BILL CHERRY'S GREATEST DALLAS PARK CITIES REAL ESTATE BLOG: August 2008

Over the past week or so, I've been letting readers peek into our experiences as we've gone through the journey of doing extensive updating and repairs at World Headquarters.  I've posted our choice of electrician, framing contractor, dry wall contractor and air conditioning contractor.

The idea, of course, is to give Dallas residents a head start in their own selections when they need these services.  (I would like to critique a chimney sweep service for you, but if I were to do that, it would likely end up with the company wanting to sue me)

When all is said and done, the appearance and function of remodeling is in the hands of the finish carpenter.  They have hands of a heart surgeon.  They are the ones that add the trim around windows, hang doors so they open and shut, put in that beautiful crown molding, cornice and base that brings life to the room.

Unfortunately, they appear to be a dying breed.  Lots of carpenters claim to be finish men, but few measure up.  Here's one that does.  Steve Shea.  He has amazing skill and unblemished patience; both requirements of that trade.

In fact Steve is so good that he doesn't advertise, doesn't have a sign on his truck, and is always busy from old clients and their referrals.  So without me telling you about him, in all likelihood you wouldn't find him.

Steve works alone, and he was with us for two weeks.  His price was more than fair and his work is flawless. 

I asked him about himself.  He's 55 and learned his trade helping his father, beginning when he had just entered his teen years.  And like me, he took woodworking and metal shop when he was in junior high school.  Both of us agreed that that was a wonderfully useful part of our education.

Steve Shea

214 597-3823

Like all of the others I've written about, my recommendation to you is to interview Steve and see some of his work.  It is up to you and Steve to decide if you want to work together. 

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS

214 503-8563

1 800 314-7110

Our 43rd Year Selling Texas

            Like most milestones of my life, music seems to play a close association with the events.  I never hear one of the Antonio Carlos (Tom) Jobim basa novas that I don't think of the Playboy Club. And in my memory, I'm 22-years old.

            Hugh Hefner opened the first of his series of private key clubs in Chicago in early-1960.  Two years later, on October 16, 1962, he opened the St. Louis Playboy Club at 3914 Lindell Boulevard. 

            That club was the only one that was built from the ground up, and it was owned and built in a partnership with a wealthy St. Louis real estate investor and insurance man, Max Lubin.

            I was working at a Clayton bank at the time, and frequently played the piano in the evenings, primarily as a substitute at St. Louis hotels and restaurants.

            The city was a very social one in those days; perhaps it still is.  After work, people frequently went out for drinks and dinner, and those people were always in anticipation of the latest nightclub de jour. Fun to see, fun to talk about at the office the next day.

             So naturally, the St. Louis Playboy Club opened with great anticipation and fanfare.

<<===St. Louis Playboy Club Lobby, Circa 1962

            The first night I walked into the club, which was sometime during its first week, the living room pianist was taking a break and the very elaborate hi-fi system was playing Jobim's new hit, "The Girl from Ipanema."

            Several times over the next year, I was called to substitute for one of the regular pianist.  During my breaks, it seemed to me that inevitably, one of the first tunes to play was the Jobim hit.

             So that tune for me became the club's signature.

            Summer came. I left St. Louis for good, and stopped over in New Orleans for a brief vacation.  That first afternoon, I walked from the Royal Orleans Hotel to the New Orleans' version of the Playboy Club.  It was in what had been a carriage house between two famous restaurants - Felix's Oyster Bar and Diamond Jim Moran's Restaurant on Rue Iberville between Bourbon and Royal Streets.

            As I walked through the front door - an elaborate cut glass one --- the hi-fi was playing "The Girl from Ipanema."   The bunny intuitively knew I would sit on the couch in the club's living room and enjoy a cold Tangueray and tonic.  I sat down.  She brought it to me. 

            The last time I had seen her was in St. Louis.

BILL CHERRY, REALTOR

DALLAS

214 503-8563

1 800 314-7110

Our 43rd Year Selling Texas!

Since we have been living in our current Cherry World Headquarters in Dallas this past three years, I have hired and summarily fired seven plumbers.  Four were plumbing companies and three were plumbers who worked independently.  All were licensed.

Three price gouged and the other four flat out lied to me.  All of them assumed I didn't know anything about plumbing.  Bad mistake on their part.  I have the name and number of another plumber.  I'm going to call him and try him.  I'll let you know how it turns out.

But if you live in Dallas, here's your chance to chime in.  Tell us who you use as your plumber and why you're willing to recommend him.

Meanwhile, my blog pieces this week have told the names and phone numbers of tradesmen we have found exceptional:  electrician, air conditioning, framer, drywall contractor.  Over the next couple of days, I'll tell you the name of an exceptional trim carpenter, a great place to buy a fireplace insert, a chimney sweep, and the best shutter manufacturer.

Mark this site and print these entries.  They'll prove valuable to you if you live in the Metroplex.

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS

214 503-8563

Our 43rd Year

Drywall work.  Lots of us call it by the name given it by the first manufacturer of the stuff, Sheetrock.  It's supposed to replicate plaster in appearance and functionality, but it is not as expensive or time consuming to install and maintain.

