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Real Estate Q & A: Owners of 1880s house may not have recourse over vibrations

Posted on May 20, 2012 by Theo

QUESTION: My husband and I purchased our first home in 2011. The home is a four-story townhouse in Washington, D.C. Built in the 1880s, it has had many owners and updates.

After living in the home, we noticed the home shakes every time a truck drives down the street. The home is four stories tall and has a basement. If we slam the door, the second floor shakes. The seller was a real estate agent and had the home for several years. He did not disclose this, and now we think the home has serious and costly structural problems. The shaking just isn’t normal. Do we have any recourse?

ANSWER: Unless you know that the house has serious and costly structural problems, you probably don’t have much to complain about. You knew you were buying a home from the 1880s. It’s about 130 years old and is still standing. When the home was built, there were only horse-drawn carriages going down the street, and now you have trucks that are many tons in weight going down your street. It has probably been shaking this way ever since trucks started going down the street.

Presumably, you had an inspector come to the home and go through it before you bought it and did not find any deficiencies in the construction — or at least you decided to buy the home, anyway. The only way you’ll know for sure whether the house has structural problems is to hire a structural engineer to investigate. If you hire a structural engineer, even if he or she finds that the house is not built to today’s standards, that does not mean that it is deficient. The structural engineer will have to find that there has been some recent or new deficiency in the structure that is causing the shaking problem.

Even if you find out that there is a deficiency in the home, shaking alone may not constitute a sufficient problem for the seller to know that the home had a deficiency that needed to be disclosed to you.

There may be a way to make the problem better by installing additional supports or taking other action; you can see what it would cost to do so. But taking that action may be like improving the home and not a true fix to a deficiency that needed to be disclosed to you.

If you buy an older home and some of the elements of the home have aged and become weak, the seller has to disclose to you any problem they know about as a result. If the seller knew, for example, that a center beam of your home was cracked and deteriorated and could fail at any time, it would seem that the seller should have disclosed that to you. However, if the roof of a home is old but is not leaking, and you move into the home and it then starts leaking, you can’t blame the seller for the leak or for the cost of replacing an old roof. You knew the roof was old, and an old roof can start leaking at any time.

You have to take responsibility for your actions and the purchase you decided to make. You need to review the situation, get some expert advice from people who are familiar with homes like yours. You might start by asking your neighbors who live in homes of similar age whether their homes shake when a truck drives past. Assess what, if any, corrective action must be taken, and then talk to an attorney when you have all of this information.

If the fix to your problem is relatively inexpensive, you may want to do it and move on. If the fix looks to be quite expensive, then you may have to investigate the problem more and then determine whether any disclosure laws were broken and whether the seller would have any liability for nondisclosure.

Tell us how things end up once you gather more information.

Ilyce R. Glink’s latest book is “Buy, Close, Move In!” Samuel J. Tamkin is a Chicago-based real estate attorney. If you have questions, you can call Ilyce’s radio show toll-free (800-972-8255) 11 a.m.-1 p.m. any Sunday. Contact them through her website, www.thinkglink.com.

Article source: http://www.freep.com/article/20120520/BUSINESS04/205200406/Owners-of-1880s-house-may-not-have-recourse-over-vibrations

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Business buzz

Posted on May 20, 2012 by Theo

Scroggins’ practice focuses on the representation of management in employment related lawsuits and labor relations.

A native of Montgomery, Scroggins earned a bachelor’s degree in mass communication from Louisiana State University and a law degree from the University of Alabama, where he graduated magna cum laude and served on the Alabama Law Review. He has practiced with Tanner Guin since 1999. The firm also has offices in Gulf Shores and Birmingham.

Mike Largin, director of financial affairs infrastructure support at the University of Alabama, has successfully completed the Master Management Certificate Program offered through the university’s College of Continuing Studies.

Largin received his certificate of completion on May 11 upon completing the required courses for the program within two years. The seminars cover effective management techniques related to productivity, communication and legal, ethical, financial, environmental and competitive issues.

Tuscaloosa-based Randall-Reilly Business Media Information has promoted Julie Arsenault to director of marketing for the Trucking Media Group from her previous position as marketing strategist for Recruiting Media.

In her new role, Arsenault will direct the strategic implementation of marketing campaigns for all departments within the Trucking Media Group.

