Joe Kenny

This letter really hits home.

A letter from the Boss:

To All My Valued Employees,

There have been some rumblings around the office about the future of this company, and more specifically, your job. As you know, the economy has changed for the worse and presents many challenges. However, the good news is this: The economy doesn't pose a threat to your job. What does threaten your job however, is the changing political landscape in this country.

However, let me tell you some little tidbits of fact which might help you decide what is in your best interests.

First, while it is easy to spew rhetoric that casts employers against employees, you have to understand that for every business owner there is a Back Story. This back story is often neglected and overshadowed by what you see and hear. Sure, you see me park my Mercedes outside. You've seen my big home at last years Christmas party. I'm sure; all these flashy icons of luxury conjure up some idealized thoughts about my life.


However, what you don't see is the BACK STORY :

I started this company 28 years ago. At that time, I lived in a 300 square foot studio apartment for 3 years. My entire living apartment was converted into an office so I could put forth 100% effort into building a company, which by the way, would eventually employ you.

My diet consisted of Ramen Pride noodles because every dollar I spent went back into this company. I drove a rusty Toyota Corolla with a defective transmission. I didn't have time to date. Often times, I stayed home on weekends, while my friends went out drinking and partying. In fact, I was married to my business -- hard work, discipline, and sacrifice.

Meanwhile, my friends got jobs. They worked 40 hours a week and made a modest $50K a year and spent every dime they earned. They drove flashy cars and lived in expensive homes and wore fancy designer clothes. Instead of hitting the Nordstrom's for the latest hot fashion item, I was trolling through the discount store extracting any clothing item that didn't look like it was birthed in the 70's. My friends refinanced their mortgages and lived a life of luxury. I, however, did not. I put my time, my money, and my life into a business with a vision that eventually, someday, I too, will be able to afford these luxuries my friends supposedly had.

So, while you physically arrive at the office at 9am, mentally check in at about noon, and then leave at 5pm, I don't. There is no "off" button for me. When you leave the office, you are done and you have a weekend all to yourself. I unfortunately do not have the freedom. I eat, and breathe this company every minute of the day. There is no rest. There is no weekend. There is no happy hour. Every day this business is attached to my hip like a 1 year old special-needs child. You, of course, only see the fruits of that garden -- the nice house, the Mercedes, the vacations... you never realize the Back Story and the sacrifices I've made.

Now, the economy is falling apart and I, the guy that made all the right decisions and saved his money, have to bailout all the people who didn't. The people that overspent their paychecks suddenly feel entitled to the same luxuries that I earned and sacrificed a decade of my life for.

Yes, business ownership has is benefits but the price I've paid is steep and not without wounds.

Unfortunately, the cost of running this business, and employing you, is starting to eclipse the threshold of marginal benefit and let me tell you why:

I am being taxed to death and the government thinks I don't pay enough. I have state taxes. Federal taxes. Property taxes. Sales and use taxes. Payroll taxes. Workers compensation taxes. Unemployment taxes. Taxes on taxes. I have to hire a tax man to manage all these taxes and then guess what? I have to pay taxes for employing him. Government mandates and regulations and all the accounting that goes with it, now occupy most of my time. On Oct 15th, I wrote a check to the US Treasury for $288,000 for quarterly taxes. You know what my "stimulus" check was? Zero. Nada. Zilch.

The question I have is this: Who is stimulating the economy? Me, the guy who has provided 14 people good paying jobs and serves over 2,200,000 people per year with a flourishing business? Or, the single mother sitting at home pregnant with her fourth child waiting for her next welfare check? Obviously, government feels the latter is the economic stimulus of this country.

The fact is, if I deducted (Read: Stole) 50% of your paycheck you'd quit and you wouldn't work here. I mean, why should you? That's nuts. Who wants to get rewarded only 50% of their hard work? Well, I agree which is why your job is in jeopardy.

Here is what many of you don't understand ... to stimulate the economy you need to stimulate what runs the economy. Had suddenly government mandated to me that I didn't need to pay taxes, guess what? Instead of depositing that $288,000 into the Washington black-hole, I would have spent it, hired more employees, and generated substantial economic growth. My employees would have enjoyed the wealth of that tax cut in the form of promotions and better salaries. But you can forget it now.

When you have a comatose man on the verge of death, you don't defibrillate and shock his thumb thinking that will bring him back to life, do you? Or, do you defibrillate his heart? Business is at the heart of America and always has been. To restart it, you must stimulate it, not kill it. Suddenly, the power brokers in Washington believe the poor of America are the essential drivers of the American economic engine. Nothing could be further from the truth and this is the type of change you can keep.

So where am I going with all this?

It's quite simple.

If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, my reaction will be swift and simple. I'll fire you and your coworkers. You can then plead with the government to pay for your mortgage, your SUV, and your child's future. Frankly, it isn't my problem any more.

Then, I will close this company down, move to another country, and retire. You see, I'm done. I'm done with a country that penalizes the productive and gives to the unproductive. My motivation to work and to provide jobs will be destroyed, and with it, will be my citizenship.

So, if you lose your job, it won't be at the hands of the economy; it will be at the hands of a political hurricane that swept through this country, steamrolled the constitution, and will have changed its landscape forever. If that happens, you can find me sitting on a beach, retired, and with no employees to worry about....

Signed, THE BOSS

"The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money." Margaret Thatcher

Truer words have never been uttered until my good friend and, fellow colleague, JoAnne Vetter of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Mequon, WI., posted the following paragraph on Facebook.

