Real Estate Agent? Really?

 

Here is another thing I've been thinking about. Kris Brogan is a real estate broker, which is a level above being a real estate agent. She did what so many others did and stripped the equity out of her 4 plex in S. Mpls. If she claims she didn't know about the fine print, then what the heck kind of real estate person is she. She claims to do all the deals for Alliance Housing and others, but she couldn't even negotiate her own mortgage! Looks like she took all the money from her house and put it into keeping Papa's afloat and that is where I see yet another problem. She was throwing good money after bad. Is that how she will manage city contracts? If it doesn't work like she thinks, keep dumping our tax dollars into a rat hole? And one more thing about her being a real estate broker, didn't she see the market crisis coming? I mean I did and I have no real estate experience whatsoever. My house in North Minneapolis was appraised for $250,000.00! I laughed when a mortgage company offered to refinance me and give me a check for the equity because I knew it wasn't worth anywhere near that price. Many people, and including it appears the Brogans, were struck by pure old plain out GREED! They had a "dream" and nothing was going to stop them from pursuing it, even to their own detriment. Now, speaking of throwing money down a rat hole, what was old Mick up to when they were opening Papa's? He quit his job and spent two years getting the doors open! No reserve, no advanced planning, just living off his money until it ran out, then snatching all the equity from the home to finance a ship that was sinking before it even opened. Speaking of that, Kris wants to blame the city for their problems opening the pizza place. Yet at every turn, she touts her time working in the mayors office. Heck to hear her talk, she ran the mayors office, but she couldn't use all that experience to navigate the regulations to open a simple pizza shop. One other thing, I don't see an endorsement from the former Mayor. If she was as valuable as she says she was, you'd think Mayor Belton would stand up for her. Talk about bad timing, after dumping their house into Papa's, they then hit their friends up to invest in Papa's, sending out letters and promising free pizza for life and naming pizza's after them. Who does that to their friends? Then they turn around and include it on their bankruptcy and have the nerve to go begging for more money to run for office! When they still couldn't make a go of it, Kris goes in the local paper and blames the neighborhood for not supporting them. Notice how she never accepts any blame for Pap's failure? It's always somebody else's fault, the city, the neighborhood, the tornado, the recession, broken windows....she never says anywhere that I can find that maybe, just maybe, they had a poor business plan, average food and poor service not to mention verbal wars between Mick and Kris that were legendary. Now, let's visit the location for a minute. Kris was told that the landlord was a bad character to deal with and that parking was an issue. At that time, Victory 44 (then known as Ric's) was up for sale, already established and had parking! But Kris knew better and would hear of nothing else but that location. It was Thomas Ave or nothing. The city was trying to get rid of that landlord and warned Kris that it would be a mistake, but warnings be damned, full speed ahead! She captained that ship right into the rocks, but accepts no blame. When they perceived parking as the latest issue to keep them from being successful, it became Ngyis' fault. They were warned of a shortage of parking places before they opened, but in typical Brogan style, it was off to the races to blame someone else. Kris claims to support small businesses, but I think Ngyia would have a different take on that. One more of Kris' "work experiences" is her long term relationships with non profits. Knowing that, one week before it came up at the ViNa board meeting, Kris is quoted in the Camden News (March 1, 2012)about her concern for the neighborhood paper and her plan to sell $20.00 gift certificates to Papa's splitting the proceeds $16.00 to Papa's and $4.00 to the Camden News. At the March 7, 2012 ViNa board meeting she brings it to them and they approve using public funds to purchase $200.00 in gift certificates. Granted, Kris abstained from voting, but the intent was clear; raise money for Papa's using the Camden News non profit newspaper as cover. She knew better and so did the ViNa board. As the Pap's ship was breaking up and taking on water, Kris and Mick stopped paying rent to the landlord, in violation of state law. Unlike a home rental where money can be escrowed if their is a dispute, a business cannot do the same. I learned this fact by using Google. Again, Kris is a real estate specialist in this area but decided to break state law anyway, after all, the rules don't apply to the Brogans. How they could even have faked being shocked when they were served with eviction pares is beyond me. They made the landlord (not the original one by the way) take them to Court and file a writ of eviction against them to force them out. yet again Kris showing how she supports small business; forcing to spend the money to file and go to Court. In the end, Kris and Mick take no ownership for their part in Papa's failure. The city is at fault, no wait, it's parking, no hold on, its the neighbors fault. I am not saying they didn't have obstacles as surely the tornado, the recession and yes city regulations all may have been small factors in this mess, but it would really be nice for the Brogan's to stand up and say "we screwed up too, and we accept the blame" because as it stands, they seem to have no part in this tragic chapter of, The Brogan Files.