Before joining Randall-Reilly, Arsenault spent five years in South Carolina as creative director for the award-winning Internet marketing firm, WSI Webworks. During her time there, she developed integrated marketing strategies for a variety of businesses. She also was an illustrator for the Bob Jones University Press, as event coordinator for the West Alabama Leadership Prayer Breakfast, and as the digital printing manager for Vision Screenprinting and Graphics.

Originally from Tuscaloosa, Arsenault holds a bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in visual arts from Bob Jones University. She and her husband live in Chicago.

Tuscaloosa-based Capstone Bank has announced recent staff developments.

Jennifer Naves has joined the bank’s Mortgage Department as a mortgage loan officer. Naves has been employed with Capstone Bank since May 2010 and previously worked at the Indian Hills location as branch manager. Previously, she was a senior relationship banker with RBC Bank. A native of Tuscaloosa, Naves received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Alabama. She and her husband, Robbie, have one daughter and live in Tuscaloosa.

Terri C. May has been named senior vice president and senior lender. She will lead a team of lending officers with a focus on business development. For the past three years, she was chief credit officer for the bank. May, a Jasper native, graduated from the University of Alabama with a bachelor’s degree in commerce and business administration with a concentration in accounting. May has 27 years of banking experience, including service with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Compass Bank and Regions Bank. She and her husband, Stephen W. May III, have lived in Tuscaloosa for the past 19 years and have three daughters, and two grandchildren.

Richard Langford has joined the bank as senior vice president/chief financial officer. Previously, he was the controller/treasurer at Aliant Bank in Alexander City for the past 9 years. Langford received his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Auburn University. He and his wife, Lisa, have two daughters, Leslie and Lindsay.

Mike Mitchell has joined the bank as senior vice president/chief credit officer. Before joining Capstone Bank, Mitchell was the area credit officer at Regions Bank for commercial real estate in Alabama. He has 23 years of banking experience in both credit and commercial lending. A native of Sylacauga, he received his bachelor’s degree in corporate finance and investment management from the University of Alabama. He and his wife, Kimberly Haynie Mitchell, have one son, Collin. They live in Tuscaloosa.

Leadership Tuscaloosa held its 29th annual graduation luncheon on May 9 at Hotel Capstone.

Leadership Tuscaloosa, sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce of West Alabama, is a program designed to help the Tuscaloosa County community reach its potential by providing potential leaders a foundation of knowledge of the area’s economic, social, historical and political issues and needs.

Leadership Tuscaloosa consists of various one-day sessions over nine months that provide an analysis of identified community concerns and training in specific leadership skills. Participants are solicited from all sectors of the Tuscaloosa County area with a focus on a diversity of perspectives.

This year’s graduates are:

Georgia Abston, Russell S. Lee Flooring America; Tamika Alexander, United Way of West Alabama; Terrance Anderson, Eagles’ Wings, Inc.; Donna Avant, DCH Employee Assistance Program; Lee Bailey, McAbee Construction Inc.; Jutta Beams, DCH Health System; Bobby Bragg, JamisonMoneyFarmer PC; Lynn Brooks, WVUA TV; Vickie Brown, Tuscaloosa City Schools; Daniel Conville, Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center; George Daniels, the University of Alabama; Amanda Elmore Waller, Tuscaloosa’s One Place; Patricia Evans Mokolo; Tim Floyd, CFM Group LLC; Patricia Franks, Bank of Tuscaloosa; Holly Giroux, BFGoodrich Tire Manufacturing; Tricia Gray, Advantage Realty Group; Mary Elizabeth Harper, Tuscaloosa Public Library; David Hartin, Tuscaloosa County Emergency Management Agency; Danny Higdon, Tuscaloosa County Board of Education; Tina Jones, Courtyard Fairfied Inn by Marriott; Dan Leavell, Southland Benefit Solutions; Amber Norris, Nucor Steel Tuscaloosa; Phyllis Olive, Re/Max Premiere Group; Amy Price, DCH Credit Union; Melanie Robertson, Hospice of West Alabama; Sharron Rudowski, Arts Humanities Council of Tuscaloosa County; Regina Sharp, Bryant Bank; Trenton Shepherd, Way, Ray, Shelton Co. PC; Chris Shinstock, Alabama Power Co.; Steve Sikes, the University of Alabama; Shane Spiller, Spiller Furniture Stores; Angelia Stevenson, Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center; Laura Strachan, Adcox Associates; Katie Thompson, Rosen Harwood P.A.; Lisa Waldrop, Shelton State Community College; Jay Wells, Alabama Power Co.; Brad Wiggins, McAbee Construction Inc.; Terri Williams, ATT; and Mary Harmon Young, Prudential Pritchett-Moore Realty.

