Beachless Summer

Can you ever imagine living less than 1 mile to the beach, less than a 10 minute bike ride, and not spending even 5 minutes of your summer on the clean sandy beaches of quaint Bay Head. With my wife working both weekend days I just couldn't find the energy or motivation to make the trek down Osborne Ave to the waiting Atlantic Ocean. Many times I found myself with towel in hand and bathing suit on and instead of hopping on the bike, I walked across the street to my sisters much more convenient in-ground pool. My next summers resolution is to spend at least 4 hours of every summer weekend soaking up rays and splashing around in the salty ocean waves of the Jersey Shore which I have taken for granted.

Phew! Summer has come to an end!!!

Wow! That had to be the fastest summer ever. From Memorial Day to Labor Day I worked an average of 67 hours a week and had exactly 2 days off, and those 2 days were spent rehabbing from a nasty gash on my shin and an ankle sprain that occurred while working through a thunderstorm and a power outage at the Parker House. Speaking of The Parker House, my stats this year were as follows: 10 highly intoxicated individuals personnaly escorted from the premises, 4 went like gentleman, 2 needed a little coaxing, and 4 I had to introduce their faces to our stone driveway before drunken common sense convinced them to be escorted out in an orderly fashion. The one I don't take any credit for, because I didn't have to lift a finger happened like this, a barback was pushing this drunk guy up the stairs screaming for him to get out, the guy was twice his size but this barback was pissed! I moved some people to clear a path for this ejection and began following them out, the drunk guy broke away from the barback and they both squared off, ready to fight. I stepped between them and asked what happened, the barback said the guy was an a-hole and had his thingy out in the bar. I then stepped next to the barback and said Eff him, lets drag him into the trees and kick the sh*t out of him. The drunk looked into our eyes and sprinted out of the parking lot with us half heartedly chasing behind him. I then asked the barback what really happened and he said he was ducking out from behind the bar and this guy had his thingy out and it hit him square in the forehead. It was then that I fully understood his anger and I vowed to remember the drunks face, but he never returned. When he later told this story to a few of his co-workers, the hazing began in earnest. Did this make the barback gay? What kind of sound did the object make when it hit his forehead, a thump or just a little slap? Was it really just his forehead or did it hit him square in the mouth? One guy actually brought in a fake one and was chasing the kid around with it! What fun behind the scenes of a popular local nightspot! More of my summer to come...

Kick-off to a Busy Summer

It's been a while since my last post. Busy, busy, busy!!! Started my new job this past Monday, office manager for the #1 office in the Point Pleasant area. I've already had more face to face time with the owner of the company in the last 4 days then I had in 5 yrs with my previous company. I'm settling into the job nicely, getting used to the fast pace, non-stop phones, and the abundance of weekly advertising the company does. Market is really picking up, showings are way up, and lots of deals are being written. Doing my best to stay away from the short sales, involved with one listing and believe me, it just isn't worth it. Spoke to quite a few former colleagues in the past 2 weeks. It seems the Real Estate Commission paid yet ANOTHER visit to the Beltris. Took a bunch of files, the floundering CEO of the company violating his own gag order and babbling to the Investigator about a seemingly "settled" lawsuit. One wonders when the web site will be updated to remove the $25,000 in hoc Pt. "training center" or the agentless "Lavallette Office" first there were two, then one, now none if my sources are correct. Good luck in your next venture Erin, you are now eligible to join the party come the end of June, date TBA. Check out the front of the Beltri web page. To the left of the big man's belly states that agents enjoy Free"High Qulaity" Internet Leads, any current or former agent would tell you this is utter BS and the typo isn't mine, it's an actual quote from the website. "When only the very best will do" strikes again! From my sources inside the company rumor has it that yet another lawsuit filed by a former agent has been settled. Once again the settlement contains the infamous Beltri "gag order". If only a gag order had been issued to the VP of Operations, the company might still be viable instead of the laughing stock it has become. Top 5% my a$$. I also see the roster still lists Al C as a currently active agent. Do the right thing and remove his name, he was too good a man and an agent to be associated with that fiasco in death. Finishing my shift as a fill in Security Specialist which gave me enough time to jot this little post. Hopefully this will be my last fill in shift, I've got to learn how to say NO! If you're at the Parker House on a Fri, Sat, or Sun nite, be sure to say hey, one last summer as a bouncer to the rich & beautiful, but you guys can come too. Just don't mention my name, I got no pull! Til next time...

New Beginnings

As I write this I am greatly anticipating giving my security company 3 weeks notice next Friday. I am now just 4 short weeks away from starting my full time job with RE/MAX Bay Point REALTORS on June 8th. Not that I'm hating on the security job, it definately filled a void, helped pay our living expenses(barely), and gave me a mental break from the all consuming job of a real estate broker. Well now I'm mentally refreshed, devoid of all negative energy, and raring to begin my new career. It's funny how some things come about, my last post about the Beltri's was on April 17th, and, as most of them are, it had a lot of negative energy associated with it. Since Al Crincolis death I have not given the Beltris a second thought. In the meantime I received an acceptable offer on one of my listings, my sellers are negotiating buying a new build, and I just came out of attorney review with one of my other buyers. The short sale listing that I have has 4 offers on it and the bank is just now starting to cooperate with me to get a deal done. All of this happened since I stopped fighting other peoples battles and started concentrating on getting my own ship in order. Negative energy out= the good stuff is attracted to you, kind of like The Secret stuff. Don't get me wrong, when someone purposely screws up and hurts a friend of mine I'm still going to write about it, but I'm not going to dwell on it. My new way of thinking has got me in a groove, real estate market is picking up, shoulder rehab is going great, Sunday hoops is getting me back in shape and my mind is minus the clutter. Good stuff!!! Happy Mothers Day and lets hope for a huge improvement in the weather...

