RealTea Chicago

Terrence tries Empathy

• Jamie Book • Episode 5

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Jamie and Terrence go down the rabbit hole telling their own crazy stories starting with a game of 2 truths and a lie.

Have a wild, crazy, or interesting story of your own? SUBMIT YOUR ANONYMOUS STORIES HERE!

Jamie's 2 truths and a lie: I've walked in on a live stream of the building's lobby in someone's unit.  I've taken a potential client to their dentist appointment.  Or, I've had to break into a listing through an open window.

Terrence's 2 truths and a lie:  I have had someone show up to a closing with cash.
I have had someone want to bring me  jewelry, antiques, and gold and silver to show me that they had sufficient funds to close.   And I had someone put on their application that their down payment was coming from the Lord.

Other Topics Discussed/Questions Answered:
What would Terrence do with a million dollars?
*** If anyone knows Photoshop, please send us a photo of Terrence riding a llama! realteachicago@gmail.com***
Terrence discusses a buyer who changed jobs 2 weeks before closing on their home
Jamie talks about a condo she is flipping in Rogers Park that she bought at auction
How do you get an offer accepted in a multiple-offer situation?
Why is Earnest money important?

Thank you so much for listening! Please don't forget to like, subscribe, and share this episode with anyone you know that will enjoy it.

Music by @Desert_Disco_Music
Art by Chelsea Leasure

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@JustBookJamie
@TheTitaniumLender

Email us with questions, requests, or stories - realteachicago@gmail.com

Want to stay anonymous? Submit your interesting real estate stories anonymously here.

MIC2:

How you doin

MIC1:

Oh, it's a good day.

MIC2:

Are you a Friends fan?

MIC1:

A what?

MIC2:

Friends.

MIC1:

Like the show? Yes. Oh.

MIC2:

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

MIC1:

Is that a friends thing?

MIC2:

Yeah. Joey Tribbiani. Come on.

MIC1:

I watched a couple episodes, stopped forever.

MIC2:

forever. No,

MIC1:

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

MIC2:

start it. Is

MIC1:

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

MIC2:

Welcome to another episode of the Realty Chicago podcast I'm, jamie, and we are here to share with you the most interesting stories we can find in Chicago real estate. And if you like what you hear, please don't forget to like, and subscribe, tell all your friends and family and even submit a question. A story, if you want, even. Yes,

MIC1:

please. We

MIC2:

can do it.

MIC1:

all of the things. You can do it anonymously. Yep. Meaning we won't tell who you are.

MIC2:

have a google form that they can fill out and just stay anonymous. We don't even have to know who they are. Nice. Yeah.

MIC1:

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

MIC2:

I'm

MIC1:

I'm very excited about this.

MIC2:

I know. Please fill out some stories, like we gotta find. All right, so I thought today we could talk about the fact that Chicago has the world's only backwards flowing river.

MIC1:

When you say backwards, like against gravity?

MIC2:

Wait, you really didn't know this? I thought this was common knowledge in Chicago.

MIC1:

No, I didn't know

MIC2:

They reversed the flow of the river. No, reverse it. No, they did. In 1900.

MIC1:

Oh. And then they never turned it back? No.

MIC2:

No,

MIC1:

no, I just thought that there was a thing they can do I could Flip it when they need the green dye to go one way and then turn it back the other way when it's Not st. Patrick's day.

MIC2:

the river was so polluted from waste and Nasty things then it was flowing directly into Lake Michigan, which was obviously polluting our drinking water so they spent eight years on January 1st they reversed the flow of the river so that all the polluted water would actually flow to the Mississippi.

MIC1:

Nice. I had no idea. I did. I didn't know this was a fact. Yes.

MIC2:

Yes.

MIC1:

So, note to self, do not go swimming in the Mississippi. It is full

MIC2:

Don't go swimming in the Chicago River. I

MIC1:

do that either. I don't know.

MIC2:

No, no, no, no, no. I

MIC1:

even touch that water.

MIC2:

No, you shouldn't. Anyone who's kayaking in the river, like, you're fucking

MIC1:

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

MIC2:

No.

MIC1:

No.

MIC2:

Absolutely not. If you get, I think it's, if you are submerged more than half of your body in the river, you are supposed to go to the hospital to be checked for waterborne illnesses.

MIC1:

That's

MIC2:

Like, Don't fuck around in the river. That's nasty. The lake's one thing. The lake is much much

MIC1:

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

MIC2:

the river. That's nasty. Nasty.

MIC1:

I just never wanted to go in it because I just figured it was full of poop and probably dead bodies and it's gross Do we know how deep the chicago river is

MIC2:

I have no idea.

MIC1:

All right. Well,

MIC2:

Well, the project was named one of the seven wonders of engineering by the American society of civil engineers in 1995.

MIC1:

Depth of Chicago river at its deepest point. The Chicago river is 21 feet deep.

MIC2:

Oh, that's not that deep. I mean, I think it's deep for a river.