How to get in Business Buzz

Business Buzz is compiled weekly from local businesses highlighting promotions, awards and achievements. For Sunday publication, send information to The Tuscaloosa News by the preceding Wednesday at noon. Submissions may be edited for space or content. Send by email, with “Business Buzz” in the subject line, to michael.james@tuscaloosanews.com or news@tuscaloosanews.com; by mail to P.O. Box 20587, Tuscaloosa, AL 35402; or by fax to 205-722-0187. Emailed photographs should be attached in JPEG format.

Article source: http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20120520/NEWS/120519718

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Will Facebook IPO Boost Local Real Estate?

Posted on May 19, 2012 by Theo

52a16 gty facebook menlo park jef 120518 wg Will Facebook IPO Boost Local Real Estate?

Tax revenue from Facebook’s $104 billion IPO may not fill California’s $16 billion budget deficit, but it will likely give a boost to Silicon Valley’s already inflated real estate prices.

The median home value in Menlo Park, Calif., the home of Facebook’s headquarters, is $1 million, up 4.5 percent year-over-year according to the Zillow Home Value Index.

Old and new Facebook workers are buying up property in the Bay Area, adding to the demand from tech workers at nearby companies like Google, Zynga and LinkedIn.

In the nearby town of Cupertino, home of Apple Inc., the median home value is also $1 million, up 1.6 percent year-over-year, according to Zillow.

Around the time that Facebook announced its IPO and started its road show, there was an influx of multi-million dollar real estate coming onto the market in Silicon Valley, said Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries.

“Sellers clearly want to take advantage of those reaping rewards from this historic financial event,” Humphries said.

Home prices have already been rising in many high-end neighborhoods and cities in the area, and Humphries said he expects they will continue to increase as the young Facebook IPO beneficiaries look to make moves in the real estate market.

Michael Dreyfus of Dreyfus Properties specializes in residential real estate in the towns of Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Woodside, Portola Valley and Atherton.

“There’s no way there’s not going to be an effect,” Dreyfus said of Facebook’s IPO and the local real estate market.


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52a16 gty facebook menlo park jef 120518 wg Will Facebook IPO Boost Local Real Estate?


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He said he knows sellers who have waited for two years, not yet listing their homes in anticipation of the IPO.

While Facebook’s headquarters are in Menlo Park, Dreyfus said the hottest area is in neighboring Palo Alto.

“Palo Alto is ground zero for all of this, particularly because the younger money has always preferred Palo Alto because it’s a more urban environment,” Dreyfus said.

Downtown Palo Alto, by Stanford University, has numerous coffee shops, a movie theater, restaurants and bookstores.

“The schools are excellent, you can send your kid to public school and you are in the mix,” Dreyfus said.

Dreyfus said the dotcom bubble and Google’s IPO have educated property owners into becoming “savvy sellers.”

“They’ve seen this song before, they think they can play it, and they may be right,” said Dreyfus, who knows sellers who have held off and not responded immediately to increasing demand.

One reason for sellers’ patience may be that companies and some regulations prevent some stockholders from selling their shares until a specified time. That “lockup” period means Facebook employees won’t be using stock proceeds to buy homes in cash just yet. The period may be 90 days for institutional buyers and 180 days for employees. Companies like Zynga and LinkedIn have inititated more than one lockup period. Some lockup periods can encourage employees not to sell stock for as long as a year.

While most of his clients have been established executives who have moved to California to work at tech companies, the homes Dreyfus sold to Facebook employees in the past two years tend to have been to young families.

“I’m 50, so they all seem really young,” he said.

When asked if he was participating in any Facebook employee-related sales on Friday, Dreyfus said one of his two offices was planning to host a party celebrating the IPO’s completion.

“We’re tired of hearing about it,” Dreyfus said. “Imagine that every real estate conversation has worked Facebook in.”

Though grateful for the boost from Facebook and every other tech economy, he hopes people will focus on living “fundamentals.”

“The story is about all the companies in the Valley and how well they’re all doing,” he said. “And we want everyone to take a deep breath because we are really fortunate to live in this place.”