Nitpicky Observations

Used to buy the NY Post every day just for the Page Six celebrity gossip, you could stop reading right there because the sports section was yesterdays news, always a day behind. A few weeks ago I checked out www.nypost.com and lo and behold, all the gossip news and pics I'd been yearning for, and for free! Which brings me to my first observation, what is up with Matthew Brodericks sideburns??? If you haven't seen them, it's a must.
As most of you know, The Ocean Star is my bible. I read every article word for word, with the exception of anything writted by that Adam guy, but it's getting harder and harder for me to get through the paper without balling it up and tossing it into the recycle bin (think green)! I enjoy reading an article from beginning to end, whoever is laying out the copy for this newspaper has some stories jumping through 3 different sections and pages. I understand a full in-depth story can't be entirely placed on the front page, but come on, 3 different sections!!! I'm definately going to have to write my first ever letter to the editor. It's been along time since my names been in the paper, I'll have to put this on my list of things to do.
This next one isn't too nitpicky. Local politicians, in most instances you have to love them. They give freely of their time, are often put in no win situations and in 95% of the cases they are honestly doing what they think is in the best interest of the town. I laugh when local politicians consider themselves staunch republicans or democrats, leave that nonsense at the state and national levels and just do what's right by your neighbors. We have a local comcast channel that is supposed to broadcast community events and town meetings and such. Why are the council meetings of Pt Beach & Pt Boro not broadcast on this channel? It doesn't have to be a live event, broadcast it the next day, just don't edit it. Boro councilwoman Susan Rodgers is holding these public meetings boasting that she is reaching out to the people. Let's get these meetings televised and I'll bet the turnout for council meetings would triple and the letters to the editor would do the same. I've been reading with interest the public pissing contest that's been taking place between Ms. Rodgers and the PBA. Ms. Rodgers, I can guarentee you if you asked me informally to take a 5 day furlough from my job to help balance your budget, I would scream NO WAY! It would be anyones typical reaction. To go public with the accusations you made against the PBA was irresponsible. A simple apology would go along way to mending fences and making progress in future negotiations. Your refusal to do so has me and many others questioning your character. Working nights, damned economy, has kept me away from town meetings and getting them televised would make me a much more educated citizen and would make for some captivating t.v.
Expanding on the character issue, the Beach voters got exactly what they bargained for when they pulled the levers in the past election. You elected to Mayor a very educated man who thinks the one who shouts the loudest wins the debate. His tunnel vision on raising revenue for the town has cost the council valuable time which should have been spent cutting expenses and searching for grants. As any longtime resident will tell you, the parking problem is here to stay. Under Mayor Pasolas and Mayor Vogels leadership along with Chief Depolo's outstanding police force, quality of life has never been better east of the tracks. The proposals put on the table regarding the police budget is a huge step in the wrong direction. Asking the boardwalk owners to do any more is just plain unfair, they took the risk opening their businesses, now they're to be blamed for the towns fiscal irresponsibility. What are you going to do the next time you need a new ambulance or a place to hold yet another political fundraiser. The boardwalk owners may not be there during your next financial crisis.
Lastly, the youngest member of the Beach Town Council seems to have some very serious character flaws, chief among them is forgetfulness. Honesty and integrity are two of the prerequisites for holding an elected office. After asking around I discovered some serious inconsistencies in this young mans character. Did anyone on the screening committee for candidates check out his resume? Or was that swept under the table in the name of special interest groups? How did this young man secure his job and progress so nicely in the salary department? Friends in high places I suppose, but at the taxpayers expense. As Coach Don Fioretti always said, "There's only 1 rule on this team, do the right thing and you can't go wrong." Our High School coaches taught us alot but this is the one I live by, do you???

Things on My Mind

As many of you know my mom died a little over a year ago and her birthday would have been 04/27, to remember her my step father Bob is taking the family out to dinner and I'm really hoping it won't get too awkward. One of my mom's wishes was that my sister publish her journals as a way to help others fighting ALS or Lou Gehrigs Disease as it is more commonly known. Last night I was feeling kind of down thinking about Al Crincolis struggle with illness and his passing, when I decided to reread my sisters entries. I actually got myself all worked up and published a comment that had my sister balling to me on the phone tonight. We agreed that a good cry now and then was beneficial and nothing to be ashamed about, even if you scare your 8 year old son. You can check out her journal at http://support4als.blogspot.com I encourage all to do so because it's not an easy disease to diagnose and death comes slow and painful.

Glad to see most of the school budgets passed. All the complaining and whining in Pt Beach makes me chuckle, take any house in PPB and move it to the Boro and watch the taxes rise by at least 33%. People in Pt Beach don't know how good they have it.

I've probably read about 100 books over the last six months and the one I'm currently reading, The Cuckoo's Nest by Cliff Stoll, is taking me forever to get through. It's about one of the first computer hackers ever hunted down in the 1970's and what got him caught was a .75 cent billing miscalculation on a computer spread sheet. The book is about 350 pages long with really tiny print and it's written by an astronomer/programmer and he leaves no detail undocumented. A year ago I would have tossed this book aside after 30 pages, but a scientist lent it to me and now it's my lifes work to plow through the last 150 pages and have an intelligent conversation with this gentleman.

It's very frustrating working when everyone else is home. My son arrived home on Tuesday from a weeks visit to Arizona and I wont be able to see his face until 8 AM Saturday morning when we have our weekly battle over his watching MTV. Growing up the wildest thing on MTV was a Madonna video, now it sex to the nth degree, provacative outfits, and grind,grind, grind. Alot like dancing with a girl from TR!

Played hoops Sunday morning for the first time since my surgery in February. Ran about 7 full court games and my shoulder came out fine. My calves on the other hand are still barking on Wed night. It's time to drop some lbs. and go from rehab to fitness mode.

Real Estate market is finally picking up. I saw an actual contract on one of my listings and I'm showing 4 or 5 houses on Sat and doing an open house in Brick on Sunday. 236 18th Ave, 4 BR 2 Ba house with a full bsmt, attached garage, 75x100 lot on a hilltop setting. Drop by from 1-3 to say hello. Goodbye for now...