MIC1:

No, that is shallow

MIC2:

for

MIC1:

Um, the Mississippi river averages 30 feet. Below Cairo, where the Ohio River joins, the depth averages 50 to 100 feet deep. The deepest part of the river is in New Orleans, where it reaches 200 feet deep. So, I think 21 feet's a little shallow.

MIC2:

okay. Yeah, you're right. I was going to basing my knowledge off of the Rio Grande in New Mexico, which is. Extremely shallow. Anyways. day. Yeah. All right, do you have your two truths and a lie ready for us?

MIC1:

Hmm? Well then.

MIC2:

I have mine.

MIC1:

Okay, well, we're going to let you go first. And I will come up with mine as we go.

MIC2:

Okay.

MIC1:

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

MIC2:

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

MIC1:

we can do it later and I'll, you know, I'll think about it as we go along.

MIC2:

Okay, great. So, mine are, I've walked in on a live stream of the building's lobby in someone's unit. I've taken a potential client to their dentist appointment. Or, I've had to break into a listing through an open window.

MIC1:

I am going to say that that one is true. The window I can see you shimmying through a window. and I kind of just want the first one to be true because I want to hear all about how the police came in and apprehended this man afterwards or woman. So I'm going to go ahead and say the lie is the dentist.

MIC2:

Okay.

MIC1:

Are you going to tell? I mean,

MIC2:

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

MIC1:

Well, I didn't know if you were going to wait and tell us on the next episode or tell us today. Oh, no.

MIC2:

It must have been too long ago that we recorded our last episode because I revealed these in the last episode.

MIC1:

geez. Did you?

MIC2:

And you had the same guesses, I'm

MIC1:

know what? I'm nothing but consistent.

MIC2:

Okay. So story number one, um, I did a listing presentation with a previous teammate, which means we go and we present ourselves and our marketing, et cetera, et cetera. And with that comes a tour of their unit. So this woman, had been there. I think she was an original owner of this 1970s building. She had been the board president for like 20 years. She no longer was and she was moving because she was elderly and just It was her time to go find, you know, different care. So, we go through the whole process, and then she takes us to her unit, and we look around, and it's a unit of someone who has lived there for almost 50 years. Like, packed full in a hoarder type of sense. Which I guess is not uncommon. and we're going through each room and there's stuff everywhere and blah, blah, blah. We get to our office and there's a desk, there's notepads all over the desk and a TV. Like a old school TV so huge like a box frame. It's got the big butt in the back. That's sticking out It's like taped together. I can tell this thing's really old.

MIC1:

it have rabbit ears too?

MIC2:

don't remember. But on the TV is a live stream of the building's lobby.

MIC1:

Um, why?

MIC2:

was

MIC1:

Did you ask?

MIC2:

No, it was a very uncomfortable situation.

MIC1:

Let me ask this question. How many units were in the building?

MIC2:

Um, a lot. Like it was a, it's not a high rise, it was a mid rise, maybe 15 to 20 stories? Maybe not that many.

MIC1:

So I mean, my brain is just

MIC2:

Yeah.

MIC1:

of things right now. So does she have her own hidden camera or is this like she tapped into the building security feed?

MIC2:

My assumption is because she was the building president at some point, the association president, she had tapped into the feed that was the security cameras of the lobby, which I also forgot to mention when we arrived and the front door man called up, we overheard him being like. Yeah, it's two women. They're here sitting down in the lobby, which makes me think she was like, Oh, is it two ladies? Like she's sitting there watch. She sat there and watched us walk in.

MIC1:

Hmm.

MIC2:

And we left and we were just like, What the fuck? And That's, that's

MIC1:

I wonder, I'm thinking of a perfectly good explanation here.

MIC2:

Trying to give her the benefit of the

MIC1:

giving her the benefit of the doubt. I wonder if every unit has the ability to see that camera.

MIC2:

Lord, let's hope so. Like,

MIC1:

I don't know, I'm

MIC2:

like It's like cable TV and you

MIC1:

every unit you

MIC2:

go to like

MIC1:

channel zero and it's that one camera. That's my thought and also my hope.

MIC2:

Same.

MIC1:

also I kind of hope it's not just to make it even more fun.

MIC2:

happened. Nothing happened. That was it. We were just, like, shocked. We didn't really know what to do. I didn't know what to do. The other person didn't know what to do. We were like, do we say anything? Do we do anything? And then That was it.

MIC1:

Did you sell the unit? I ended

MIC2:

going with a different agent, I'm assuming.

MIC1:

So it did sell?

MIC2:

I actually don't know. I never went back and checked. That's one where you're just like, maybe I don't want my hands in this one. of curiosity, is it ethical? for you to look up the listing, see who sold it and give them a call and just say, Hey, I have a question. Oh! Like, I mean, I know you can

MIC1:

that, But I would just be

MIC2:

curious. Yeah. I have no idea. I mean, yeah, I guess I would have to go back and even look what building it was.

