Listen to this RE Agent Training Tape....

[James H. Bushart]

....how to prepare a potential buyer to buy from you.

[James E. Braun, CMI]

So are you going to pay the $97 a month?

[James H. Bushart]

No...but in a little bit, after I have a bowl of soup, I'm going to tell my story of this week's winner of the "Used House Salesman of the Week" award.

[James E. Braun, CMI]

Cool! Marcel is ordering the trophey, now. We will need to make this a weekly feature.

[James H. Bushart]

Three inspections in three days...all lakeside properties on hillsides overlooking beautiful Table Rock Lake...and all three were duds.

The first, a foreclosure that has been vacant for two years, was totally consumed by termites with another lake forming from within the crawlspace from a broken service line that appears to have frozen in December.

The second and third each had inoperable septic systems with effluent flowing down the hill and into the lake.

The second house is the one with the used house salesman bound for Hell.

We call it a house, but in actuality, it is a two car garage with an apartment over it. The house was to be built on the property, later, but never came about. The garage was at the end of the driveway, of course, and had two garage doors -- one automatic and one manual. It could not be entered from the apartment, above, but only through the garage doors or a side door on the opposite side from the upstairs apartment entrance.

I describe the garage as I do for, when I pointed out to the client that the garage had no firewall (walls or ceiling) and had open heater vents .... the agent explained to my client that this would be easily fixed. He would simply have an appraiser he knows come out and declare the garage to be a "basement".

And...as for the sewage rolling in to the lake...he knows a guy who will fix it. While this particular county has no building codes, there are septic codes....but not to worry. While there would be no permit (since his pal is not licensed to install a septic system)..."once it is buried, no one will know the difference, anyway".

This was a "buyer's agent" by the way.

After providing my client with the report and before the agent got a chance to get "his guy" to the property, I reported the flow of effluent to the county health department....just to be sure that the seller does not pass this off to the next guy.

Yes, my client walked. Called me today with another place he ....and his new agent...will meet me at on Tuesday.

[James E. Braun, CMI]

What kind of soup did you have?

[Brian E. Kelly]

"Client and his new agent", excellent.

[Christopher Currins]

lakeside properties on hillsides overlooking beautiful Table Rock Lake

You need to learn to write a little softer down there James, it's all about the view.....location...location...location....

[James H. Bushart]

This, today, in the KC Star....

Originally Posted by KCStar

Trying to figure out the state of an ongoing FBI investigation into “pay to play” allegations in the Show-Me State is like trying to peer into my childhood aquarium.


The waters were always murky because I hadn’t cleaned the dumb thing in weeks.


The water is always cloudy, too, when it comes to federal probes. G-Men don’t talk to us media types.


But given the stakes, and being an inquisitive sort, you press on and talk to people who may or may not have been interviewed by FBI agents. And you eventually come to a conclusion:

Things are about to get very, very interesting.


We know this: The FBI has been extremely active. At least a handful of lawmakers in the state Capitol began talking to agents about a year ago in connection with “pay to play,” or the allegation of special interests forking over campaign contributions in exchange for action on legislation they care about.


If there was a clear-cut quid pro quo, that would be against the law.


On Jan. 22, former lawmaker Bob Johnson of Lee’s Summit told The Star that he was interviewed by FBI agents earlier this month concerning a 2005 bill regulating the adult-entertainment industry. They asked about why the bill had wound up in his committee.


A day later, Don Lograsso, the lawyer for the Republican-led House in Jeff City, said he was taking an unexpected and indefinite leave of absence. Lograsso said his decision to step away had nothing to do with the ongoing FBI probe. And it may not.


Still, facts are stubborn things. And they suggest that Lograsso has a connection to the bill in question.


In 2005, the bill passed the Senate, but got bogged down in the House. At about the same time, strip-club owners contributed $35,000 to a campaign committee with ties to Lograsso and former House Speaker Rod Jetton.


The campaign committee receiving the $35,000 paid Lograsso for consulting work.


Asked if he has spoken to FBI agents, Lograsso said only that he wasn’t talking to the press. Period.


Jetton, facing felony assault charges in connection with an unrelated incident last year, also isn’t talking, but has said he did nothing wrong.


Meanwhile, political insiders say a slew of defense lawyers in Kansas City suddenly have been snapped up. We know a grand jury is meeting this week at the federal courthouse.