Some Sad News

Our good friend, Al Crincoli, passed away this morning after a long illness. I remember the first time I met Al in the conference room at Beltri Realtors. He and The Bloated One had worked together at Crossroads years before and when Crossroads tried to screw him on a customer issue, Al C immediately resigned and brought his license to Beltri. While the 3 of us sat in the conference room going over the contract, Al asked me how we were going to handle his BPO business. Dumbfounded, I asked him how Crossroads had handled it, he told us and TBO said Al C could keep 100% of his business. ( Can you imagine that generosity today?) The conversation continued until I finally interrupted and asked, What the heck is a BPO? Al C chuckled and explained what a Brokers Price Opinion was and how you were compensated for one. I can only imagine what he was thinking about the fact that his new manager had no idea what a BPO was. After our first meeting Al C and I became fast friends. Al C was always good for 4 or 5 deals a year and his paperwork was always impeccable. I wouldn't hear from him for a couple of weeks and then he'ld pop in and hand me a fat check and a HUD statement and I'ld thank him profusely. When Al C popped in it meant a cup of coffee and a good 45 minutes of great stories from his business past. He was also famous for his huge Holiday mailings, every Dec 10th or so Al would come in with about 700 mailers that would have to be sealed and stamped, my processor hated it but I never had the heart to tell him the agents were supposed to complete the entire mailing process themselves. Al C was old school and I respected him immensly so over a 2 or 3 day period Joni and I would seal and stamp until we completed the job, it usually cost me a lunch or 2 but it was well worth it to keep a man like Al C motivated and content. The office was always thanked at Christmas with a bottle of wine and a box of nice chocolates with liquor inside. Whether it was his business background or his garden and pond stories, Al C was the one guy I always took time out to sit and shoot the breeze with. Al C was a family man, a battler, highly ethical and classy. He will be missed by all that knew him. God Bless!

The Facebook Revolution

As with any new trend such as Myspace, Youtube or Facebook I am well behind the times. I had tried Myspace as a goof and to spy on my kids, it was fun for about 3 weeks and then I soured on it and deleted my profile, lets leave that to the teenagers was my thinking. I recently started enjoying Youtube to pass some time on my nightjob, it's easy to navigate and I even have an account. I'm noticing more real estate activity on the site and just as I was starting to look into it a little more, I read an article that the company is bleeding money and might not be around much longer. It figures, just as I was getting good at it! The latest thing I'm trying out is Facebook. It appears to me to be a grown up Myspace so I can use it without the embarassment. My sisters are helping me out with the tech side of the site but I'm still pretty inept. My greatest fear was that no one would want to be my friend, that problem was solved when someone else asked to be my friend before I had even finished my profile. With a sigh of relief I accepted my new friend and his name wasn't "Tom". It's been 3 days since I started and I'm up over 40 friends and I actually have some pics of the family up on the site. Time definately flies when you're on the site and I can assume there are some pretty po'd spouses out there when I see the multitude of posts of some of my cronies. For me, I'm going to try and limit my time on it, promote my blog and real estate business, and reignite old and forgotten friendships ( no exgirlfriends says my wife) . Luckily I was born shy and ugly so that condition shouldn't be a problem. Happy surfing!!!

The New Sheriff in Town

And he goes by the acronym BK or shorty if you will. The reason for this post is that I will be exposing this humble blog to the masses any day now. That's right folks, I'm caving in and opening a Facebook account. I've resisted so far because at my night job, Facebook is a blocked account, blogging obviously is not. At this time I have 7 devoted followers and around 20-25 people who call or e-mail me to comment on my posts. A caller today who commented that she LHAO while catchting up with my posts, pointed out that someone from the outside looking in may think that this is all just "sour grapes" and that I'm just being vindictive. I could definately see her point so I decided to write. If you've read the previous posts you know the title of this blog comes from an infamous Holiday Party speach by the Bloated One in Dec '07. After basically ignoring his company for the previous 6 months he was announcing to his agents that he was back on the job and things were going to change. The Bloated One had gone from an inspiring, forward thinking, motivating personality to a skirt chasing, money hungry two face ogre. After having been invisible for the previous 6 months, he declared he was back in action and was going to turn the real estate market upside down and bring it back to prosperity. Well his timing was just a tad bit off, while other companies were circling the wagons and cutting expenses, he was in expansion mode. A new more costly office in Howell, an adult community office that Diane Turton had given up on yet TBO payed top dollar for, and an office in Brick that another agency had abandoned yet TBO felt was the perfect location. My assumption was that he tried to time the comeback of the market and never expected the downturn to last into '09 and possibly '10. He decided to move his own office to the Point location and the agents soon found out what I had been shielding them from for the past 15 months or so. He became antagonistic bordering on abusive, refused to cooperate with agents who were trying to complete deals, and in the end he was even ignoring his own written orders on how a commission split should be paid to an agent. He lied, and his unwitting mgrs and asst mgrs swore to the lie. I once had respect for a couple of his minnions, that all went out the window after that last fiasco. What strikes me as the most ironic is that he failed to turn the Point office around. He grossly underestimated the work and time involved in running an office staffed by part time agents. In less than a year under his guidance, he closed his original office. He can make all the excuses he wants but it had to be a huge blow to his enormous ego to shutter the office that started it all. It's a huge blow to his pocketbook also because he's still paying rent on both units as we speak. One sharp business man. Anyway back to the point, if you've read the posts from day one I didn't start this blog as a blast Beltri site. What happened was he started royally screwing my former associates and it really made me angry. Most people in his company are deathly afraid of this man or feel they owe their professional lives to him. He revels in this, he rules by fear and intimidation. A bully plain and simple. From the beginning it seemed I was the only one who ever stood up to him, explained right from wrong. fought a dress code, and told him how to diplomatically handle certain situations. I have often said I was the conscience of the company. Well it's quite obvious from the way the company is being run that no one is willing to stand up to him, the agents have noticed and they're leaving in droves. I still feel a responsibility to the agents I had managed that are left behind so I post the truth. The Beltris have run their company based on gossip, intimidation, and hiding the truth, so I post what I know. First hand accounts from the agents that were slandered, mistreated, harrassed, and falsely accused. Can you imagine a gag order on a small claims court settlement of around $500. That's dinner and wine for 2 nights for the ultraextravagant Beltris, a limo ride and lunch on a Saturday for heavens sake! Yet he went to court when he knew he was wrong in order to keep the truth from coming out! Well, that's why I blog, to let others know what is really going on. I don't feel I'm wasting my time, time seems to fly by when I'm writing, and like I said, I feel I have a responsibility to do it. I honestly don't have any ethical problems with what I'm writing because it's all fact. If I'm making an assumption I'm sure I have 95% of the facts to support my conclusion. And besides, it's fun to read for the agents who have been royally screwed by the fat man and the agents who have left without their full commissions or listings. More than 5 agents who left have said they felt some wierd stuff was going on but they couldn't put 2 and 2 together, and now it all makes sense. Well, believe me, it's hard to make sense of a cluster f**k but I'm doing the best I can. No personnal vindictiveness, only for my friends, no falsehoods, gotta protect my rep, don't want to be sued by a gaggle of lawyers kept on retainer, and don't want to be shot, I'm told he has a handgun by a frightened for her life young lady, but that's a story I don't yet have permission to tell. Maybe soon...

