33:55

the way you have to deal with each of those separately.

33:58

So the personal stuff

34:00

that they've left behind, you have

34:02

to donate it?

34:03

Give it away, donate it. I can't keep

34:05

it or sell it,

34:06

Okay, give it away, donate, throw it away.

34:08

throw it away. yep.

34:10

Okay,

34:10

you just personally can't sell

34:12

it?

34:13

Correct.

34:14

Okay, so. Off the record.

34:17

Um,

34:19

anything good that I want? it's all

34:21

gone. So I put

34:24

everything on Facebook Marketplace for free.

34:26

I said, come pick it up, um,

34:28

Sunday from this time to this time, first come,

34:31

first serve. I had a line

34:33

waiting. People were there an hour early.

34:36

And I cannot

34:38

believe the things people were taking.

34:41

And I, and people were there for all different reasons.

34:44

Like there was like

34:46

teenagers, there furnishing their first apartment.

34:49

There were older people

34:52

who like clearly had some sort of business that they

34:54

would resell all of this. Like it

34:57

was, Wild people

34:59

who just collected vintage antiques

35:01

and the vases and Yeah,

35:05

it was like a madhouse.

35:08

madhouse. No,

35:11

I definitely checked all of them.

35:14

I'm not selling

35:17

Ethically, um, I'm

35:19

not selling it, but I need to know how much this is worth.

35:22

much it is.

35:24

No, the

35:25

No, the most expensive ones

35:28

were like 500 bucks.

35:31

Yeah. Okay. But most of them were like

35:34

20 to 80 dollars, which

35:36

isn't nothing.

35:37

How did you find this out?

35:39

Reverse Google search.

35:41

Oh, like the image.

35:42

Mm hmm. I took a picture, reverse Google searched

35:45

it, looked up the um, if it had a

35:47

name on the bottom or something, looked

35:49

it up. Mm hmm.

35:51

Okay. Somebody walked out of there with

35:54

a couple of things worth 500 bucks.

35:56

Yeah, I know.

35:58

artwork

35:59

I don't think there was any artwork

36:01

to note. There was this one photo

36:04

of this little boy. He was probably

36:07

5 years old. Yeah,

36:09

it was huge. Probably like 18

36:12

by 12. No, bigger than that. 18

36:14

by

36:15

24. the frame

36:15

The frame? The frame. Right. And the

36:17

picture was so old and aged

36:20

that this kid's skin had turned grey

36:23

and his eyes had turned red. He

36:26

was a fucking

36:28

demon child. his

36:31

hands looked way too big for

36:33

being a five year old. Like the more I

36:35

looked at this, I was like, this

36:38

is so weird. Well,

36:42

because you, you look at it and you're like, oh, it's

36:44

just a kid. And then you look at a little more

36:46

and you're like, wow, that kid has really big hands.

36:49

And then you're like, oh my God, this photo's so aged.

36:51

His skin is graying. And then you're

36:53

like, and his

36:55

eyeballs are red

36:56

Jamie, look, if there's one

36:58

thing that I've learned in all my years, Kids

37:02

are the devil.

37:03

Someone took that picture, Lemme tell you.

37:05

Wait, was it a photograph

37:06

or anything? It was, it was, a photograph.

37:07

photograph. That kid is in that picture.

37:09

Maybe. No, he's him.

37:11

Let me, let me ask, when,

37:13

um,

37:14

did someone take this?

37:15

Yes. For the frame.

37:18

But someone took that picture,

37:19

you should check on them.

37:21

Well, one person took it off the wall and

37:24

then I, like, mentioned it. I was like, did you notice

37:26

how creepy this kid is? And they were like, we just liked

37:28

the frame. I mean people were taking umbrellas.

37:30

They took all the silverware glassware

37:34

Um golf clubs, which I understand

37:37

people were taking everything

37:39

I love it.

37:40

Yeah.

37:41

I'm stuck on this kid, though.

37:44

I wish I'd taken a picture of the kid I

37:46

mean just to show you it's fucking creepy

37:49

no, because then he would have ended up in your phone. I'm with you. No,

37:52

he's probably in a video that I have of the unit

37:54

I don't want to see it

37:55

So if anyone's listening and interested in buying

37:57

a property in Rogers Park We're

37:59

about to have a freshly renovated

38:02

three bed two bath separate dining

38:04

kitchen huge

38:06

beautiful vintage building not

38:09

be It's not haunted. No.

38:12

hands. so Was

38:14

he still in the

38:15

in when they took

38:17

the frame? Yes. Yes. He was in the picture.

38:19

I've also been in there many times alone and there's

38:21

no vibes.

38:23

Because the frame's gone.

38:24

All good, vibes.

38:26

Okay.

38:27

So it should be on the market by April.

38:29

Nice! Okay. Just in

38:31

time for the thick

38:34

of the spring market. Which starts, unofficially,

38:37

Monday.

38:38

Is the Superbowl this weekend? Oh 1st.

38:41

I Who do you think is gonna win?

38:47

17, final score.

38:49

Oh, okay. We're gonna hold you to that.

38:51

Done.

38:52

Um, don't hate me for this question.

38:54

Who does Travis Kelsey play more?

38:57

Um, Mr. Swift plays for the Kansas City

38:59

Chiefs. You're welcome.

39:00

Okay.

39:01

Yeah, it's sunday. So, um

39:04

Who are you rooting for?

39:06

you rooting

39:08

for? Okay.