MIC1:

Kind of like, you know how on one of our previous episodes I gave, I used you some homework.

MIC2:

Oh yeah.

MIC1:

To check on the guy whose unit she cleaned.

MIC2:

Gotta call her. Yeah.

MIC1:

Hey, remember me? I cleaned your unit. you need to sell?

MIC2:

need any

MIC1:

unit? Exactly. Okay, so that was one of the

MIC2:

The other one is, got a lead from an online source and went to meet her and from the jump, it was bizarre. she was coming from the suburbs, her, brother or one of her family members was living in the unit with her furniture she's, I'm in the lobby. I'm like, Hey, I'm here. Let me know when you arrive. And she's like, Oh, I'm just going to be like 10 to 15 minutes late. I had an emergency with my dog. And I'm like, Oh no, I hope your dog's okay. And Turns out her dog, like, was outside and she couldn't find it. Anyways, that was bizarre. Then she shows up, we go to the unit. She's She was an over sharer, to put it nicely. Um, I learned so much about this woman.

MIC1:

Did

MIC2:

you know? I learned so much about this woman in like 45 minutes. I think I barely even talked about real estate. As I learned about her boyfriend. How I think they recently broke up. Her brother who was living in the unit. I mean, the list goes on and on. She was looking, she was trying to find a new job. And then in the midst of all of this, she was like, the reason I wanted to do this appointment today was because I have a dentist appointment after this in the loop. And I'm like, oh, okay. And she's like, I don't remember what time it was or I don't remember exactly the location. Do you mind if I just look it up? And I'm like, no, I don't mind. Do what you gotta do. So she's on her phone. She's checking her email. She's like, I can't find it. I know I got a confirmation. I can't find it anywhere. And she's like, I don't remember the name of my dentist. And I'm like, okay. She's like, I know exactly what building it was in. I know the address, but I don't remember the name. So I pull out my phone and I start googling and I google the address. There's like 10 dentist offices in this one building in the loop. I'm like, does this sound right? Does this sound right? And then she's calling each individual dentist. here Yes.

MIC1:

Oh,

MIC2:

And the poor thing She's calling. After a few, she just starts bawling. She's like, I don't know who it is. I can't find the information and I'm like, don't worry. We're gonna figure this out And I don't think we figured it out, but for some reason she was talking about how she got a great parking space. Oh, she was gonna walk. She was just gonna walk to the dentist because it was close enough, but it was like a terrible day outside. It was windy and cold and I'm pretty sure I offered the ride. I don't think she asked because I wanted the listing. It's like, how would I give you a ride? So I gave her a ride to the dentist.

MIC1:

but goes above and beyond for her clients. I

MIC2:

do.

MIC1:

Did she become a client?

MIC2:

She did not. We're still in touch. Um, but she sell? Yeah, she didn't sell. She ended up moving back into the unit herself. And the best part was, I don't know if it's the best part or the saddest part. She texted me later. And she was like, So it turns out my dentist appointment was not today. It's some other day. Wow. You

MIC1:

Well, You know, You gained a client for life.

MIC2:

I think I did. I think when she's ready, she will call me.

MIC1:

Absolutely for a ride to the

MIC2:

to the dentist. Yeah, you know what? Listen, people Sometimes people just need someone to be there and be empathetic, and I am very Oh

MIC1:

it's one of my weaknesses.

MIC2:

it's a

MIC1:

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

MIC2:

Empathy In

MIC1:

many situations.

MIC2:

Do you have an example?

MIC1:

Not one, that Doesn't make me look like a complete asshole?

MIC2:

Well, that's kind of what I was hoping for. I was hoping to just call you out.

MIC1:

because I mean, in that situation, I would just, I would offer to take her, but I wouldn't move until she found the confirmation. Like, sorry. No.

MIC2:

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

MIC1:

Have a nice day. Call me later.

MIC2:

Even though you don't have to wait for her, like she's going anyway, it's on your way

MIC1:

no, I mean, if she wanted a ride to that building, I would offer a ride to the

MIC2:

That's exactly what I did. That's fine. And I gave her a ride to the building.

MIC1:

Okay.

MIC2:

Yeah, I didn't stay there or walk her up or like try and help her find the dentist.

MIC1:

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

MIC2:

did, I made calls for her on her behalf.

MIC1:

You're an adult.

MIC2:

Yeah. Also, she's crying and needing help. I just wanted to help.

MIC1:

Tears don't do it for me.

MIC2:

Yeah, you're a cold hearted bitch.

MIC1:

Well, like we're, we're, we're grownups here. Let's let's not cry. Let's figure out a solution. Let's let's work. Let's work

MIC2:

I tried to find the solution. And she cried. And she cried. Poor thing. Poor

MIC1:

Poor thing. That's okay. Again, client for life. You go above and beyond. hmm. I am. I think I'm ready.

MIC2:

Oh, hell yeah.