One Big Happy Family

A recurring theme here has been my harrowing guilt over selling Beltri Realtors as one big happy family. I can attest from 2003 til 2007 we were one partying company. If there was a holiday or a birthday we were at a bar hootin and hollerin. The MCAR beach parties should have been known as the Beltri Bash because no one had a better time than we did. Looking back it was the day after these occasions that should have made me more suspicious of our rotund leader. It was always 99 questions, who drank what and how much, who was dancing with who, anyone get sick, who exactly was out, etc etc. The more gossip the better. And he interrogated everyone, especially the agents he fronted money to, those were the ones who owed him and would give up the most idle gossip. For myself and the agents it was just letting off steam, venting about the boss and at worst, innocent flirtations. Far be it for any male to engage in conversation with one of Al's personnal favorites for more than two minutes. First you could feel the glare from across the room, than you could see the pouty face, and then the next day you could expect the 10 minute interrogation about what you were discussing. Everything was a company secret, no one knew from one office to the next what was going on in the company unless it was an ill conceived contest with the reward being lunch with the Bloateds'. Big Deal!!!
Many times I would call another office and ask to speak with an agent or a secretary and find out that they had left or been fired. I was the senior manager and was constantly kept in the dark over personnel decisions. Part of Mrs B's bio is that she personnally sits with each agent and goes over the contract with them. What took Al or I 20 minutes max to go over, takes her 90 minutes and the agent walks out of the room with a dazed look in their eyes. It wasn't till the masses started leaving the company and phoning me that I found out that the Beltris had changed up the contract from your commission being cut to 50% if you were at a higher split and you were leaving the company to 50% of the rate you were currently at. That means an agent at a 50/50 split leaving the company a week before a closing, would get paid 25% and probably wait 3 weeks to get it. Everything started going downhill the day the supportive wife became the do nothing, long winded VP of operations. The more she talked, the less the agents and mgmt respected her. When she yelled or cried, her credibility went down to nothing. Her hiring, and the purchase of the Brielle Showplace, is when the company went from looking out for their agents to looking out for themselves. "Everybodies got their hands in my pocket" is a phrase that just echoes in my mind from hearing it so much.
Besides the 70,000 hits a month on his website, the other thing the Round Mound liked to brag about was his 100 agents. I ran some numbers and names through my head and consulted with some other exes and came up with the following. When we were growing, having fun with wifey as a supportive bystander, Beltri grew to 100 agents in about 4 years. Through that time approx 11 agents left the company, 1 was a porn addict, 1 a drunk, 1 was crazy as a loon, 1 a daughter-in-law, and the other 7 or 8 were for a variety of reasons but nothing to give the company a black eye. Than I ran the numbers since "There's a new Sheriff in Town " speach. Over 30 agents have left since then, almost a third of the company and the majority of the full time agents. I can say with a clear conscience??? that I had nothing to do with any of it. If an agent called and asked for advise, I gave it to them. And 95% of the time my advise was to stay with the devil you know and see if things turn around. Invariably TBO would do something inane or unethical and drive the person away anyway. Of the 30 that had left, 20% were former Million $ Club members, what company could afford to lose that amount of quality producers ane expect to survive??? As always I ponder, what a way to run a company...
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Be All That You Can Be!

But wear too many hats and sooner or later, it's all gonna fall apart. Working my security job I have a lot of time to read, and write, but you already know that. My brother sends alot of books my way and a good number of them are military related. The book I'm just finishing up is Making The Corps by Thomas E Ricks. It is about the life of a Marine Corps Recruit and his time spent at Parris Island. It also tells a good deal about the history of The Corps. One line really brought back alot of memories for me of my time at Beltri. "Concentrate on doing a single task as simply as you can, execute it flawlessly, TAKE CARE OF YOUR PEOPLE, and go home." This is a one line assessment of how The Marine Corps does it's business. This one line made me reflect back to the many conversations I had with Bruce, Ray, and Donna about how muddled the real estate transaction had become at Beltri. First it was the mortgage company we were forced to promote, then the title company, then the once a month Open House extravaganza we were shoving down our agents throats, onto the guaranteed advertising plans that were really no guarantee at all, the 3 week circus of meetings and phone calls to round up all of YHD's listings and agents that amounted to nothing, and then the luxury home division fiasco that has done nothing but create controversy and bad will all around.
When I joined the company The Bloated One stated "I will never forget those who believed in me and helped me grow, we're all gonna get rich with this. " Well, of the 3 people in the room that day, only one of us lives in a $900,000 house on the busiest street in Brielle. In my 4.5 yrs as a manager with the company I never received a pay raise on my base salary of $600 a month, the rest of my monthly check was earned on the hard work of the agents in my office. Lets see, he demanded I be in the office 40-50 hrs a week, accused my assistants (including his stepdaughter) and myself of covering up for each other, yet I was only guaranteed a $600 paycheck a month. Would someone please e-mail me the number for the Labor Dept!!! What's the statute of limitations?
It really is a shame, I once accused one of our mortgage reps of monopolizing all of The Bloated Ones time, I complained he hadn't spoken to me in 3 weeks. She smiled and said he hadn't returned one of her calls in over a month! Talk about spreading yourself thin, if it wasn't the mortgage company, and it wasn't the real estate company taking up his time, what could it have been that kept him so disconnected from the companies he so loved? If his wife was correct and he was out chasing skirts all day, I think he would've been alot thinner!
He speaks often of his dream of operating his own real estate company. When his dream came true and things started clicking, his inbred greed kicked in. He should've studied the Marine's credo and stuck with the one thing he did well, he should've taken care of his people, and he should've been home taking care of his disfunctional family when they needed him most. Woulda' Coulda' Shoulda'...Oh well.

