Plumb Place: STEALING A HOUSE IN PLAIN SIGHT?
This is my fifth post on the Plumb Mansion.
In a previous post, this was the headline:
Plumb Place: Why Is This House Being Hidden?
It now appears that the situation is much much worse than I could have imagined.
For, it now seems that the Plumb mansion is being stolen in plain sight, so that a single person can benefit. My previous post detailed this. Today’s post offers an update.
The mansion has been for sale for about six months. But during 99.9% of this time the house wasn’t listed with MLS (multiple listing service) which is the standard for any property offered for sale. There was zero marketing during this long period.
Why???????? Why would the sale of the mansion be hidden as such?
Then suddenly, last Friday, the house was listed with MLS. And it was one of the worst listings I have ever seen, with but a scant seven images, and a single sentence description. The conclusion I had? The listing was designed to attract as little attention as possible.
Outrageous.
This forced me to create another blog post, taking six hours, to fully show the beauty of the mansion. After the post was complete, I sent it to Kelly, who posted the listing on her Old House Dreams, which has an international audience.
So, at last, at long last, the house had an huge audience. At last! At last!
Today though, less than a week after being listed…a week!…I received this note from Lauren:
My husband called the real estate agent today to make an offer on this home and they weren’t accepting other offers. We saw the home on oldhousedreams.com.
Then I received this from Jonnie:
Something is definitely fishy about this listing. I haven’t been able to get the agent to return my calls. Why would it be under contract so quickly when other people are willing to offer more? I think they just listed it to satisfy the requirements, but had no intention of entertaining all offers.
Then I received this from Isabelle:
I have read your recent posts about Plumb Place, and I was wondering if you perhaps had any more information or advice on its purchase and restoration? I’m currently working with someone who is putting in an offer that would include the restoration and preservation of the property, with the ultimate goal being to keep Plumb Place available to the public and preserve and honor the history that the house holds. We’ve never taken on such a project before and would love to speak with you about the process in order to fully flush out the outline in the offer, or afterwards if the offer is successful. Being residents of Emporia for the past 6 years we’ve seen the fall of Plumb Place and the consequential auction and confusion of the home sale, and we’d very much like to see the home restored to its former glory.
This is all just from this morning!
I also know of at least two others who are in touch with another realtor, Lacie, (who sold me the Cross House) about making an offer. I would urge anybody interested to contact Lacie and bypass the listing agent, Becky.
Well, you can imagine my fury today.
All I can think: Is a powerful family doing everything it can to steal a valuable and important house?
Because it sure looks that way to me.
So, I did the only thing I could think of. I called the receiver, Kevin Flott, a banker in Olpe. I hear good things about him. He took my call and was very gracious. As I explained the last six months, he kept repeating: I did not know that. Or: I was not informed of that. He had no idea that bids were no longer being accepted.
I replied, to the effect: YOU are the receiver. YOU are the person in charge. YOU are the only one who can make this right.
Then I asked if he would request that Becky vastly improve the MLS listing, and reopen the process of accepting ALL bids.
The money from the sale of the Plumb mansion will be used to help women in need in Emporia. This is what the 1920 deed made clear. This is what the Plumb family wanted when they donated the house a century ago.
However, rather than assuring that the most money can be garnered from the sale of the Plumb mansion to help women in need, it looks like a concentrated effort is STILL ongoing to assure the opposite conclusion…as little money as possible…and all so a single person can benefit.
At this point it looks like the fate of the magnificent Plumb mansion rests with one person: Kevin Flott. The number of his bank is: 620 475 3213. If you would like to make an offer, calling Mr. Flott might be a good idea.
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Awesome community advocacy Ross!! Good for you.
Has anyone notified the state attorney general’s office? If it’s not corrupt too, I’m sure they’d be interested.
Thank you, Kate.
I called the attorney general’s office yesterday. They can’t help, but suggested I contact a judicial watch group, and gave me their contact info.