It's molded gypsum sandwiched between two pieces of heavy paper.  Most home applications are 4' x 8' x 1/2" sheets nailed or screwed to the wall and ceiling framing members.  The seams are then covered with a somewhat pasty gypsum with heavy paper tape pressed into the gooey mess.

After they completely dry out, those seams are sanded smooth.  In some areas this process is called "tape and bed," in other areas it's referred to as "tape and float."  Whichever you choose to call it, hanging and finishing drywall is both labor-intensive and an art.

As part of the home improvement project Patty and I began a couple of weeks ago, we needed the services of a drywall contractor.  The interviewing process began.  We picked Javier Garcia and his crew, a group recommended to us by our framing contractor, Mickey Smith.

Interestingly, it was four men, including Javier, plus his 14-year old nephew, Edgar.  Edgar served as a gofer, but more importantly, he was always called to bridge translation gaps between this primarily Spanish speaking crew, and the two English-only speaking employers.

There are trades where Mexican-bred men seem to excel:  masonry, drywall, painting, tile.  Javier and his crew were not exceptions. 

In this picture, that's Javier on the left, Manuel next, and Edgar The Translator on the right.  That's World Headquarters in the background.

NOTE:  The way Javier is pronounced is Hauv-e-air.

Javier Garcia

Garcia Drywall and Painting

214 690-2098

214 324-5861

Like the other contractors we have used and whose names I have passed on to you in these posts, Garcia Drywall and Painting comes without my specific recommendation.  However, each is someone you should interview and do your due diligence on id you need the service they provide.

Here are the other posts to this series:  Framing Air Conditioning electrical.  Others left to come include plumbing, finish carpenter and flooring contractor.

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS

214 503-8563

Our 43rd Year

Updating along with taking care of deferred maintenance at our Dallas home continues.  But because it took so long and after a number of false starts to assemble the team to do the work, I vowed to share our findings with all of Dallas.

In the previous two pieces, I told you about Mike the Electrician and Roberto Miranda at Quigley Heating and Air Conditioning. Now it's time for the framing crew.

While most of our home is brick veneer, there are parts like the gables and the garage that were sided with what I have always thought was one of the worse inventions of mankind, T-111.  This stuff looks good the day it is hung, but it's usually a quick trip down hill after that.  Ours needed to come down and be replaced with one of the modern "lifetime" sidings.

Through a stroke of luck, we found Mickey Smith, a local third generation carpenter/contractor who has been framing many of the elaborate additions to the multi-million dollar Highland Park homes for years.  Mickey brought by one of his four men crews -- they've all worked together for years.

Mickey always in his old-fashioned carpenter overalls, worked right with them.(That's Mickey, second from the left.)

Some framing needed correcting, exterior doors changed out and the siding needed to be replaced.  It was a much more complex job than it sounds.

With four days of intense work, this time it's there to stay!. Here's how to reach Mickey:

Mickey Smith

MLS Construction

214 801-8565

903 873-8041

Like the others, I am not recommending Mickey and his company.  You'll need to interview him and do your own due diligence.  However, I am suggesting that you consider him. 

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS

214 503-8563

Our 43rd Year!

Finding competent contractors and repair people in any large town is a serious task.  Dallas is no exception.

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - PARK CITIES

214 503-8563

Our 45Tth Year

Those of you who have read my pieces over the years know that my real estate career started by accident.  For those of you who don't, here are the Bill's Cliff Notes:

I was a young banker and my wife was an accountant.  Adding our salaries together, we were barely getting by.  I found a book in the library by William Nickerson, "How I Made $1,000,000 In Real Estate," read it and then we decided the advice there would be our meal ticket to a better financial life.

We began by buying, renovating and selling or renting the large 19th Century homes of Galveston. That required us to not only learn about construction, but to also learn which electricians, plumbers, carpenters, air conditioning mechanics and trim men were competent and fair with their charges, and which ones weren't.

That's a huge learning curve and not getting it right can quickly put a remodeler in the poor house.

Recently, we've had to have some significant repair and updating work done to our home in Dallas, and it has required us to begin looking for and testing a whole new set of companies and their employees.  Over the next few days, I'm going to give you some that we have found to be real winners.

MIKE ALEXANDER

TEXAS ELECTRICAL

214 289-0639

Many handymen and do-it-yourselfers feel they, themselves, are competent to do home electrical work.  And that's what one of the previous owners of our home thought, too.  Unfortunately his knowledge and ability in this area was slightly on the positive side of zip.  Most of what he did was far from meeting code and some was dangerous.

Mike Alexander, the one man owner-employee of Texas Electrical came to us from a random search of the classified ads of a neighborhood magazine.  He spent two days here.  He came on time, worked quickly, was very neat and proud of his work, and his charges when it came time to collect were very fair.

Dallas area residents who need residential or commercial electrical work would be wise to check out Texas Electrical.  Mike is a real winner!

Tomorrow, I'm going to help you to know and be able to depend on a fine air conditioning company.  You're sure to be surprised...there is a REAL winner among those in Dallas.