MIC1:

my two truths and a lie.

MIC2:

Let's hear them.

MIC1:

In no particular order.

MIC2:

Okay.

MIC1:

Um, these are all potential actual people. Well, I just wanted to throw that out

MIC2:

there.

MIC1:

have had someone show up to a closing with cash. I have had someone want to bring me jewelry and antiques and gold and silver to show me that they had sufficient funds? to close. Yes. And I had one woman that put on her application that her down payment was coming from the Lord.

MIC2:

Oh my god. Okay, this is a difficult one. Her down payment's coming from the Lord. That's like a little DeLulu. These are all DeLulu people. I kind of believe that someone tried to Okay, hold on. What was the second one again?

MIC1:

The second one was someone tried to bring me gold, silver, and antiques. To show that they had funds.

MIC2:

as a down payment.

MIC1:

Correct.

MIC2:

I cannot believe that's true. Fucking wild. And then the first one again,

MIC1:

That I had someone show up to a closing.

MIC2:

With cash. I don't believe that one, because you're too good of a lender to let someone do that.

MIC1:

First of all, thank you. Um, But as we have heard, I do tell people what to do and what not to do, and sometimes they still do it. But in this situation, you are correct. I, thankfully, knock on wood, I have yet to have someone try to show up to a closing with cash. I've had many people ask, especially if the cash to close isn't being paid. You know five plus figures

MIC2:

Yeah.

MIC1:

but no one's done it thankfully but So when I first started there was a woman that Wanted to bring me gold silver antiques because on her application I She stated, you know, X number of thousands of dollars, but didn't input where they're coming from. Didn't say checking, savings, retirement. Was she

MIC2:

planning on selling them?

MIC1:

No.

MIC2:

So she wanted to give these to the seller?

MIC1:

Awww. Like this, this was her down payment. She didn't know who she was going to give it to, but she, here's my down payment. And it should be worth X number of dollars and I had to,

MIC2:

break her heart.

MIC1:

I did. Um, I tried to use empathy.

MIC2:

I

MIC1:

I I was very nice. I wasn't mean. But I said, well, you're going to have to liquidate these.

MIC2:

Yes. That's a fair response.

MIC1:

See? And she said, why? Yep. And I said, well, because all of your money has to be in liquid money to be able to use it for your purchase.

MIC2:

Did she ask how to make money liquid because it's solid?

MIC1:

she did not.

MIC2:

Darn.

MIC1:

So I told her, you know, once you've sold everything and have, Proof that you've sold it. Show me where the money came from. Don't just show up with 50, 000 in cash. Cause, I mean, I don't know where the gold and silver and antiques came from. They, you know. So, I'm like, I just need to show where they came from. And we can use the funds. Nothing ever came of that.

MIC2:

Um, yeah.

MIC1:

I'm sure she held on to her. Paraphernalia

MIC2:

Well, I guess it's maybe one thing in her mind to like trade it for a house and another thing to actually like put it online and sell it. You know, like that's a very different interaction.

MIC1:

You don't necessarily have to take that stuff, you know to sell it online I get it some people can't She was older So I get it. Some people aren't very computer savvy and want to do it online Take to a pawn shop. You

MIC2:

can take it to there's plenty of places,

MIC1:

dealers or Purchasers.

MIC2:

But what I'm saying is like the trade for cash Is it like different than a trade for something else valuable, which obviously cash is valuable But I could see in her mind being like, oh i'm trading this for a house Versus oh i'm going to sell my family's valuables to then gain a house

MIC1:

like

MIC2:

that difference You Being a little bit more difficult

MIC1:

I get it. But we're also assuming these are family heirlooms, Jamie Book. I Well, I mean, don't, don't assume. I assume the benefit of the doubt with your lady that had the closed circuit TV camera of the lobby and everybody had it. This is why we source funds, Jamie Book. We have no idea where they came from.

MIC2:

You think she's Stealing

MIC1:

Stealing them, maybe she murdered somebody, I don't know.

MIC2:

Okay, but here's my question. Does it matter if she stole it? Like, do you have to have proof of where the artifact came from? Or do you just need proof that she sold it and here's your certificate or bill of sale?

MIC1:

That's actually a very good question. Now that I think about it, I don't think so.

MIC2:

so. I no

MIC1:

idea. You know what we would probably I mean To the letter of the law, I suppose then I would need proof of acquisition Like a paper trail of everything because what we look at Here's your real estate wisdom for the day We're gonna look at a two month history of your bank statements So if in one of her last two months of statements, I see You A 50, 000 deposit from Pawn Stars. I'm going to say, okay, where

MIC2:

Sounds a lot like something else You

MIC1:

clearly have never seen the show. Uh huh.

MIC2:

I've seen the Antique Road Show

MIC1:

That doesn't sound nearly as interesting as Pawn Stars. it. I'm

MIC2:

I'm just imagining someone scrolling and reading wrong, and then being like, What the fuck is this?