Internet Maverick

I admit I have way too much time on my hands, but at least I'm getting paid for it! Went to the Beltri website for research for my previous post and clicked on the banner over skinny Al's head. It directed me to his real estate blog where he claims to have 70,000 hits a month on his website. I would challenge him to back that up, but I digress. In an e-mail I sent to the bloated one some 2 months ago I made the point I had to make, as evidenced by his hastily called managers meeting the next night, and then I gave him some unsolicited advise, have someone proof your site, it's embarassing! About 3 weeks later most of the agents bios were proofed and corrected. Today I happened upon his "re-alignment plan" on the front page of his website that receives 70,000 hits a month and here is an example

"I have been working on what I call a “re-alignment” plan for our company since May of this year. Basically, this plan is comprised of looking at our overhead, our markets and office production. An example of this was our Normandy Beach Office. We realized that most of our business was being done in the Lavallette are so we relocated a satellite office to Lavallette and consequently have increased our business ever since explaines Albert S. Veltri, President & CEO".
"I have identified our Point Pleasant office as the next office to re-align. Our rationale for this re-alignment is the fact that over the past four years 85% of Point Pleasants’ production was out of the Point Pleasant and Point Beach areas. In fact, over 50% of our production was done in Brick. It is our second most expensive office in the system and we also have seen a decline in the offices’ production since we opened our Howell office three years ago and opened our Brick office this year. It does not make good business sense to keep this operation open and compete with ourselves. We still have a lease that we will have to pay for the next year and a half unless we can sublet some space. We will probably use some of the space for a training facility. All of the sales associates will be going to the Brick Office". Veltri States.

This has been untouched by me, and not proofed by anyone in his office. It just makes me chuckle, 70,000 hits and nonsense like this out to the general "70,000" public! How many Veltri States are there? I hear they're under communist rule with a woman leader. Is explaines spanish for explains? And the Point office, without a leader and two of it's top producers, still outperformed the Howell office, albeit leaderless also.

Encouragement Rocks!!!

In the past week I've received at least 6 e-mails congratulationg me on my blog and encouraging me to keep it going. Considering that I'm not actively promoting my musings, I felt that the feedback has been fantastic and it may be enough to motivate me to start a facebook page and actually prompt people to read this blog. I understand on facebook you can create groups, maybe a Beltri Realtors-Scary But True Stories group would be in order. The following is from an e-mail I received today from an anonymous former Beltri agent :

One thing that continues to contribute to their impending downfall…the “luxury home division”. A lot of good agents were offended when they weren’t hand picked to join this elite group. Isn’t it ironic that all of the big deals are being done by agents who weren’t considered good enough to be asked in the first place? Another brilliant management decision.

Imagine sitting there on floor on a Saturday when the limo arrives for their monthly jaunt…you’re stuck in an office where the only up calls are from pissed off bill collectors…and the bloated ones and their little entourage are off for the day to preview luxury homes and do lunch. When did this become Beverly Hills? He’s trying to portray an image of wealth and success…too bad everyone in the industry can see through all of the pretense!

As the old saying goes "fake it til you make it" and there's no bigger faker than Mr President & Chief Executive Officer of the company that bears his name, at least until Grandma Bloated returns from shopping.

Riddle of the day: When is a vice president not a vice president?

Answer: When the subpoena arrives!

Waiting for Change

Change comes slowly, especially to the impatient. In October 2008, having gone 10 months without a paycheck and the real estate market in the proverbial dumper, I decided to take a night job. Leafing through the ever dwindling help wanted ads, one ad in particular caught me eye, wanted full or part time, security officers, apply in person. I figured what the heck, I put on khackis and a dress shirt and went in to apply. The application was approximately 10 pages long and I was sitting at a crowded table with 4 other applicants doing the paperwork. Lets just say that of the 20 or so applicants that came through the door while I was there, I wouldn't have hired one of them to mow my lawn. It almost seemed like they didn't want to be considered for the job they were now giving their life story to, not to get hired. Filling out applications must be a condition of continued unemployment.
I met with a hiring manager who went over my application with a fine toothed comb. She asked me how far I was willing to travel and I told her the truth, not very. (Gas was still $4/gal and I drove a 4 wheel drive truck) She told me the positions in Ocean County paid little more then minimum wage but if I was willing to travel 20 miles to a job in Monmouth County, the pay would be substantially higher. I would later find substantial to be a relative term. I was then led into the Vice Presidents office who grilled me on my previous criminal history and past drug use. I assured him I was clean with no record and we got down to business. He told me they had a very prestigious client who needed a responsible, smart, well built, and good looking, wait, he did say responsible and punctual, the other descriptions were from my imagination. Anyway, I accepted the job and have been working the 3PM to 11 shift ever since. It is the easiest job I have ever had but it is also the most boring. Hence this blog. I blog not because I am full of myself, I blog because I am bored. I am not responsible for any people or property, only 6 highly sensitive rooms with classified government information inside. That's what they tell me anyway, they could be training monkeys to fly for all I know. That being said, change is on the way, in just 60 days I will be back managing a real estate office where my commute is a short bicycle ride away, nights with my family, and weekends for Open Houses or whatever else I choose to do. I am currently working there 1 day a week learning all the ins and outs of the office and I can't wait until it's my full time gig. In this case the waiting paid off and in a couple of months I can kiss my security days goodbye!
In the 6 months I've been here I've taken one night off, for my shoulder surgery. The procedure was a success and I'm now in my 5th week of physical therapy at Physical Therapy Works in Point Pleasant, owned and operated by Laurie Boenning, a fellow grad of PPBHS, a member of my wedding party and a first rate athlete in a previous life. In our sessions she's aggresively stretching and strengthening my shoulder in order to get me back on the basketball court just as soon and as safely as possible. Here is her website http://www.ptworks-nj.com I would highly recommend her PT services to any and all who want to get healthy in the shortest amount of time possible. She even treats this 43 yr old paunchy has been as the hoopster he once was! That's all for know...