*It is unfortunate that tort cases being what they are today, it is necessary for me to add a disclaimer.  Obviously I can't guarantee anyone else's experience with Mike and Texas Electrical will be as good as ours was.  But I can suggest that you interview Mike, check his references and decide for yourself when you are considering hiring an electrician.

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS

214 503-8563

1 800 314-7110

Our 43rd Year!

Several years ago, I learned that a real estate lien had been placed against a piece of property for a loan, and that the loan documents had not only been forged, but the forged signature had been notarized.

I brought the matter to the attention of the District Attorney.  After some calls and investigation, he concluded that filing a criminal suit would not produce a conviction; and further, that it should be filed as a tort suit.  "This is a family matter, not a criminal matter," he said.

He went on, and I somewhat paraphrase, "People forge signatures all of the time.  Courts just don't get too upset about it.  I suppose they may relate it to a kid signing his mom's name on his report card."  So what's that mean?  That a mischievous kid and a thief are one and the same?

And as time passed, this occurrence needed to be the basis of a law suit whereby the forger had used part or all of the proceeds of the nearly quarter of a million dollar loan for their own benefit.  The lawyer representing the plaintiff also opined that to file for recovery, based on the forgery, wouldn't produce a strong case.

The money was never accounted for or recovered, and there was never a tort suit filed. The notary was not disciplined for attesting to a signature for a person she not only didn't know, but obviously did not witness signing the document.  The property owner paid off the loan.

Recently, one of my clients wondered what had happened to a significant amount of earnest money he had put up on behalf of him and his business partner to buy a Dallas property.  The deal had not been consummated, and his earnest money was never returned to him.

On his behalf, I began pressing for him to get copies of the file from the title company.  I volunteered to look them over to see if I could figure out that had happened.

Lo and behold, there was the Texas Board of Real Estate's promulgated form that gives the escrow company directions as to how the earnest money will be disbursed.

Of course not only had my client never personally been in the offices of the escrow company, but they apparently had made no effort to determine whether or not he had signed the document that was being presented to them.  Instead they had disbursed the large sum of earnest money in accordance with the instructions on the form.

My client's signature was a forgery.  It will be interesting to see how the escrow company chooses to handle this very obvious failure.

But my real question are these: 

1. Why don't people who forge others' signatures stand trial for a criminal offense? 
2. Why aren't notary publics properly disciplined when it is determined they violated their office?

Has this happened to you?

BILL CHERRY, REALTOR

DALLAS

214 503-8563

1 800 314-7110

Our 43rd Year Selling Texas!

Last week, I was kibitzing with one of my processor friends at a major title company.  A lot of files go through that office every month.

I said, "How about This Lender and That Mortgage Broker," and from her experience she gave me the rundown on each of them.  I wanted to know whether they were quickly processing their clients' applications, whether they were asking for ridiculous back-up documents, and whether or not they funded the loans on time.

The standard stuff Realtors need to know so they can direct their clients in the right direction.

Finally, I said to her, "Is there any company and any loan officer that stands out above all of the rest?"

Without pause, she said, "Guardian Nationwide Mortgage and their Bob Gray, Jr." 

What was especially interesting to me was that Bob stopped by after lunch a couple of weeks ago.  By gosh, he cold called me.  You see, we hadn't known each other before, and none of my clients had been his. 

Bob had seen a listing I have in Dallas' Oak Cliff (2122 Leander), and he wanted me to know he'd be there to provide the financing when a buyer came along.

He even brought along a handful of glossy flyers he had printed that showed the different mortgage products he had available, and how they could specifically be applied to my listing.

<<===Bob Gray, Jr.

Me being me, I quizzed Bob to see the breadth of his mortgage and finance knowledge.  He very easily passed my test.  And somewhere in the conversation, I learned that he is the president of the mortgage association in the Metroplex.

So what's my point?  Well it is that Bob Gray and his Guardian Nationwide Mortgage Company is a good one to remember and to consider using, whether you're a buyer or a Realtor.

Bob Gray, Jr.

Guardian Nationwide Mortgage

12850 Spurling Drive, Suite 129

Dallas, Texas 75230

872 392-9600

====================================================

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS

1 800 314-7110

Our 43rd Year Selling Texas

A while back, I co-oped with a listing agent whose license hangs with a well-known Dallas real estate firm.  It was obvious from the beginning that the agent not only knew the ropes, but practiced them.  Practiced them so well that I can say here and now that person has to be within the top five in competency of all of the agents I've worked with since 1964.

There couldn't be a Realtor on this planet who, if they worked with this agent once, wouldn't say it was an incredible experience. 

There was one problem:  The agent lied to me over and over again.  I mean big lies.  One after another; all told to me straight-faced.  Lies that didn't gain the agent any ground; just lies for the sake of telling a lie.

If that agent worked for me, I'd fire the agent, and then I'd morn the loss forever. 

What is it about the real estate business that somehow encourages this kind of behavior?  Whatever it is, I abhor it, don't you?

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS

1 800-314-7110 - 24 hours

Our 43rd Year Selling Texas