MIC1:

Yep.

MIC2:

Make

MIC1:

that when we transcribe this, the spelling is correct.

MIC2:

correct. Yeah,

MIC1:

But yeah, if I

MIC2:

see that

MIC1:

deposit, I'm going to say, okay, well, where did this come from? Because it's a large deposit. Greater than her monthly

MIC2:

Okay, Okay, But say I steal a car three months ago and then I sell it for 20, 000 and I have a bill of sale. Are you going to ask me where I acquired this car or are you just going to say, oh, you got a car here and just give me the bill of sale, show us where you got this funds and move on with your life?

MIC1:

So let me ask this question. You stole the car three months ago.

MIC2:

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

MIC1:

Actually, it does. Okay, because if you stole the car three

MIC2:

ago,

MIC1:

ago Sold it deposited the money I look at bank statements for the last two

MIC2:

months There's the loophole. Oh, God. Don't nobody come after us saying we said it was okay to steal a car for your

MIC1:

Exactly But if it was within the last two months, I would probably ask for, well, the bill of sale. I'm going to ask for the bill of sale because I'm going to make sure that it matches up with the deposit. And, I mean, if it's not your name on the bill of sale, that's a problem.

MIC2:

well, obviously I would fake the bill of sale and it would be my name on it. That's

MIC1:

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

MIC2:

not me. Okay. I got needed. Perfect. Alright. I got my question answered.

MIC1:

This is the real tea how to commit

MIC2:

fraud Oh my god, don't say that. We do not condone this.

MIC1:

And then my other

MIC2:

Oh yeah, I forgot. I was so excited about this story. Really?

MIC1:

See, I would have thought that

MIC2:

the other one would have

MIC1:

been more exciting,

MIC2:

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

MIC1:

This woman I actually met in person.

MIC2:

Oooh.

MIC1:

I think this was also 2018 2019. Yeah. she filled out an application. And in the same section as, you know, the other person with the gold, silver, and antiques, there was down payment and there was nothing. There was nothing there. So, as I'm going through the application with her, I, you know, Oh,

MIC2:

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

MIC1:

I'm saying the same section.

MIC2:

Oh, got it.

MIC1:

Assets, but as I'm going through the application on the phone with her or she'd be sitting sitting with her. I'm like, okay You know, we have your your your income information she wasn't working she was Receiving government funds. I'm like, okay, you have your income information We know, you know a general idea of what you can spend monthly on a home Where what's your source of funds and she just looked at me and said the Lord

MIC2:

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

MIC1:

and I said, okay, And in my brain, I'm just, I'm, I'm trying, I'm,

MIC2:

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

MIC1:

And I just said, when are those funds going to be deposited?

MIC2:

That's going to be, um, the name of this episode, Terrence Tries Empathy.

MIC1:

And she said, you know, um, When the time is right, he will provide. And I said, Amen. Once

MIC2:

are you gonna liquefy that?

MIC1:

You're going to hell, not me. So I said, Okay, um, When those become available, just let me know, but if you're looking to purchase a house at X price, He'll need to provide about this much. impressed with

MIC2:

with your response. was Very mature,

MIC1:

Yes. Mm hmm. So, once the meeting concluded, she never answered my calls again. No, not once.

MIC2:

Hmm.

MIC1:

No idea why, I was very, very nice.

MIC2:

The Lord did not provide.

MIC1:

provide. happened. I I'm really kind of disappointed I think about it. I would have liked

MIC2:

I would have liked to see that miracle. Maybe not a miracle, but, that would be a great story too.

MIC1:

I mean, yeah. Maybe, you know Being mature adult Terrence here. Maybe she was going to get a gift from the church.

MIC2:

Oh, yes.

MIC1:

Mm hmm. Amateur Terrence was wondering if she just wanted money to just go right on the table and pop up.

MIC2:

Well, I feel like when somebody says the Lord will provide it doesn't just mean it pops into your bank account. no, no.

MIC1:

lie, sometimes I think that.

MIC2:

I'm sorry. Dig deeper. Explain

MIC1:

Okay. Whenever, I always, I always think back to a movie that I watched a lot as a kid. The Ten Commandments.

MIC2:

I've never seen it.

MIC1:

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

MIC2:

Okay.

MIC1:

coming up. Starring

MIC2:

is Easter this year?

MIC1:

Coming up. Yeah. I want to say 60s. Anyway, this is the story of, you know, Passover and part in the Red Sea and all that fun stuff. And I always just think of miracles. Things are just going popping up turning water to wine

MIC2:

Right into the

MIC1:

Right into the bank account

MIC2:

if you woke up and there was just a million dollars in your bank account? You don't know where it came from, you just, it was there.

MIC1:

Lord provided I'm telling nobody

MIC2:

you just had, there was a note on the transfer that said from the Lord.

MIC1:

know Until you saw me riding down the street on a llama or

MIC2:

on a llama That's what you would do with a million dollars. You would just trade your car in for a llama.