The only person who can make things right is Mr. Flott.
Oh the horrors!
How was Mr. Flott able to move this so far without being found out sooner???
I doubt Mr Flott knew anything about this. He’s not in Emporia and has other banking duties. This was likely just dumped on him. I’m sure Eli’s Dad suggested it when he was forced to recuse himself and Eli and Becky figured Kevin wouldn’t know any of the history of their shenanigans, which it seems is the case.
Good for Ross for contacting Kevin directly.
I think a lawyer would have a strong case that the terms of Carrie Plumb’s original intentions are NOT being met.
Would there be a local lawyer willing to take this on pro bono to force Becky into accepting every offer and presenting them all to Kevin? If not, then Lacie should by-pass Becky and go directly to Kevin with all of the offers she is receiving.
And update that Old House Dreams page to reflect to call Kevin Flott with offers, not Becky.
Legal or not (and I’m guessing not under the terms of the original bequeathal) Becky’s actions have been highly questionable if not unethical. She needs to be held accountable by the state board of realtors. Eli may be the thief but Becky is the accomplice. She needs to loser her license either permanently or for a period of time long enough to make it extremely painful. I’d say….five years?
Wow, surprising. I see the good suggestions from more knowledgable people in comments. Surely there’s a way to make this right… I’m sure the publicity you’re generating this will help a lot.
Hi. Website to file complaints against realtors’ licenses.
https://krec.ks.gov/compliance/complaints
Outrageous!
That beautiful & historical treasure being maliciously demeaned & practically stolen! These underhanded measures!
What about ACLU & Southern Poverty Law Office?
Surely some laws or rules of decency are being violated? Morality & decency.
ACLU and Southern Poverty Law deal with violations of civil rights. This is real estate.
That said, it would be nice if a local lawyer that has a weakness for historical property or a fire in his belly about this sort of collusion and corruption would take this on pro bono.
Local Board of Realtors?
Real estate commission?
Is there a watchdog overseeing receiverships?
State Banking Commission? or whatever they call bank regulators in Kansas
Can Lacie call Kevin directly and submit offers to him?
All of this needs to be brought up at the City Counsel meeting next week about the rezoning. That Becky has basically been working in cahoots with Eli Fowler to ensure that he gets the property for significantly under market value and that other serious, higher bidders, have been blocked from being able to submit offers. It ALL needs to be exposed.
If possible, Becky’s license needs to be revoked by the realtor’s board in the state of Kansas.
I am thrilled that there are at least three other serious bidders. I suggest they all call Kevin direct, tell them their story and submit their bids to him and that Lacie do the same.
I have had to drop out as it seems that no matter how much equity I have in my house or how stellar my credit is, I don’t make enough money to pull enough cash out of my house to buy Plumb Place. No matter what, my cap is still $199,000. Apparently I own a home that has gone up so much in value that I wouldn’t be able to buy it if I were doing so now. In fact, given the housing market in SoCal I probably wouldn’t be able to buy any decent home. My pension is $98,000 a year. That’s not quite triple the medium income in Emporia, KS. As a comparison, my home is about $527 a square foot. They are asking $16 a square foot for Plumb Place but I suspect Eli’s bid is still around $150,000, what his original bid was.
So every interested buyer needs to contact Lacie immediately and Lacie and every buyer needs to call Kevin. Kevin needs to know all of this. Then everyone possible needs to go to that meeting next week and stand up and say that they have tried to bid and give the amount and that Becky has refused to even consider their offers. This property is being “legally” stolen and the charity is being cheated out of its true worth. No offers should have been accepted below asking price. Call it a reserve as $199,000 is already only 2/3 of market value.
Eli Fowler must be stopped and Becky Baumgardner needs to be held accountable for her actions in this.
Dear Mary,
None of us can know for certain exactly what is going.
But everything seems to point to one possibility: A concentrated effort is being made to assure that ONE offer is accepted.