Article source: http://abcnews.go.com/Business/facebook-ipo-give-pop-silicon-valley-real-estate/story?id=16379764

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Spouse Appreciation Week: Events link them to the mission – Maxwell

Posted on May 19, 2012 by Theo

Spouse Appreciation Week: Events link them to the mission

Posted 5/18/2012   Updated 5/18/2012
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by Kelly Deichert
Air University Public Affairs

5/18/2012 - MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. – Spouses took part in more than 25 events and programs as Maxwell Air Force Base celebrated Spouse Appreciation Week May 7-11.

“It is a week to say ‘thank you’ for all our military spouses do here in the Maxwell Air Force Base community, and I sincerely hope that our military spouses realize how appreciated they are,” said 2nd Lt. Tamara Duff, project officer for Spouse Appreciation Week.

The week began with an information fair and visit from Suzie Schwartz, wife of Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Norton Schwartz. Events included a tour of the greenhouse, discounts at the bowling centers and Cypress Tree Golf Course, True Colors personality assessment and a 5K walk-run.

“It is an honor to be able to provide spouses the opportunity to have a day with free childcare, free lunch and lots of great information on resources they have, or to give them an opportunity they might not ordinarily have like watching a military working dog demo or flying on a C-130,” Duff said.

One of the goals was to develop an understanding of how the Air Force operates and how spouses play a role in the mission.

“The motivation for the events for the week was to orient the spouses of Maxwell Air Force Base with the mission,” Duff said. “We incorporated events such as the military working dog demonstration, firehouse tour and a C-130 orientation flight to help our spouses better understand and experience the mission here at Maxwell Air Force Base.”

Military working dog demo
About 20 adults and 10 children learned about security force’s working dogs during a demonstration May 8.

Many spouses had seen the kennels at Maxwell and wanted to learn more.
“If I wanted to see the kennels, I needed to take advantage of this opportunity,” said Kym Robertson.

Tech. Sgt. Steve Montez, the kennel master, gave a tour of the facility, including the veterinarian clinic. “In here, we can maintain everything,” he said of the full-service facility.

In the gated training area, trainers demonstrated how the dogs respond to commands and threats.

“Basic obedience is the foundation of everything we do,” Montez said. To make certain the dogs are at their best, the Airmen train them every day to ensure they have total control of the animals.

One of the trainers’ goals is to keep the dogs happy, which develops a more effective working relationship. “You want the dog to work with you because he likes you, not because he’s afraid of you,” Montez said.

This relationship was obvious to the spouses.

“The dogs are happy, they enjoy what they’re doing and they work as a team,” said Vicki Law.

Education benefits briefing
Nate Baker, and academic advisor from the education office, talked to spouses May 8 about financial aid opportunities and benefits.

Those interested in learning more about their ideal career can use the discover computer program, which measures a person’s interests, values and needs. The assessment helps users discover an ideal career goal, identify the education needs for that career and lists the schools offering those educational programs.

Baker encouraged spouses to visit the education office to learn about financial resources. “The cost of higher education is going up every year,” he said. “But once you have your education, no one can take it away from you.”

Spouses should contact base agencies, including Army and Air Force Exchange Service, Defense Commissary Agency, spouses clubs and Military One Source, to learn about scholarship opportunities, he said.

Certain benefits for active-duty service members can be transferred to spouses, such as the Post-9/11 GI Bill. The education office can help spouses and service members take advantage of these financial aid opportunities.

Baker also said spouses should look into online degree programs and institutions in the Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges consortium, which can create continuity during permanent changes of station. The education office also helps people find military-friendly schools.

For information, call 953-5959.

C-130 flight
About 40 spouses got an aerial view of Maxwell and Montgomery May 10 from a C-130, courtesy of the Air Force Reserve’s 908th Airlift Wing. This is the second time the 908th has offered an orientation flight during Spouse Appreciation Week.

“I had the honor of flying last year,” said Sandi Killough, wife of 42nd Air Base Wing Commander Col. Brian Killough. “You’re about to have the time of your life.”

For Natalie Connell, this was a chance to learn more about what her husband does when he flies.This flight also added to her “collection” of military planes, after flights on a C-17 and C-5.

“Every plane is different,” she said. “If you haven’t been on a military flight, it’s a great opportunity to see the difference between commercial and Air Force flights.”

Colonel Killough spoke to the spouses during the orientation briefing, telling them that this flight links them into the greater mission. The more they learn about the Air Force and Maxwell operations, the more they become part of the team.

He said he was pleased the 908th Airlift Wing and the 42nd Air Base Wing were able to work together to provide the opportunity for spouses.

“It’s a chance to give back to you and say ‘thank you,’” he said.

Article source: http://www.maxwell.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123302635

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