MIC1:

a llama. galloping, did I gallop? Galloping down the street.

MIC2:

Yeah, he'd probably you

MIC1:

uh, Did you come into some money recently? I'll be like, Yeah. No? Just wanted a llama.

MIC2:

Could a llama even support you? Nope.

MIC1:

Not gonna lie, no idea. No? I just, aren't they about the size of camels?

MIC2:

No!

MIC1:

Are they not? I thinking about the right animal?

MIC2:

so. Wait. And

MIC1:

and they spit? Yeah. Aren't those llamas? Yes. They're the size of camels. They are

MIC2:

not. They are not. look look it up.

MIC1:

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

MIC2:

I'm

MIC1:

positive that

MIC2:

No.

MIC1:

a llama is as big as a camel. A camel's

MIC2:

A camel's like bigger than a horse.

MIC1:

Yeah. This

MIC2:

This fella

MIC1:

Okay. Llama next to camel. I don't feel like that's an accurate representation. Yeah,

MIC2:

that is an accurate representation. That's why I'm laughing so hard. I'm crying. I feel that's,

MIC1:

a baby llama.

MIC2:

That's a llama.

MIC1:

Welp.

MIC2:

If anybody does photoshop, can you please photoshop Terrence on a llama for it

MIC1:

you know what? I was almost certain that the okay Point is you'd never know That I had a million dollars.

MIC2:

If Terrence ever says I'm buying a llama, we know he's come into some money.

MIC1:

Won the lottery for the Lord provided.

MIC2:

know that. Yeah, me

MIC1:

I really want to know what happened to that woman

MIC2:

alright.

MIC1:

I want to, Oh, I want to tell you about my, my happenings. Um, don't get too excited. This is another one of those, you tell people not to do it.

MIC2:

And they do it.

MIC1:

they do it type stories This one had a it had a happy ending. It's fine Fortunately timing all worked out but on the list of do not do's While you're buying a house Unless you tell your lender first just do not change jobs

MIC2:

Oh yes, fair.

MIC1:

So Before closing we do a final verification of employment where we call the employer Hey, so and so still here is employment going to continue

MIC2:

How soon do you call them?

MIC1:

That one is done within two weeks closing

MIC2:

Okay.

MIC1:

So and are they still here is employment going to continue If they say no It's a little bit of a problem

MIC2:

Understandably So,

MIC1:

Fortunately, we didn't get that far We were about a day before we were going to actually make the call. We got updated pay stubs. One of the updated, updated pay stubs looked a little bit

MIC2:

Hmm. Like,

MIC1:

very different, like from a different employer. And so my, uh, processor called me and said, do you, uh, you know, you know about this? I'm like, no, about what? She emailed me over a pay stub. I'm like, that's, that's not where she works. so I made a quick phone call. I paced a little bit first, then I made a phone call. I said, hey, um, thank you for sending over your most recent pay stub.

MIC2:

What the fuck?

MIC1:

Why does it look different than the last pay stub? Oh, um, I got a new job. I said, congratulations. Terrence tries empathy I have so many questions for you. Um, When, why, why, why, and how are you paid? Because if how you're paid changes, we may not be buying a house right now. And, and so she said, last week, I forgot to tell you. I said, you know what, it's okay. Okay. But I'm paid salary and I'm making more money now. I'm like, the Lord provides. So it all, uh, it all worked out just a couple of extra steps. Verification of employment through a new employer. And we closed.

MIC2:

Okay, so moral of the story is you can change jobs as long as you get paid the same and more money.

MIC1:

Definitely more money. But. How you're paid makes a difference. If you are a salaried employee and your pay structure changes to a half salary, half bonus commission.

MIC2:

Right.

MIC1:

No, because then I'm using the salary cause I don't have a history of the variable income.

MIC2:

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

MIC1:

wisdom. Thankfully in this situation it was salary

MIC2:

to salary. So, and just so people are aware, in order for bonuses to count, you have to have a two year

MIC1:

history? Two years.

MIC2:

Okay.

MIC1:

Same thing with commission.

MIC2:

Yep.

MIC1:

The variable incomes is where we need two years.

MIC2:

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

MIC1:

I'm looking at you. Two years. Don't do it. Don't leave your salary job to start a business until after you close. That's all I got. It's my wisdom for the day.

MIC2:

It's beautiful.

MIC1:

Thank you.

MIC2:

talk about you. Yeah, what about me?

MIC1:

do you got going on?

MIC2:

I'm working on a flip up in Rogers Park right now.

MIC1:

How many beds and baths?

MIC2:

It's three bed, two baths, it's huge. It's gotta be over 1, 500 square feet, if not close to 2, 000. it has this beautiful living room with curved windows. It was built in the 1920s by a woman architect. We bought it on auction, which is a first for me.

MIC1:

Nice.

MIC2:

But we bought it with all of the, um, basically personal belongings inside as well.