My friend Ray D can best be described as a man's man. He loves to boat, fish and hunt, always provided well for his family and was successful at any endeavor he set his mind to conquer. He is also very generous with his time, in his 4 years with Beltri Real Estate he taught some excellent classes on using the computer to prospect, assisted other agents with technical issues, and was constantly repairing computers, faxes and printers in the cursed Normandy Beach office. All gratis, no charge to the Bloated One. Ray had another gift that I've seen fail him on only one occasion during the time I've known him, his ability to size up another person, to be able to tell if the person was one with character and integrity. Reflecting back, his gift didn't fail him, the Bloated One fooled us all!
Around 3 weeks ago I received a call from Ray, the usual pleasantries were exchanged along with a plan to go out shooting soon and a night out with our mutual friends. Then he asked me what it would be like if he left Beltri, would Al keep his listings, hold his license? He had no plans to, but said if Al screwed with one of his friends, he would leave in a heartbeat. A true man of his word...

Brian,

I Just sent this to 700 people in my njhomeweb.com database. As soon as I get back on to the MLS it will go to the 600 contacts there also.

Ray

Dear Friends, Clients, and Subscribers-

As a result of the repulsive way a fellow Veltri Agent was treated by the broker, Albert Veltri, I felt compelled to resign from Veltri & Associates Realtors. As a result, in a vindictive manner, Albert Veltri is delaying the process of transferring my Real Estate License to Weichert Realtors. A process that could have been done in a day or two will take close to two weeks, during which time my Real Estate License will be inactive; prohibiting me from assisting any of you or answering questions about Real Estate and disabling your ability to use my website to do your Real Estate searches. I apologize for the inconvenience, but I am certain you understand that your own self respect and the respect of other good people are essential in life and business.
If you have any Real Estate related questions, or need any searches done, please call Deborah S at Weichert Realtors- 908-910-xxxx, or e-mail her at Deborah@. The website will back up and running in a week or so with the Weichert logo, and there are already plans to make it bigger and better with links to many Weichert services.

Sorry I can not immediately remove the pesky Veltri logo below, but if you ever see it you might want to run.

Sincerely,
Ray D

Ray lives his life as a doer, not an asker. All the services he performed while associated with the Bloated One, he never asked for or was given a thank you by the boss. While his fellow associate layed in a hospital bed Ray reached out to the Bloated One for a favor, not for himself but for a friend, and received a proverbial slap in the face for his efforts. Ray resigned on the spot and the ship started to sink alot faster.
When Ray gets set up with his new company, with a simple click of the send button a total of 1300 home buyers and sellers will know what this company is all about and how shoddily it is run. I still shake my at what once was and what now is...

THE SHIP IS SINKING

And apparantly the Captain has lost his marbles. Kathy D had her day in court today. She went prepared with poster boards illustrating exactly how an agent gets paid, so anyone unfamiliar with the industry would understand the calculations, she had the paperwork signed by her manager detailing exactly how much of a discount she would have to give and how much Beltri would have to give, but mostly she went armed with the TRUTH! I know she was offered $300 to settle this out of court on Saturday, I know Kathy D was in court at 8:45 for the 9:00 start time indicated on the subpoena, and I know the bloated Al Beltri showed at court at 9:45, why would a man with no respect for anyone in his company have respect for the courts or anyone elses schedule, no suprise there. But unfortunately this is all I have to report on, it seems that with The Bloated One settling and presumatively admitting he was wrong, he also had a gag order placed on the proceedings and Kathy D was bound by law to offer up no details. I was privy to all the details right up to the point of them entering mediation and now nothing. It was like missing the last 5 minutes of a good mystery movie and having to assume how it all turned out. This is my assumption, Kathy D at my urging went to court well prepared and knowing she had right on her side, along with her loving husband to support her. Al Beltri entered the courthouse alone, making me wonder where the crack legal team was, and if past history is any indication, totally unprepared. This is a man who is running 5 real estate offices that bear his name, his main office is staffed by a newly hired manager, and assistant manager, and Mrs Bloated the company VP, so I assume he has no money issues, yet his agents are jumping ship like his company is the Titanic, and he's spending his morning in small claims court over $525 so he can put a gag order on Kathy D. This is certainly a man who pays attention to the small details! His company by many estimates won't last the year and he needs a gag order on little Kathy D to protect the "integrity" of the vaunted company name. Well big guy, unfortunately we won't get the details of what went on in mediation because Kathy D is truly a woman of integrity who respects the law. What you can't control is the fact that you wronged someone who asked several people for advise and guidance and the facts are out there for all who want to know, we can only guess at the outcome but we all have a pretty good idea of how it went down. Mr Beltri was always a magician at keeping information secret from one office to another, having "moles" in the offices to report back to him on office gossip, but even with the "Gag Order" it'll be impossible to keep this one quiet. With more legal proceedings on the horizon and someone special coming to visit in the weeks ahead, this story is far from over, and I'll be here to disseminate the information. Til then...

Couldn't Have Said it Better Myself

This from the comments section of the website Outrageous Agents. Written much better than I ever could have articulated the same thoughts.
Former Veltri Agent
March 30th, 2009 at 11:39 am
Unfortunately, MANY of us former Veltri Agents ARE finding out that the “myths” and “rumors” about the Veltri reputation are, in fact, TRUE … Several of us were kept heavily sheltered from those unethical, unprofessional and dishonest facts by the ONLY person who ever knew how to run that Company profitably and professionally. Surprisingly enough, The Veltri’s did not have enough business sense to keep their best assets, but rather chose to destroy as many relationships (both personal and professional) as possible in the shortest amount of time, creating the beginning of their demise in this world of Real Estate. Is THIS someone you would trust with your largest financial investment?
Fortunately for all of those who would prefer honest Real Estate expertise, or those seeking an honest career in this field, Karma is going to have the final say, and mark my words … There WILL be a FINAL day for Veltri Realtors in the near future.
Kathy D is not only a fellow Associate in this business, but also a dear friend. She, as well as several others in a similar situation thanks to the Veltri’s, will all triumph together once that final “FOR RENT” sign is placed in the last Veltri office window!