I don’t know what is going on between Becky (the listing agent) and Eli (‘the’ bidder). All that IS known is that two sat together at the last zoning meeting, and left together.
And when I talked with Kevin today (the receiver), he expressed surprised at the news that Becky was telling potential buyers that offers were no longer being accepted. Kevin replied to me: “I was not informed of that.” But, as the receiver, Kevin is, basically, the owner. It appears though that Becky isn’t taking orders from him. This is extraordinary.
It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out who is pulling all these strings.
The whole thing makes me ill.
You are a righteous man, Ross. Thank the gods for your passion about this house. I hope your efforts will result in a perfect outcome for the house, the community, and preservation.
I was a real-estate salesperson in Wichita, Kansas from 1998 to 2010. My broker’s husband was one of the best real-estate lawyers in Kansas. I suspect that Kansas real-estate law regarding agency and contracts has not changed much since I left the state.
In Kansas, a listing agent has a fiduciary duty only to the seller, within the context of carrying out an ethical transaction in which all due disclosures are made. A buyer’s agent has a fiduciary duty only t the buyer, within the same context. A transaction agent has a duty to complete a transaction ethically, with no advantage to any party.–including providing all paperwork, and full disclosure of all agent action, to all parties. A transaction agent works for the transaction. Ethical requirements must be met even if a party to a transaction has agreed (by signing a form) to work with another party’s agent.
If the agent did not provide the receiver with copies of all paperwork–contracts, special agreements materially affecting the purchase and sale, disclosures–then there is a breach of ethics on the part of the agent. The Kansas Real Estate Commission should be apprised of the situation. If the receiver actually has concerns (as opposed to pretending to be sympathetic), then he should call the KREC directly. (If the receiver is in on the deal, then there may be a breach of ethics on hos part as well, as bankers also have fiduciary duties.)
The subsequent offers prove that the agent failed in their duty–on two counts.
It goes without saying that the owner of a property that is under contract has the right to refuse subsequent offers. Apparently the listing agent doesn’t know what it means to list a property as being under contract with right of refusal, as she has brought additional unwanted attention to a transaction that was supposed to be a secret. The agent’s broker should be castigated for fostering such shortage of ethics and longage of incompetence, and the Kansas Real Estate Commission should be apprised of the situation.
Sounds to my like Becky Baumgardner is in violation of real estate law in Kansas, be she seller’s agent, a buyer’s agent or a transaction agent. She has only succeeded as Eli Fowler’s buyer’s agent and in any other capacity is in violation of the law. I say let’s get her real estate license revoked.
Kevin Flott should be advised as to his complicity in this matter if he allows Becky to continue to block all offers and sell to Eli at a considerable loss to the owners of Plumb Place. He will be held equally liable for any violations of Kansas real estate law and any suits regarding violations of the original conditions Carrie Plumb put in place regarding the property. If Kevin is as good a guy as Ross says and wasn’t aware of any of this, he will FIRE Becky and either hire a new agent or handle all offers himself. I find it hard to believe a bank manager in any size city doesn’t have resources to handle the sale of property.
Kansas Real Estate Commission:
https://krec.ks.gov/
I just sent this to Becky Baumgardner. Will see if it makes her sweat or strikes the fear of God into her.
“Since you are not accepting any legitimate offers over asking, I will have my realtor deal directly with Kevin Flott. I think he and the Kansas State Board of Realtors would like to know exactly how this sale has been mismanaged at best and fixed in favor of Eli Fowler at worst. I’ll be sure to mention his father, the judge. It stinks to high heaven of collusion and corruption.”
Becky Baumgardner’s Facebook page has the listing posted by Historical Homes of America. It has several comments from people who have knowledge of the house and very positive remarks.
I wonder if a few comments enlightening everyone to what is really happening might be helpful?
Oops, not on her Facebook page but when you search fb for her it shows up bc her name is on the post. It’s the Historical Homes of America fb page.