Subpoenas, it’s said, have been issued and a case is well under way.
A grand jury hears testimony. It may or may not decide to issue indictments.


If some are issued, some intriguing possibilities emerge. One of those is a chance to gain an inside view into the Statehouse at a time when even some Republicans have said pay to pay was rampant.


If even one state government insider shows up this week before a grand jury, we’ll know that this investigation has taken another important step.


That step will come 12 years after another former House speaker, Bob Griffin, was sentenced to four years in federal prison for accepting a bribe and using his position as speaker of the House to help his friends.
****
Money talks.


Especially in politics.


Whether it should or not is a subject for another day.


But for now, the whopping $233,000 that Republican Kevin Yoder raised in just a few weeks in December for his 3rd District congressional race ranks as a potential game-changer in Kansas.


In the wake of Democrat incumbent Dennis Moore’s retirement, the early line was that this was supposed to be Nick Jordan’s race.
Jordan, a former state senator, was the GOP nominee in 2008. He jumped into the race on Nov. 23, Yoder on Dec. 15.


Now the Republican world awaits Jordan’s fourth-quarter fund-raising report. If he outdistances Yoder by a bunch — and that’s unlikely given Yoder’s big number — look for GOP heavies to try to clear the field for Jordan.


If Jordan doesn’t, we could be looking at a bare-knuckles primary fight that will extend all the way to August.
To reach Steve Kraske, call 816-234-4312 or send e-mail to skraske@kcstar.com.

Nine home inspectors met with Mo House Rep. Curt Dougherty in his office on the morning of January 14, 2010, to discuss with him the rumors that he was going to support the Missouri Association of Realtors and their annual bill to regulate home inspectors. Dougherty had supported the home inspectors in each previous year, fighting the bill for its conflict of interest and its harm to the inspection industry.

This year was different. Same bill…same wording….but Dougherty was supporting it. Why?

“You may as well put a “For Sale” sign in front of this capital building,” he told us. “The real estate lobby is very powerful and spend a lot of money, here. Next week, they are taking the entire legislature out for an evening of wining and dining,” he said.

“There are nine of you. For a thousand dollars apiece, you hire a lobbyist and he gets things done for you,” he added.

I asked him “What about the consumer? Who takes care of him?”

Dougherty told us “It is not about being right or wrong. It is all about money. I hate to put it this way, but it’s the truth.”

[James H. Bushart]

Originally Posted by jbraun

What kind of soup did you have?

Chicken. My wife makes the best chicken soup and sitting here on top of our hill, looking down at the winter blast covering our little town, it tastes soooooooo good.

[James H. Bushart]

Originally Posted by ccurrins

You need to learn to write a little softer down there James, it's all about the view.....location...location...location....

I have to say this...


Since moving down here to Southwest Missouri from St. Louis a year ago, November.....this is only my second crooked real estate salesman.

In St. Louis, we had thousands...all crawling over the top of one another trying to get a sale...and never to be seen again. Anything goes, there....and they will ask you (after 45 minutes of inspecting) why you are still there.

Here, the real estate salesman is part of the small community and everyone knows where they live...where their husbands/wives work....etc.

I have taken on a different strategy. I refuse to inspect for clients who use the crooked used house salesman. I explain to those that I work with and who refer me that if either of these two guys (so far) are involved in the deal, don't call me. I don't want to be connected in any way with anything they do.

The word gets around in a small town pretty fast. It's helped me get even more calls.

I recommend it to everyone in a small town.

[Christopher Currins]

Originally Posted by jbushart

I have to say this...


Since moving down here to Southwest Missouri from St. Louis a year ago, November.....this is only my second crooked real estate salesman.

In St. Louis, we had thousands...all crawling over the top of one another trying to get a sale...and never to be seen again. Anything goes, there....and they will ask you (after 45 minutes of inspecting) why you are still there.

Here, the real estate salesman is part of the small community and everyone knows where they live...where their husbands/wives work....etc.

I have taken on a different strategy. I refuse to inspect for clients who use the crooked used house salesman. I explain to those that I work with and who refer me that if either of these two guys (so far) are involved in the deal, don't call me. I don't want to be connected in any way with anything they do.

The word gets around in a small town pretty fast. It's helped me get even more calls.

I recommend it to everyone in a small town.

Good advice!