39:11

Oh my

39:13

my gosh. Um not

39:18

people.

39:19

Oh, they've

39:22

Um, Steve you? Okay,

39:24

cool.

39:27

know? Uh, the spring market starts Monday. I know we just

39:29

said that, but that's very important. So,

39:32

do you get offers accepted in

39:34

multiple offer situations?

39:36

talking about this today. So, we

39:38

say love letters are out.

39:40

Love letters, meaning letters from the

39:43

hmm. But

39:46

Anything creative, so anything that's going to make your

39:48

offer stand out. I had a team member

39:50

recently who had multiple offers, two

39:53

offers, they were like essentially the same,

39:55

she said, that the, the

39:57

sellers didn't know how to make a decision. They put

39:59

in the same percent down, same price,

40:01

like same terms, and

40:03

the winning party offered a gift

40:05

card to the sellers for a restaurant.

40:09

I don't know about the legality of that,

40:11

but it worked.

40:13

Well, I mean. Technically speaking,

40:15

then their offer was a little bit higher than

40:17

than the other person's. Exactly. Um,

40:19

you know, there's a lot of discussion right

40:21

now about, like, commissions.

40:24

And real estate so offering

40:26

to pay one side's commission, I think

40:28

is going to become a thing Offering

40:31

to put earnest money hard. So your

40:33

first thousand dollars saying it's going

40:35

hard whether We close

40:37

or not you get to keep that

40:39

my

40:40

Um I'm giving away

40:42

my trade secrets here.

40:43

Yeah

40:45

Um, what else? I mean, honestly,

40:47

you have to button up all of

40:49

your terms. So it's not just

40:51

about price. It's about price.

40:53

It's about closing. It's about tax preparation.

40:56

It's about earnest money. It's

40:58

about your down payment. And if a seller has five

41:00

offers, they're going to look at every single one of these

41:02

individually and decide

41:04

who is the most qualified and

41:06

who they think is going to get to that closing

41:09

table. Cause you could have the highest price,

41:12

but if you're putting 5 percent down

41:15

and 2, 000 in

41:17

earnest money, And

41:19

your tax preparation, you're asking for 110 percent

41:21

and you're up against an offer who's maybe

41:24

a lower purchase price, but they have

41:26

10 percent or 15 percent down

41:29

and they're giving you 5

41:31

percent in earnest money. That's

41:33

definitely a safer option for a seller.

41:36

Interesting. Why?

41:37

Why? On all of that?

41:40

Between those two offers, yes. Why?

41:42

reason I ask is

41:44

ask is because I ask multiple agents this question

41:46

because I personally would like to know why, because to me

41:48

it makes no difference.

41:49

no

41:51

difference.

41:54

It's, you know, people are well qualified

41:57

for mortgages, so the likelihood of them closing are

41:59

very high. So when you're comparing

42:02

cash to mortgage, I think it depends on the situation

42:04

of whether one's better or another one is. at

42:07

the end of the day, when you're talking

42:11

who's going to get to the closing table and maybe who's more

42:13

invested. So earnest

42:15

money is one of those things where, like, we

42:17

know you could get it back if something falls through.

42:20

Right 99 percent of the time it's not

42:22

on the line But if you're willing to give

42:24

more up front, it just shows a little bit more

42:26

commitment um, i've had

42:28

plenty of sellers who

42:31

Looking at two offers and one has less

42:33

earners money and they're otherwise they're very similar.

42:36

They're saying oh this person's putting

42:39

a significant more down in earnest

42:41

money So it seems

42:43

like they're a little bit more motivated and

42:45

willing to put more skin in the game

42:47

Okay

42:49

Tax proration when you're in a

42:51

multiple offer situation And

42:53

you're asking the sellers to pay 110

42:56

percent of the tax, the latest tax bill,

42:58

which was probably two years ago. You

43:00

don't know what those taxes are. That's

43:03

a disadvantage to someone who's going to

43:05

say to be determined in attorney

43:07

review, because that's

43:09

going to be fair, at least, or

43:12

to someone who's saying 100%, because

43:14

that buyer is now offering to pay any

43:16

increase in taxes on the seller's

43:18

behalf. So

43:21

it's all these little details

43:23

that are gonna help you in a multiple offer

43:25

situation.

43:26

You made mouth noises. Someone throwing it out there. Yeah.

43:29

Oh, I've heard them a few times. I just

43:31

want you to know. I know. It's gross. not

43:33

gross, Jamie, but it's a natural bodily function.

43:35

Well, it's kinda gross, but anyways,

43:38

yeah.

43:39

Well, thank you for that information.

43:41

You're welcome.

43:42

What else you got?

43:44

How time

43:46

What time is it?.

43:47

it? Well, shit. thank

44:03

you everyone for listening to another episode

44:05

of Realty Chicago. If

44:08

you are interested in sharing a story, or

44:10

finding us on social media, or

44:12

just connecting in some way, you can find

44:14

us on Instagram, @RealTea

44:17

Chicago. You can also email

44:19

us at [email protected].

44:23

We do have a TikTok the Realty Chicago

44:25

podcast. and I've got a Google

44:27

form if you wanna fill it out. That's

44:29

gonna be linked on our Instagram

44:31

our anonymous stories.

44:32

Yes, so find

44:34

us and let's connect.

44:37

Signing out.

44:39

And we're done.

44:40

Okay, bye!

44:42

Bye!