Still might be helpful to comment about this situation. 🤞🏻
Has near 400 comments and some are familiar with the history of Plumb Place.
This just keeps getting worse and worse – it upsets me, and I’m not even involved. Staying tuned for next episode! 🙂
I hate to hear this, it upsets my stomach. Ross, the pictures you posted of Plumb Place are extraordinary and shows how historically important this house is. With all the comments & good suggestions posted, this has to expose the corruption and mismanagement of the sale. I hope someone who can actually do something to stop this gets all of this information and gets the ball rolling. Sounds like there are quite a few people who are genuinely concerned about the house and want to make an offer. Thanks for doing all you can to save Plumb Place Ross.
Ross, Realtors here in KC have said that once a real estate agent has the house, they have 24 hours to list it with MLS. Otherwise, there is a $1,000 a day fine. Might be worth checking into.
$1,000 a day? Could that be dated back to when the house originally went on the “market” with only that lame banner that you had to drive past to read? There are a lot of days between when that for sale sign went up and when that house was finally listed on the MLS.
[From Ross: The house was not listed on MLS until, it seems, last Friday. I’ve no idea when Becky was brought in as the listing agent.]
Now, I’m wondering if this delay in posting to the MLS was because of an impending deadline. Like, XX months after being put on the market the highest bid will be accepted. So if Eli was the only one and that house was put up one day before the deadline, that would mean no one really had a chance to bid and Eli would automatically get it. Illegal, yes. But how could that be stopped and if that is in fact what happened, how can Becky be held accountable and the sale to Eli stopped and the house put back on the market?
[From Ross: When it was decided to sell the house, the receiver, Kevin, contacted four real-estate agents, told them the property was available, and ask that they find buyer. This is SOOOOOOOOO not how to sell a house. Which may well have been by design. The deadline for bids (note the word bids, as opposed to offers) was December 15th, and Eli (the son of the judge who put all this in motion) came through with a bid, which he later reduced due to “hail damage”. Which had ZERO impact on my house across the street (I posted about the hail storm). I don’t know what his final offer was but I’m gonna guess $120K based on some things I’ve heard.]
I’m thinking, Kevin Flott could stop it all, untangle the mess and then have the house relisted and take ALL offers.
[From Ross: Kevin has the legal authority to do exactly that. But Kevin might not be pulling the actual strings. One guess as to who might be.]
Time is of the essence. If Kevin is the only one that can act, he needs to do this by Monday morning as if Eli gets his zoning variance at the City Council meeting, you are are going to see that house close at the speed of light and he’ll own it all.
I hate to see criminals rewarded for their corruption.
In other thoughts, Becky might be getting money under the table from someone in this family because she would be missing out on a higher commission by selling to the lowest bidder. She may also be in danger of losing her real estate license. So there may be a considerable incentive for her to take a loss and these chances.
[From Ross: I received a call today. The person said that Eli has dropped his zoning contingency. They suggested a possible scenario: With Becky refusing to take in ALL offers, and shutting down the process, Eli would end up buying the property. On the cheap. As the whole process seems to have been designed to do. And, now that Eli knows what people are willing to pay for the property (as Becky has perhaps informed him as such), he could then turn around and sell the property (after doing nothing) for a $100K to $150K profit. Becky, as such, could then possibly get two commissions: on the first sale AND on the second sale. Again, the above is just a possible scenario. None of know what is actually happening.]
Could be Eli has heard he’s going to get the zoning variance so didn’t need the contingency. That might speed up the sale. Or could be he knows he’s not going to get the variance. Or that Becky has lost control of the situation and he is going to have to beat other offers to keep it, as in “right of first refusal.” It could also be that now that the word is out, the fix is exposed, he is cutting his losses. He doesn’t want to go down with Becky if it truly hits the fan. With bidders now bypassing Becky and going directly to Kevin, any more efforts to manipulate this deal could result in some legal ramifications that some of the parties involved would find legally painful. If he bows out now and allows the property to go to one of the other offers, he escapes any legal ramifications. While yes, Becky could get two commissions, she could also lose her license, depending on which way the chips fell. If that is what is happening, you, Ross are the hero. You exposed all of this and generated enough interest, dug deep enough and exposed all of the rot to the light of day so that legitimate bidders might have a chance to buy this house. You will have saved Plumb Place.
