North vs South

Wrong rivalry.
As a product of American education this one took a little Internet confirmation but it is conceivable that a Civil War veteran dusted off his boots in my house.
The Civil War ended in 1865. The guy was prob 21. The Chicago Fire was 1871. Now he's 27. He moves to Chicago to get a construction job as the place is booming. My building was built in 1917. Now he's 67.

First floor of my place was a butcher shop. Dude liked bacon. And there you go.

And that's why I haven't covered up the tiles even if they've seen better days.
Cuz they've seen some interesting days.

From the Block

Holidays bring out those people/smellatives that moved to the burbs & now ask classy things of their party hosts like "Is it okay to leave my car unlocked?"
Um no. But not because you're in the big bad city.
Because it isn't 1943 anymore.
I wouldn't leave my car unlocked in a monastery parking lot in Wyoming on a holiday after the apocalypse.

"I betcha I paid a lot less for my place & it has 16 bedrooms & 9 car garage."

Uh huh. That 2 flat you left 17 years ago? Worth 4 times as much as your current digs. Let's move to a festive topic like the war.

"Wow, there is no parking around here at all!"
No, there's lots of parking.
It's just all full. Because tons of people live here.
Because Chicago totally rocks.

Pie for Breakfast

What do real estate agents do for fun on holiday weekends? Besides still have 3 open houses, do 4 showings & stalk the market online?

Take advantage of the 60 degree weather & go for a walk.
A nice Sunday morning walk. In a neighborhood that you drove 12 minutes to.
To scope it for teardowns, have a mini scavenger hunt of signs from agents in your company and find blog fodder.


Good thing I had 2 slices of pie for breakfast

Thanks

For not knocking down this building.

Not matter what kind of incongruous business they put in there.

People should be surrounded by beauty when they buy fan belts & flan.

BADDITION® – Redhanded

Baddition® in progress. And I thought these things were done in the dark. We will follow this project but looks like it’s heading straight to the Baddition® yearbook.

BADDITION® - Barnraising at the Double R

It was a ranch. But then they had some extra wood leftover from the barn. And then their cousin came in from Califernya extolling the latest in exterior access motel design. The bushes are covering up the ice machine.

Training Grounds

A Real Estate Ninja must complete many mythical tasks before ninjaness. Behold the razed lot fraught with many dangerous obstacles like beer bottles & railroad nails. I had to leap all over this lot to get to the front of my listing to take some fresh shots. I am like a cat.

A Star to Em Not at Em

I sheath my throwing star. The Chicago City Council has approved the Realtor Parking Pass. $300 is a bargain. That's 10 parking tickets. Or roughly 2 weeks' worth.

Free Lunch Tuesday

No need to pack a lunch or even have breakfast. It's Broker's Open Tuesday. Like a really spread out tradeshow, Tuesday is the day Realtors drive from Lakeview to Humboldt to scrounge free snacks and see what listings the other guy got. The menu is kind of a 7th grade birthday party of sandwiches, cheese trays, pizza and cookies. And then you know how you have that one person in the family who can only handle the paper plates or a bag of Oreos ? Yeah, we got those too. They stop at the gas station and pick up some Starchucks gift cards. I'm not complainin - I'm just sayin

Ninja Kent

Dude this is Chicago. You are not gonna get very far showing up at your developer's job site in yer shiny shoes and yer fancy tie. The trades aren't gonna roll with your idea to move the kitchen island over there and add some can lights if yer too busy looking for a clean place to stand. So you get yer cred by popping over in old jeans & boots. And of course a listing appt will drop out of the sky while yer there. So you change in the bathroom amid the caulk guns and make some mad ninja moves thru the site avoiding sawdust & plaster dust. Cuz your wife didn't go to college to be a laundress.

BADDITION® of the Week - Barf Bag

You don't even need to see the contrast of the lovely brick two flat that this is slapped on to appreciate how bad this is.

Baby pee yellow siding, natch.

Haphazard unlevel window installation, check.

Door floating above unattached steps built from wood found in alley, double check.

And the piece de resistance - the thing is so sicked out by itself that it is actually vomiting from under the window. What is that? It's the color of that stuff janitors threw down in grade school on puke. And? The half hearted attempt to control the spillage with another piece of random alley wood?
I'd keep my shades down too.