MIC1:

So, Any treasures in there?

MIC2:

definitely a lot of vintage finds. So, this person had been in there since, I think, the 70s? If I'm,

MIC1:

Ooh.

MIC2:

wait, maybe that's not true. But, um, basically, yeah, a lot of like vintage, um, vases and glassware. But the thing with foreclosures and personal property is I cannot sell any of it. It all has to be donated or trashed.

MIC1:

I have a question.

MIC2:

How

MIC1:

How will they know?

MIC2:

great question, Terrence. Ethically, I need to be responsible

MIC1:

Mm hmm.

MIC2:

because I do not want to jeopardize my business or my business partner in any way

MIC1:

Okay.

MIC2:

Putting something online and then one of their family members says, hey, that's

MIC1:

that's

MIC2:

My grandma's. Oh, I'm actually entitled to this property or I'm Entitled to I don't know what um So it's definitely more complicated and more complex and I don't fully understand everything about it, but when you buy a foreclosed property at auction, there is a difference between the physical property in the unit, the real estate left behind, and then the personal belongings left behind and the way you have to deal with each of those separately.

MIC1:

So the personal stuff that they've left behind, you have to donate it?

MIC2:

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

MIC1:

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

MIC2:

Okay,

MIC1:

you just personally can't sell it?

MIC2:

Correct.

MIC1:

Okay, so. Off the record. Um,

MIC2:

anything good that I want? it's all gone. So I put everything on Facebook Marketplace for free. I said, come pick it up, um, Sunday from this time to this time, first come, first serve. I had a line waiting. People were there an hour early. And I cannot believe the things people were taking. And I, and people were there for all different reasons. Like there was like teenagers, there furnishing their first apartment. There were older people who like clearly had some sort of business that they would resell all of this. Like it was, Wild people who just collected vintage antiques and the vases and Yeah, it was like a madhouse.

MIC1:

madhouse. No,

MIC2:

I definitely checked all of them.

MIC1:

I'm not selling

MIC2:

Ethically, um, I'm not selling it, but I need to know how much this is worth.

MIC1:

much it is. No, the

MIC2:

No, the most expensive ones were like 500 bucks. Yeah. Okay. But most of them were like 20 to 80 dollars, which isn't nothing.

MIC1:

How did you find this out?

MIC2:

Reverse Google search.

MIC1:

Oh, like the image.

MIC2:

Mm hmm. I took a picture, reverse Google searched it, looked up the um, if it had a name on the bottom or something, looked it up. Mm hmm.

MIC1:

Okay. Somebody walked out of there with a couple of things worth 500 bucks.

MIC2:

Yeah, I know.

MIC1:

artwork

MIC2:

I don't think there was any artwork to note. There was this one photo of this little boy. He was probably 5 years old. Yeah, it was huge. Probably like 18 by 12. No, bigger than that. 18 by

MIC1:

24. the frame

MIC2:

The frame? The frame. Right. And the picture was so old and aged that this kid's skin had turned grey and his eyes had turned red. He was a fucking demon child. his hands looked way too big for being a five year old. Like the more I looked at this, I was like, this is so weird. Well, because you, you look at it and you're like, oh, it's just a kid. And then you look at a little more and you're like, wow, that kid has really big hands. And then you're like, oh my God, this photo's so aged. His skin is graying. And then you're like, and his eyeballs are red

MIC1:

Jamie, look, if there's one thing that I've learned in all my years, Kids are the devil.

MIC2:

Someone took that picture, Lemme tell you.

MIC1:

Wait, was it a photograph

MIC2:

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

MIC1:

photograph. That kid is in that picture.

MIC2:

Maybe. No, he's him.

MIC1:

Let me, let me ask, when,

MIC2:

um,

MIC1:

did someone take this?

MIC2:

Yes. For the frame. But someone took that picture,

MIC1:

you should check on them.

MIC2:

Well, one person took it off the wall and then I, like, mentioned it. I was like, did you notice how creepy this kid is? And they were like, we just liked the frame. I mean people were taking umbrellas. They took all the silverware glassware Um golf clubs, which I understand people were taking everything

MIC1:

I love it.

MIC2:

Yeah.

MIC1:

I'm stuck on this kid, though.

MIC2:

I wish I'd taken a picture of the kid I mean just to show you it's fucking creepy

MIC1:

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

MIC2:

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

MIC1:

I don't want to see it

MIC2:

So if anyone's listening and interested in buying a property in Rogers Park We're about to have a freshly renovated three bed two bath separate dining kitchen huge beautiful vintage building not be It's not haunted. No.

MIC1:

hands. so Was he still in the

MIC2:

in when they took the frame? Yes. Yes. He was in the picture. I've also been in there many times alone and there's no vibes.

MIC1:

Because the frame's gone.

MIC2:

All good, vibes.

MIC1:

Okay.

MIC2:

So it should be on the market by April.