If Kevin is a good guy and is willing to act. If Lacie and the other buyers bypass Becky and go directly to Kevin and he acts in good faith.
If Eli thinks he can immediately turn around and flip Plumb Place for an obscene profit, he takes a chance getting stuck with the property and having to put money INTO it to sell it. Buyers that were cheated out of a first chance at this property and know all of the details will not be inclined to deal with the person who generated all of the stench. All of the current bidders may just walk away. His immediately flipping the property without doing one thing to it would also provide proof of the violations of Kansas Real Estate code and put Becky at risk of being held accountable. Yes, there are people interested but if they demand inspections and repairs from him he may end up losing money. He doesn’t sound like the kind of person that would take that sort of risk. Yeah, he wants to double his money. And he could try an “as is” sale but hat doesn’t mean he’ll get that or make a profit. The price he paid will be public knowledge. He could end up with a white elephant that will cost him money to get rid of with every month it goes unsold. Even if he doesn’t do anything he’ll still have property taxes to pay. And if he does nothing he risks the property deteriorating and his chances of selling it slipping even further down.
Ross, thank you for taking this on, on top of all the work you do on your own place! This kind of corrupt dealing is pretty disgusting – and even more disgusting would be seeing that mansion turned into apartments with storage units in a back building. May anyone who would do such a thing be haunted HARD by any long gone previous occupants of the house!
Thanks Beth. I’ve put in well over a hundred hours during the last six months to stop the evil.
Yes, Plumb Place photographs beautifully and exudes charm at first glance. AND; it certainly deserves better than conversion to Apartments and Cold Storage Units.In inquiring about the property I was informed that “ALL” Gas lines require replacement at a minimum cost of $23,000, AND; The Roof required Total Replacement at a horrendous cost – HVAC Systems have age on them and were not energy efficient / several possibly non working / requiring replacement. Being Sold “AS IS – WHERE IS” – NO WARRANTIES EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. It was strongly suggested that all Plumbing and Electrical be inspected as well. I was also told that the property once fully restored would most likely be appraised/sell for a maximum of $250,000 if you could find an out of state buyer who was unfamiliar with Emporia prices – as no one locally would ever consider paying any more for the property. I was also told that actually the house would have higher value if not for the tremendous Sq. Ftge. in that no one wanted in this uncertain economy with soaring fuel cost(s) to pay utilities on a property/house of that size. I have owned three historic homes of this size. All were “Money Pits”. You have to buy them right and be prepared to start and continue spending money as long as you own them. When you sell be prepared to W A I T a long wait. Beautiful structure in need of tremendous money being spent for restoration. A staff is required to care for this property. Loving it, Living in it, Paying Utilities on it, and Maintaining it are all different things to be taken into consideration. So many of these huge lovely old places are sold to people who reach out with all their cash and are never able to complete the restoration after they buy/own them, or they are successful in getting loans that go into Foreclosure. Be careful what you wish for – You may get it. Look carefully before you leap ………………..
My favorite-ever house on Old House Dreams was for sale for ages.
The #1 impediment was the clay tile roof. It leaked. Prospective buyers were getting quotes of like $200K to replace it. I wrote in and stated that perhaps only the valley flashing and other small bits of flashing needed to be repaired.
Well, a couple finally purchased the house. They repaired all the roof leaks. Which proved to be…flashing issues. The cost, like $23K.
And I can repeat such a story for so many old houses.