The market changed fast and furiously and the focus changed with it. Everyone--buyers, sellers and agents--lost sight of what real estate used to be about. If we are going to facilitate the turn around, we have to re-focus on what real estate means to the majority of people...HOME, not House. We need to get people thinking about why they buy: providing a home for those they love, a neighborhood and schools that will profoundly influence the lives of their children, a lifestyle that they have earned through their hard work. It's not about granite countertops, appreciation, and counting on your real estate as a piggy bank to pay for your retirement, vacations or boat. We've excised the heart out of real estate and then wonder why the market has no pulse.

I take my hat off to you Joanne. The leadership and wisdom you demonstrate is what I gain the most from having you as a friend and colleague. Thank you for this great post.

Go to Joanne's website for all of your Wisconsin Real Estate Needs http://www.JoAnnVetter.com

Last night I wrote about the conversation I had with a past client and good friend regarding what they felt Realtors were worth. Tonight I'm responding to a posting that was left on my Face Book page.

As a non-Kool-Aid drinker, I think it would be helpful if you told us sellers what you were paying for on our behalf, i.e. ad on Realtor.com is $50, Zillow is $100, etc. That would help justify the 5-6% fee that gets tacked on along with the tax escrow and stamps that sellers have to come up with. If you went to a car mechanic and he just said, "That'll be $500", what would you ask for next? An itemized repair bill . . . Where's the seller's itemized bill?

It's right next to the one the Doctors give you, but you don't see every item that is part of the bill. Most attorney's ask for some type of retainer upfront before they will even talk to you. A Realtor takes on a listing with no questions asked. The Realtor doesn't ask for a retainer yet is expected to pay for all of the marketing and services to get a home sold and risks that the home doesn't sell. Why do homes not sell most times? Most times the seller needs to get a certain amount for a home so they can pay all of their expenses and price the home accordingly despite what a Realtor tells them. Most sellers don't care if a buyer pays to much as long as they get their money. How about the risk a Realtor takes buy driving someone around for weeks on end ( especially when the gas was $4.25 a gallon) looking at 2 story homes and then having that person buy a split level without the Realtor they have been working with. "Sorry Joe, it happened so fast, but we will tell our friends and family what kind of great guy you are." Thanks. Hey while you're offering up my praises, would you call my mortgage company and tell them what kind of a " great guy" I am. Maybe they will say I don't have to pay my mortgage that month or at least give me a glass of Kool-Aid.

I had a very interesting chat this evening with a close friend of mine and past client who I will call Jeff. He and his wife Judy moved out of the area and I referred them to an agent to sell their home. While the home was being marketed for purchase, one of Judy's former colleagues approached her and asked if she could rent the home until they found a buyer. In the market that we are currently in this is not a bad idea. They called me to see if they still had to pay the Realtor even though they found the renter themselves. I told them that I didn't know what their arrangement was with the other agent because every transaction is different. I did ask them if they felt that their agent earned his keep. I was taken back but not surprised when they told me that there was no Realtor who earned the money they made.

Now, Jeffs wife Judy is a nurse and I thought I would have a little fun with him on this. I said "you know, I don't think nurses deserve the money they make for what they do. All a nurse a does is pass out some medications and fluff a pillow here or there." I can tell that Jeff was a little miffed about my reasoning. He stated that nurses have to know so much about so many things and that's why they get paid what they do. I responded back with " well, why should I have to pay for what they know if they are only using a small percentage of what they know on me?" Because this is the logic I have gotten over eight years in this business.

I should come clean at this point. My wife is a nurse and I see how tired she is when she comes home every night. I hear her stories of how difficult her job can be. I hear how she busted her hump for someone only to get a complaint from a patient because she didn't have time to fluff a pillow. My wife earns every cent of what she makes and I'm certain that Judy earns every cent she makes as well. There are good nurses and bad nurse along with good Realtors and bad Realtors. There are people who don't see all the things a nurse does for a patient in a 12 hour shift and their are people who don't see what Realtors do for their clients over a six month period.

If you see a Realtor that's worth his or her weight in gold, tell them and everybody you know that will listen. If you see a Realtor who is not worth his or her weight in gold tell them that as well. If people sit back and don't express their true feelings, the problems they had with a Realtor may never go a way. There is a good amount of the nations population that don't realize a Realtor only is compensated for their services when a transaction comes to a close, whether it be finding a home for a buyer or obtaining a renter for an investor. There are things that are done before, during, and after two parties agree to sell or lease their properties. Realtors, myself included, need to do a better job at communicating with our current clients and our future clients of what we are doing and what we are planning to do.

Recently, I helped a first time home buyer relocate to the area and provided them with the home warranty information that my company provides. The warranty was purchased, the buyers move into their new home and everybody lives happily ever after. Not so much. We read what the warranty cover and felt that my clients would be in good shape. The week my clients moved into the home, they were struck with the second floor being 20 degrees warmer than the rest of the house. They called the warranty company and the warranty company dispatched an HVAC contractor. Good news and bad news. Good news, there is nothing wrong with the air conditioner. The bad news, the ducts were improperly installed and if the extra $79 upgrade was purchased this repair would have been covered. However this case was different because the ductwork had a design flaw and that is not covered on any warranty. When the previous sellers had the home remodlled, the ductwork was routed in such a way that there was very little air flow reaching the second floor. So an exhaust fan fan is purchased along with 2 window air conditioners. That's beautiful, nothing says welcome to your first new home more than a catostrophic house repair. The bottom line is read the warranty of your choice, ask questions and really know what it covers and what it dosen't.