MIC1:

Nice! Okay. Just in time for the thick of the spring market. Which starts, unofficially, Monday.

MIC2:

Is the Superbowl this weekend? Oh 1st. I Who do you think is gonna win?

MIC1:

17, final score.

MIC2:

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

MIC1:

Done.

MIC2:

Um, don't hate me for this question. Who does Travis Kelsey play more?

MIC1:

Um, Mr. Swift plays for the Kansas City Chiefs. You're welcome.

MIC2:

Okay.

MIC1:

Yeah, it's sunday. So, um Who are you rooting for?

MIC2:

you rooting for? Okay. Oh my

MIC1:

my gosh. Um not

MIC2:

people.

MIC1:

Oh, they've

MIC2:

Um, Steve you? Okay, cool.

MIC1:

know? Uh, the spring market starts Monday. I know we just said that, but that's very important. So, do you get offers accepted in multiple offer situations?

MIC2:

talking about this today. So, we say love letters are out.

MIC1:

Love letters, meaning letters from the

MIC2:

hmm. But Anything creative, so anything that's going to make your offer stand out. I had a team member recently who had multiple offers, two offers, they were like essentially the same, she said, that the, the sellers didn't know how to make a decision. They put in the same percent down, same price, like same terms, and the winning party offered a gift card to the sellers for a restaurant. I don't know about the legality of that, but it worked.

MIC1:

Well, I mean. Technically speaking, then their offer was a little bit higher than

MIC2:

than the other person's. Exactly. Um, you know, there's a lot of discussion right now about, like, commissions. And real estate so offering to pay one side's commission, I think is going to become a thing Offering to put earnest money hard. So your first thousand dollars saying it's going hard whether We close or not you get to keep that

MIC1:

my

MIC2:

Um I'm giving away my trade secrets here.

MIC1:

Yeah

MIC2:

Um, what else? I mean, honestly, you have to button up all of your terms. So it's not just about price. It's about price. It's about closing. It's about tax preparation. It's about earnest money. It's about your down payment. And if a seller has five offers, they're going to look at every single one of these individually and decide who is the most qualified and who they think is going to get to that closing table. Cause you could have the highest price, but if you're putting 5 percent down and 2, 000 in earnest money, And your tax preparation, you're asking for 110 percent and you're up against an offer who's maybe a lower purchase price, but they have 10 percent or 15 percent down and they're giving you 5 percent in earnest money. That's definitely a safer option for a seller.

MIC1:

Interesting. Why?

MIC2:

Why? On all of that?

MIC1:

Between those two offers, yes. Why?

MIC2:

reason I ask is

MIC1:

ask is because I ask multiple agents this question because I personally would like to know why, because to me it makes no difference.

MIC2:

no difference. It's, you know, people are well qualified for mortgages, so the likelihood of them closing are very high. So when you're comparing cash to mortgage, I think it depends on the situation of whether one's better or another one is. at the end of the day, when you're talking who's going to get to the closing table and maybe who's more invested. So earnest money is one of those things where, like, we know you could get it back if something falls through. Right 99 percent of the time it's not on the line But if you're willing to give more up front, it just shows a little bit more commitment um, i've had plenty of sellers who Looking at two offers and one has less earners money and they're otherwise they're very similar. They're saying oh this person's putting a significant more down in earnest money So it seems like they're a little bit more motivated and willing to put more skin in the game

MIC1:

Okay

MIC2:

Tax proration when you're in a multiple offer situation And you're asking the sellers to pay 110 percent of the tax, the latest tax bill, which was probably two years ago. You don't know what those taxes are. That's a disadvantage to someone who's going to say to be determined in attorney review, because that's going to be fair, at least, or to someone who's saying 100%, because that buyer is now offering to pay any increase in taxes on the seller's behalf. So it's all these little details that are gonna help you in a multiple offer situation.

MIC1:

You made mouth noises. Someone throwing it out there. Yeah. Oh, I've heard them a few times. I just want you to know. I know. It's gross. not gross, Jamie, but it's a natural bodily function.

MIC2:

Well, it's kinda gross, but anyways, yeah.

MIC1:

Well, thank you for that information.

MIC2:

You're welcome.

MIC1:

What else you got?

MIC2:

How time

MIC1:

What time is it?.

MIC2:

it? Well, shit. thank you everyone for listening to another episode of Realty Chicago. If you are interested in sharing a story, or finding us on social media, or just connecting in some way, you can find us on Instagram,@RealTea Chicago. You can also email us at RealTeaChicago@gmail.com. We do have a TikTok the Realty Chicago podcast. and I've got a Google form if you wanna fill it out. That's gonna be linked on our Instagram

MIC1:

our anonymous stories.

MIC2:

Yes, so find us and let's connect.

MIC1:

Signing out.

MIC2:

And we're done.

MIC1:

Okay, bye! Bye!

People on this episode

Head Shot

Jamie Book

Host
Contributor

Terrence Terrell

Co-host