KARMA The way I understand it is that the energy or the vibe you put out is the energy you get in return. At this point I've let go of my personnal anger towards the man, but I still get fired up when I get the thrice weekly calls about how Mr & Mrs Bloated have mistreated another former associate. This week alone 2 Beltri associates handed in their resignations and a third was fired because she was a good friend of one of the associates. What a way to run a business!!! Another former associate will be in small claims court on Wednesday fighting the bloated one over a relatively small amount of money due her. The bloated one had his lawyer, he has a team of them if you believe a word he says, call this associate and try to settle for half the amount owed, on principle she refused and will have her day in court. I only hope she brings the tape recording of his 5 mgrs and asst mgrs screaming at her over the telephone. It would make for good Court TV !!! I will report how all turns out, until then...

You're All Against Me

In 2002 when the Beltris started their real estate company, The Bloated Ones favorite phrase was "I love to pay my agents". Legally a Real Estate Broker has 10 days after receiving a commission check to pay their agent. With the new banking regulations and checks clearing in 2 or 3 days, the 10 day law is really outdated. Some brokers routinely held paychecks til the 10th day, just because they could. The agent would work with a buyer for 2-3 months, show them 20-25 houses, negotiate a contract, wait another 45 days for a home to to close, go to the closing, give a gift to his buyer, bring the check back to his brokers office, then have to wait an additional 10 days to receive his paycheck. The cash would sit in the brokers operating account doing nothing, not even earning interest, for 5-6 extra days when an agent could be using it to pay his bills, invest it or even piss it away. Mr Beltri had the right idea, paying an agent quickly made for a happy agent, and a happy agent let other agents know how happy they were which led to office growth and more happy agents. Well let me tell you how times have changed. When agents start leaving a company in droves, there's a problem, usually a multitude of problems, but for this post I'll just mention two. The first is The Bloated One is not paying his agents for 15-20 days and beyond. I have not been with the company for 15 months and I still receive bi-weekly calls from agents who haven't been paid in 2 weeks or who want to leave the company and are seeking advice on how to accomplish their goal. Times are tough for everyone in the real estate industry these days, but holding an agents pay to cover other bills, robbing Peter to pay Paul, is just unacceptable. He's getting away with it because if an agent complains and threatens to leave, The Bloated One will not release an agents hard earned listings and will cut an agents pay in half if they have any deals that have not yet closed. So basically an agent is stuck. Now the Beltris have come up with a new trick, if an agent is lucky or plans his departure well and is not owed any money and has no current listings, he could normally offer his resignation and in a day or two pick up his license from the office and begin his next job. Now The Bloated One is telling his departing agents that he can legally hold their license for 5 days before returning it to them or sending it back to the Real Estate Commission. Mr Beltri has gone from being gung ho pro agent to an agents worst nightmare. The Beltris honestly believe that there is a conspiracy theory against them and everyone is out to get them. When the company and I parted ways I would have liked nothing better than to leave quietly, professionally and get on with my life. But he couldn't stop talking about me, making nonsense up, and hurting friends and those around me. Every BS story or word he uttered with my name attached to it got back to me almost immediately. The Beltri's lost their agents respect long before I was dismissed, my last 15 months in their employ was mostly covering for them, making excuses, and soothing hurt feelings. They have continued to hurt my former associates and friends and so I blog, exposing the bloated owners of Beltri Realtors for what they are, selfish, greedy, unfeeling ogres who are only concerned about their faux lifestyle of a big house, dinners out every night and nice cars. More to come...

The Truth

The company I managed, we'll call it Beltri, because both owners wear really large belts and it rhymes with the actual name of the company, is in a tailspin. When I was "downsized" in Dec of '07 things were looking bleak. My office sales fell about 10% but compared to the 35 & 40% losses of most other companies, we were holding our own. Future business was not looking good, as I said, most of my agents were part timers and were looking for other employment just so they could get by. The owners had just ended the relationship with our mortgage company and announced a partnership with one of the most maligned mortgage companies in the business. In the process a good friend was cut loose in the most unproffesional way possible. This would later become business as usual. At our yearly holiday party, numbers were almost as low as everyones spirits. Alcohol solved the spirits problem but when the owner got up and announced "Things are gonna change around here, there's a new sheriff in town" everyone looked around at one another embarrasedly and sobered up on the spot. On the morning of Dec 28 I got a call from my crying secretary saying she had just been let go, I was shocked because just 6 months ago we recruited her from a competing broker and 45 days ago when the owners thought she wasn't showing them enough "respect", they talked to me about letting her go. I, in no uncertain terms let them know she was the best secretary we had ever had and if they fired her they would lose me also. As I finished my conversation and hung up the phone, I knew I would soon begin another chapter in my life. I stormed through the office door and yelled what the **** do you think you are doing. The bloated owner asked me to step into the conference room and talk, I sat down and looked him in the eyes and knew he was a beaten man. He told me he had let my secretary go and he was also returning my license to me, that he and the Mrs decided to take the company in a different direction. I spewed a few choice words in his direction, cursing him for leading on and letting go of a woman with a family who needed the paycheck, and then realized the man couldn't even look me in the eyes, I left and started packing 4 years worth of nonsense. As I walked around the office packing my things, I felt like a heavy load had just been lifted off of my shoulders. My past year had been spent making excuses for the Beltris, trying to expain why we weren't advertising, how come bonuses weren't being paid, why wouldn't the Beltris return any calls. From my own office this was fine, but the calls were coming from the other offices as well. I realised the Beltris had gone into hibernation and weren't even going into their own office. Packing my bags I though it was finally over, no more phone calls, no more covering up, no more making excuses. What a relief!!! As I loaded the last box into my truck, I returned to the office to return my keys, amex, tell him where some important papers were, and to let him know he should really give me an exit interview, that I would let him know exactly what was going on in the company. Again, he never looked at me, I thanked him for the oppurtunity and walked out of the office a happy man. Two days later I stopped by the office to drop off a company jacket and some tee shirts I would never wear again. The man still owed me over $6,000 so I figured I would be civil. Real Estate is a close knit, gossipy type of business, and Mr Beltri was a well connected businessman. I figured he would pay what he had owed me and we would go forward with our respective lives. How wrong I was... For the latest news on my former employer go to http://outrageousagents.com/agentdatabasewp/?p=875