My own HUGE house across the street from the Plumb mansion was in vastly worse condition and it also was sold AS IS. I didn’t care as what was wrong could be fixed, and what was priceless could not be replicated. Then I received two Heritage state grants totalling a whopping $180K which restored much of the exterior, and ALL of the 43 stained-glass windows.
The Plumb mansion qualifies for the same grant.
If I were to buy the house I would make the first $90K (if awarded) all about the plumbing, electrical, and HVAC. I would tear it ALL out, install Pex and such, and install geothermal HVAC which would cost little to operate. The latter would be a Godsend to the house.
And my house? Every January I get a refund from the city for my increased taxes due to its higher value. This rebate will last 10 years. The same program can be applied to the Plumb mansion.
As to the size of the mansion, as a single facility home it makes little sense. Ditto for my house. But my house was also large enough to take me in, AND my online business. The same might prove true for the Plumb mansion. I did a blog post detailing how the mansion might be converted into a high-end small hotel and events space. Its size would be vital for such a venue to make money.
While I don’t recommend the following, the carriage house could be moved to the north lot, and sold off.
Any intelligent buyer will understand that the purchase price is only the beginning. But, I’m reminded of a young couple in England who purchased an abandoned castle and moved in with NO money, NO water, NO plumbing, and NO heating. They camped out on tents in the main salon. But, slowly, by creating funky B&B rooms, they started to bring in money. And now, two decades later, the house is restored and their hotel and events business is flourishing.
I’m also reminded of Balintore Castle in Scotland. A single, non-rich man purchased the long-abandoned castle, MUCH larger than my house and the Plumb mansion, and in VASTLY worse shape. Since 2011, he has worked away steadily and now has the kitchen wing as an Airbnb, and is soon to complete several rooms high up in the castle proper.
In short, gobs of money helps, but attitude and a willingness to work hard is more important. And I’ve seen too many fine historic houses ruined by money.
A lot of historic holes are sold at distress sales, as-is and unwarranted. People who ought to–deserve to–buy properties such as this one know that they are almost assuredly money pits. They know to look into roofs and hundred-year-old piping. When such a property is properly listed and publicized, potential buyers don’t need to cheat; they can honestly decide whether to buy or not, and if not, to let the market determine the price–as it should.
“You have to buy them right…”
It is not possible to buy a house “right” when its sale is finagled so as to allow a predetermined, insider buyer to get it under contract before the buying public knows that the house is being sold. If you meant “for the lowest price possible”, then I would note that taking part in a fraudulent and/or unethical real-estate transaction for the sake of cheapness is still not right. To do so is particularly egregious when a longstanding, worthy and still-relevant charitable arrangement is ignored for personal gain.
In this case, nobody safeguarded the legal and ethical requirements incumbent to a real-estate purchase and sale until Ross went into action. Regardless of the eventual use of the property, its ownership should at the very least be transferred in an orderly, open, honest, legal and ethical manner. As it is, no city in Kansas should have to endure the offensive fetor of the sale as it stands at the moment.
Unlike Big Daddy Pollitt’s house, the reek of mendacity here is from the current transaction.
I fully understand the goal is to “save Plumb House and to assist in placing the property into the right hands who can and will do the right thing with it. I am 100% in agreement and I applaud those efforts.
My goal is always to never disparage others/alienate them or lose sight as to my goal(s) – but to logistically approach a subject allowing me to gain insight as to what is actually occurring – and to professionally prepare a feasibility list containing questions that require answers and to address them one issue at a time.
Whether you are a religious person or non religious my belief is that God already holds the answer to Plumb House future in his hands. He has this …………………..
Though I love old historic properties – have the cash funds available to purchase the property, the funds to restore it, and all the antique furnishings / accessories / etc, etc to fully furnish Plumb House, reposition it in the market as either an events center/luxury B&B or even as a private residence, There remains a lot of questions that any educated buyer should require answers to and an allotted timeline for a prospective Buyer to get the answers required. The Question is – Will the Bank Trustee agree to work with a legitimate Qualified Buyer and will he be agreeable to allowing a reasonable specified timeline for getting the required answers ???
