Tales From The Trenches – Wrong Way To Save A Buck!

I’ve been waiting years for a platform to tell this story. Well I finally have it. This one goes back to 1990 and I have found this story repeat itself  in different variations.

1990 was a lousy year for real estate in New York City. I was selling buildings like this one or at least trying to. Buyers were few and far between. Being a broker was not a very sexy job, people actually felt sorry for me when I told them I was a Real Estate Broker.

I was the selling agent for this building on East 73rd Street, a 10 unit building. The owner was a Japanaese company who put up their employees there who came to NYC rather than paying for a hotel.  It was tough to find a buyer and the price had to be dropped many times. I swear I had to show that building 100 times.

Finally I found a buyer and after a painful negotiation we finally had a deal, then a signed contract. I guess those were the olden days, the price was just over a million. Seemed like a lot at the time, but a deal. That meant a commission, a rarity in 1990, much like todays market.

The contract was signed in early February and if I recall closing was set for late March. The thought of a commission warmed me up in that freezing February. That was a cold month, I still remember.

I don’t recall the date but I know it was a Saturday night when I got the ill fated call.  How I was tracked down on a Saturday night I don’t know but it was about 10:00 PM  and it was the New York City Fire Department on the phone.  Imagine that call, why are they calling me? Not good.

Well it turns out there was a major problem at 59 E. 73rd Street. Water was flooding into all the adjacent buildings, not just a little but a lot. The Fire Department was looking for someone to give permission defore breakling down the door to go inside.  Who was I but the the broker awaiting  my commission. Boy, did it seem cold and ugly.

Well Monday morning I went in to NYC and begrudgingly took a cab up to E. 73rd Street. The door to the building was wide open so I walked in. No one else was there…yet. What a horror. The pipes had burst everywhere and water had destroyed the building. Water somehow got between the paint and drywall and there were trails that looked like snakes had crawled through the walls. Water was dripping everywhere, carpets were soaked and frozen, lights were shorted out. Holy Sh……so much for my commission. I hated NYC and Real Estate at that moment.

Finally some from the Japanese company showed up. Very weird scene. I started asking lots of questions like a detective. I kept probing trying to find out what caused this to happen. I figured I’d try and at least learn something.  Well after a lot of  CSY:NY detective work I finally got the answer. One of the employees at the company, a high level executive wanted to save a buck and decided to turn off the heat in the building. I can’t believe I said this but it’s true.

Well I don’t know what happened after that but about 18 months later the building finally sold. Someone actually bought the contract and I got paid. I’m sure there were a lot of insurance claims and law suits along the way. The owners probably got close to zero.

They sacreficed a few dollars and it cost them at least $1 million. Sadly I have seen variations of this happen, greed kicks in and it backfires. What I learned? Doing it wrong costs a lot more than doing it right.

Have a story to tell? Send to Ed Winslow, Tales From The Trenches at tips@metrocrete .com

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