Life's a Negotiation

Everyone has their comfort level. I welcome a good negotiation when it comes to Real Estate. The better the agent I'm up against, the faster my mind starts to work. Plotting to get my client the best possible price and terms while not letting the other agent know his client got the short end of the stick. Of course the best negotiation in R.E. is one in which both sides win, the buyer feels he got a decent deal, the seller a fair price, and the good feelings last through inspections to closing. Handshakes and hugs all around and sometimes everyone actually keeps in touch. $600,000 deals I can handle, purchasing a $30,000 car makes me squeamish. My truck lease was up today and I knew weeks ago I would have to go car shopping. Typical male, I started 2 days ago. I went to my local Toyota dealer to inquire about my lease surrender and to see what model car I might be interested in purchasing. The salesperson was very knowledgeable and did her best to put me at ease. She had me test drive 2 cars, met with someone in a back room, then came out with figures that made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. I never countered her numbers, complained or even squinted hard at the numbers, I just told her I would have to discuss things with my wife. Thats when my real negotiation began, trying to convince my wife to go to the dealership after work the next day and close the deal. My whining must have gotten to her because she agreed and I felt a ton of weight being lifted off my surgically repaired shoulders. We agreed on the most we wanted to spend a month and then I wished her luck. While hard at work the next day I anxiously awaited her phone call. At 3:30 my cell rang and Kathleen gave me the good news, she got the car at our budgeted amount, and because she cared about my comfort, and my newfound panic disorder, she had managed to move us up to the next more spacious model. I asked her how she did it and she said she just said no, and pointed to our number. Where I couldn't say no to my salespersons initial price, Kathleen went through 2 levels of mgmt and the finance guy to get us a deal. Her reward was my running out at 1Am to pick up her father at Allaire Limosine after a 14 hr workday. Well worth it in my admiring eyes. I'll probably throw in dinner and a movie this weekend. Better go to Deb's blog at JerseyBites.com to get a good restaurant recommendation!

Point Pleasant Area Real Estate is Picking Up

Typically an agent in the Pt Pleasant area can vacation from January to mid February and not lose any business. Come President's Day activity tends to really pick up. This year seems to be about 3 weeks behind schedule. Sellers are hesitant to put their homes on the market and buyers think the home of their dreams will still be on the market in 60 days when they finally get around to making an offer. All indications are pointing to buyer beware, the stock market is giving the consumer more confidence, housing starts are up for Feb. and mortgage rates are still at all time lows. The buyer who finds the perfect home and drags their feet on an offer, may very well be regretting that decision two months from now. A good agent will give a buyer all the information to make a well thought out offer taking into consideration sold comparables, days on market and market conditions at the time of the offer. Many homes are selling 10-15% below their asking prices. I'm not suggesting just throwing a number at a seller to see if they'll bite, but a well presented offer with an attached market analysis may very well sway the seller and lead to favorable negotiations. With a little homework and a hard working agent on their side, buyers wont be telling the " I could've, I should've" stories on their next visit to the beautiful Jersey Shore beaches with their friends and loved ones.

Qualifications

Here are my qualifications to blog about Point Pleasant Real Estate and Real Estate in general. Not that this blog will be all about R.E., when a thought pops into my head that makes me want to open a window and scream it out loud for all my neighbors to hear, I'll just post it instead. These thoughts generally occur after reading my bible, The Ocean Star, and marvelling at the coverage of our local town councils, planning boards and the lack of coherent, knowlegeable sports coverage since Keith Grace left to pursue another career. Letters to the editor are another favorite of mine and if you continue to gander at my posts, you'll soon see why I feel that way.
I moved to PPB at the tender age of 9, graduated PPB in '83, rec'd an AA from Raritan Valley CC in '86 and passed the real estate exam in '87. The training I rec'd from my first RE Broker was listen to Tom Hopkins tapes and earn your GRI designation. Aiming to please, I did both and never looked back. My first sale was a $100,000 listing in TR that I got from a wrong number, my second sale was a whopper, a $400,000 home in PPB from a walk-in family of 7 brothers, sisters and cousins. Confusion reigned but the deal got done. Soon after that sale I joined The Atlantic Club, got engaged, and invested my first $2,000 in the stock market. Times were good. Then 1989 rolled in and the real estate market crashed, I lost $1600 in the stock market and marriage was looming in October, I did what any inexperienced REALTOR would do, I got a full time job with benefits in the insurance industry.
In 1995 I had a chance to fufill a dream and coach High School Basketball, I turned down a promotion at work so I could keep suitable hours and when the company decided to relocate to Cranford, a buyout and unemployment reignited my real estate career. For the next 5 years I worked an assortment of jobs, substitute teaching, construction, door man, and real estate agent just so I would be able to keep the dream alive. In 2000 I concentrated on real estate full time and haven't looked back since.
In 2002 I was cajoled into switching companies and joining a start up in Point Pleasant. I wasn't unhappy at my old company but the thought of growing with this new venture and working with a good friend peaked my interest. The bloated owner said all the right things and gave me a 10% increase in my commission rate so I signed on the dotted line. In hindsight, I was making a deal with the devil but gained all so much experience and knowledge.
In early 2003 I earned my Brokers License and in 07/2003 I had my own office to manage. I started out with 6 agents, fired 1 and began to recruit and build the business. The pay was horrible but I knew the experience I would gain would be invaluable.
To make a long story short, in the 4.5 yrs I managed this office it grew from 6 agents to over 40 agents and we were competing and beating the smaller established agencies in town. No way were we competing with the DT's or the Coldwell Bankers, but the Mary Holders, Perko Agency and many others we were right there with in sales and market share. We were doing this with a majority of part time agents and barely a Million Dollar Club member. I always wondered why we couldn't get any "heavy hitters" to sign on with us and I wouldn't know until I parted ways with the company in late December of 2007.
During my tenure there I earned my Accredited Buyers Representative designation, the Seniors Real Estate Specialist designation, testified before the Pt Pleasant Board of Adjustment and was deamed an Expert Witness, testified and won a procurring cause case before the Monmouth County Assn of Realtors in the amount of $!8,000 , and oversaw the files and supervised the agents actions in almost 400 closings.
My time with that company gave me more experience and knowledge of the Real Estate industry than I could ever imagine. There are enough stories to fill a book but a blog will have to do. Look for some scandolous stuff in the posts to come...