I have been on the phone this AM with a reputable professional Inspector who knows the property well.
Looming is the following questions that could make or break a deal……… 1. Just what will the City/County require be done to the property by new ownership ? 2. Will they require a Fire Sprinkler System be installed thruout the property ? 3. Will they require a Fire Management System be installed thruout the property ? 4. Will they require Asbestos Phase 1 and 2 Reports ? 5. Will they require Asbestos Abatement ? 6. Will they require new electrical, plumbing thruout ? (Has the wiring / plumbing been updated, If so, what was the last date ?
A lot of anger and things are being put out there = some possible – some questionable – and some not practical/possible at all. In review of the Historic Designation Filing (though I do not approve of the separation) – Is there certainty that the carriage house could even be separated/moved to the north lot, and sold off ?? My counsel tells me that it is referenced in the Historical Designation filed in 1984 and the chances of that happening are almost negligible ……………..AND; is there certainty that the referenced “Grants” would be granted to any prospective Buyer?
Though certainly not a European Castle/Tourist Draw, I am in agreement that assuming the City/County would support/work with a prospective financially capable buyer the property could be a prospect for conversion to a high-end small boutique destination hotel / event center. With past ownership in several large historic properties I feel that with the multiple levels a definite necessary cost would be the installation of an elevator at the property.
While it is true Its size would be vital for such a venue to make money (or break even) the more SQF the more cost(s) are required for proper restoration. The basement levels would require reopening of window areas and “Total” Build out. AND; in finale, When completed/funds expended would it be patronized/supported by the community or be able to maintain a decent level of occupancy???
Regardless of the source the operating cost(s) were taken from, The Yearly costs Quoted broken down by the MONTH simply are not realistic. Just acquiring a Quote for the Annual Insurance Premium will exceed the $748.37 Per Month with the property being utilized as a “Single Family” Private Residence only. The property is considered a High Risk property due to it being “Stick Built” Frame/Wood Shingle Construction / No Sprinkler(s) / No Fire Management System/ No Ansul Fire Hood System in the kitchen. Keep in mind that the property was previously operated as a 501 C3 Charitable Asset void of many normal/customary cost(s) , diminished code adherence, and contractor discounted pricing for required repairs.
Let’s take a moment to address/break down the referenced operating cost(s) – if only from the viewpoint of a “Homeowner” are they practical ??? Do they establish a “Reserves: Account ???
ONLY:
Maintenance: $2,757.24 ($ 229.77 MONTHLY )
Property Insurance: $1,994.85 ($ 166.24 MONTHLY)
Electricity: $1,874.82 ($ 156.24 MONTHLY)
Repairs: $1,414.72 ($ 117.89 MONTHLY)
Gas: $938.80 ($ 78.23 MONTHLY)
*******************
($ 748.37 FOR “ALL” UTILITIES, FIRE/ESTENDED COVERAGE
PROPERTY INSURANCE, LIABILITY COVERAGE, MAINTENANCE,
REPAIRS/RESERVES/REPLACEMENTS ?????
I will quickly address two issues:
1) The “Historic Designation Filing”.
I don’t know this term.
The house is on the National Register. This is not a police force protecting historic buildings.
A new owner can do whatever they want with the mansion and carriage house. As can I regarding my National Register house.
2) Because the house is on the National Register, it qualifies to apply for a Heritage grant. But applying for a grant, and receiving one, are two different things. The needs of the house are highly compelling though.
So appreciate your work at bringing attention to these egregious actions!
We must all have a soft spot in our gut to conserve the legacy and grace of old homes to care so deeply. Your work is noticed and appreciated.
Thank you so much for being a relentless advocate for this grand lady. It deserves to preserved and sneaky lying selfish snakes deserve to get stomped. 🙂
THANK YOU!!!!
Can we get get this on all the old house sites on Facebook. It may go viral. I’ve seen it happen before