Rhode Island Real Estate, Buyers Agents, Paul Silver

Interesting scenario came up: We have three buyers who would all like to buy these 3 condos. Note that there are only 3 units in the development... the guy who was in charge of the HOA (Home Owners Association) left and absconded with the money that had been paid in.

Because this fellow absocnded, the umbrella master insurance policy has not been paid in two years. So today, the HOA is not insured, and neither are the individual units. This makes for an interesting issue with buyers gaining financing, since no lender will lend on a condo without the master insurance poilicy in place.

Of course, our three buyers could purchase the entire building, assuming the guy who is 9 months behind in his mortgage is willing to sell... but then, no one has any information about the HOA, so it would be interesting to figure out how to buy this property.

Have any of you run into this issue before?

Any information and advice would be welcome.

I am seeking any and all information I can find regarding Epic Homes, a manufacturer of modular homes, which I believe is located in New Hampshire or Vermont... I can not seem to find them through Google.

Several questions I am looking to answer:

1. Have you used this manufacturer before?
2. Are you familiar with any distributors operating in Rhode Island?
3. Are you aware of their warranty, and what it covers?
4. Do you know of anyone who has ever made a claim against the warranty, and what the claim was for, and what the result of the claim was?
5. Contact information for this firm???

I have a client who has been told by someone in Maine that they make sturdy and a bit upscale homes, and that the warranty is a good one as warrantie sgo.

If anyone has information on this manufacturer, and on distributors in RI, please let me know, and if you have the contact info for the firm, that would also be extremely helpful.

I thank you all in advance.

This is a preliminary post regarding a rental property we manage, which is rented to students. The tenants left the property for 2 weeks over the Christmas and New Year holidays, after telling our manager that they would not be leaving, since they were taking interim courses.

When one came back on Tuesday, they turned on the heat, which they had shut off while away. After about 5 hours of heat, the burst pipes thawed, and water poured into the house on the second and first floors. Fortunately it was only flooding for a couple of hours before we turned the water off.

As it turns out, in RI, it was not possible to get burst pipe insurance until July 07, and against advice, the owner did not opt for that added coverage (D3 coverage) -- I should say, against our advice, but he did take his insurance agents advice, which was not to extend the coverage.

New Year's eve in RI near the water had temperatures below 20 degrees, and winds up to gusting 50 miles an hour. This particular property sites on the bay, exposed to the wind off the bay in a big way.

Needless to say, the damge is extensive, but not as bad as it could have been had it warmed up enough to thaw the pipes earlier.

Just a note to RI homeowners: MAKE SURE YOU HAVE BURST PIPE COVERAGE IN YOUR HOMEOWNERS POLICY, if you think you have even limited risk. THe premium is substantially higher, but much less than the cost of damages to the property.

For us, recourse now goes to the tenants parents' homeowners policy, and to a warranty on the manufactured modular home builder.

We shall see how it goes. I will keep you posted.

We see many folks out there who simply do not understand the value of having a buyer representative to help assist in looking out for their, the buyers, interests... why is that?

It seems sometimes, consumers feel that they might get a better deal when the purchase a house IF THEY USE THE LISTING AGENT. I must say, that I have not seen a buyer save any money without a buyers agent to represent them... So it cant be that they actually save any money... so why not use a buyer representative?

Consumers seem not to understand that the listing agent is by default looking to get the best price for the seller, so there is of neccessity a conflict of interest in this scenario: How does an agetn represent the interests of the buyer while also representing the interest of the seller? In short, in cannot be done. They may claim to represent neither party, but then what is the advantage to that? So now neither party would have a dedicated representative.

So still, I am at a loss as to why a buyer would not want representation that was for their interest EXCLUSIVELY. You see, many agents will say that they can represent the interest of both parties... they call this DUAL AGENCY. Imagine that? THis would be like having one lawyer represent both you, and the guy who hit you in teh car accident the other day... would you like that? Would you think that you were being well represented? Of course not... but then, why feel that you are being represented when the scenario is the same, but this time pertains to the purchase of say a $300,000 house? The house is likely to cost more than the car accident, yet when it comes to the car, we want our own representation... hmmm...

Buyers: Please visit our page that helps describe the benefits of a buyers representative, and read also the role of the listing agent... these articles apply nationwide, and what ever the name they call it, listing agents represent the seller, buyer agents represent the interest of the buyer, and dual agents exist in neverland, representing neither the buyer or the seller... yeah, right. There is a contract with the seller, and the lising agent gets paid based on maximizing the sale price.

Let us know if we can explain this better for you.

These days, where many of us in real estate see many people losing homes, getting behind on payments, losing jobs, and generally feeling pain this holiday season, it is important that we all get some perspective, and remind ourselves what it is that matters most in our lives: Our health, our family, our friends.

It is also time to take stock of the fact that while business may be slow, it is a good time to thank the Force, or God, or whomever you think should be thanked, for what we do have this season: Opportunity, and plenty of good prospects. If we have our health, we should be thankful for that. If we have our family and friends around us, we should be thankful for that as well.

We should remember that not all people are doing as well as we, and that we, in our roles as leaders in the real estate world, have knowledge that can assist others... and if ever there is a time when helping others should come easily, it is in this holiday season that we should search for what we can do to help.

I will be thinking of these things this holiday season, and I hope that you all do too, and mostly, I wish you all a very healthy, friend and family filled Christmas, and I wish that this year will bring you great things and great spirit.

Merry Christmas and Happy New year! May this be the best you have had, and may all after this be even better, healthier, wealthier, and yes, wiser.