Dan Cummings - The Running Realtor: May 2008

My wife, Sandra Cummings, dumped on me by sticking my name at the top of her list of victims assigned to complete the task of answering 8 questions that can be quite revealing to those prone to psychoanalysis interpretation.

For anyone new to blogging, a MeMe is a request to reveal several tid-bits that readers don’t know about the chosen one, in this case ME.  I generally let it all hang out so there are not many secrets.

• Who is your favorite musical artist? The musical question was covered in detail some time ago. If I was forced to pick just one talented musician I would bob and weave and surely excape being pinned down, I'm Still the Same!
  

•  Who is you favorite artist?  The mind challenging works of M.C. Escher and a close second would be the vibrantly colorful Black Velvet Art but I don't recall the Gas Station Attendent's Artist's name.

• Who is your favorite blogger? I'll go with Jennifer Bukaty, Andrew Lenza & Jason Sardi because they are a wild threesome and everyone else seems to think they should be followed.  It's part of the Lemmings Law.

• If you could meet anyone (alive or dead), who would it be and what is the most interesting thing about them?  I typically do not place people on a pedestal.  Whether rubbing shoulders with Presidents or Paupers all people have their own intriguing brand of intellect to offer.
  

•  What did you want to be when you grew up?  I'm doing it.... Just being Me! 

• What is the most interesting piece of trivia you know?  The Crux of the Biscuit is the Apostrophe.

• If you could live in any point in history what would it be and why?  I would stretch my point from the beginning of time to eternity and beyond....

• What is the most interesting job you have ever held?  I vaugley recall my work as a boob massager but the details are foggy... Sometimes I wonder if it was only a dream!

Of course my rebel intension of this piece was to fill it with fun and light humor. Please forward any complaints to Mr. Andrew Lenza.

Now to pick -  Eight is Enough….

 Suzanne Sands   -   Sandi Bauman   -   Lisa Rapose   -   Cait Donohue

 Susie Roscoe   -   Tracy Santrock   -   Judy Greenberg   -   George Souto

Today the blue skies of New Haven were exceptionally clear as I viewed Harkness Tower from my ceremonial seat during the 307th Commencent at Yale University. The sun was hot but a cool breeze refreshingly swept through the Old Campus Courtyard most of the morning.

Among the highlights of the outdoor ceremony was a most notable face in the crowd.

The Magical Mystery Tour of life brought none other then Sir Paul McCartney to the Yale Commons to receive an Honorary Doctor of Music Degree.

The best things in life may be free but a certain satisfaction comes from hard work and reaching a challenging goal. The real acheviement of the day came inside the walls of Woolsey Hall when our daughter in law, Nadya Maria Morales-Cummings, received her "earned" Doctor of Philosophy.

As many of you know back in January I signed on with The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's TEAM IN TRAINING.  Since I've always been very level headed I took their sales hype about participation being a Life Changing Experience with a grain of salt and fully expected fundraising to be a difficult task.  Sunday morning as I drove to our longest scheduled run of 20 miles I was reflecting back on the 16 weeks leading up to this point.

During the early months my time was consumed with raising money.  I sent out Press Releases and mailed letters to family, friends and business associates asking for a small contribution.  My thought was to encourage 200 people to offer donations of $25 each for a total goal of $5000. I Failed!  What I did get was less than 100 donations but the dollar amounts were very generous.

My single largest contribution came from a man I had never met until last week.  During dinner conversation he asked if I ever Hit The Wall.   I told him our training schedule was designed to have us approach The Wall but hopefully avoid it and our longest test run was coming up...

My first 10 miles were perfectly paced but oddly I started to slow and dropped off a minute per mile.  By mile 15 I was feeling tight and thinking cutting my 3/4 acre lawn with a 22" push mower on Saturday afternoon might not be classified as resting before the long run.  The coach at mile 17 suggested I stretch a little and that brought on severe leg cramps.  He asked if I was running on the sidewalk and coincidentally since this training was in unfamiliar territory I was on the sidewalk most of the time. It was then that he told me concrete is much tougher on the body and whenever possible I should stay on the softer asphalt road. It was to late to salvage that run so I walked the final three miles and will not be running on sidewalks in the future.

Our honored Teammate, Olivia was also up and out of her home early to meet us before the 7:00 am run. After all the reflection of successful fundraising techniques and running miles in the rain and snow the real payback for participation stood before us.  Diagnosed at 4-1/2 years old and going through 3 years of treatment she is now a normal 10 year old that is cancer free.  Other than the minor inconvenience of having her blood monitored she can live the carefree life of a kid....

What was reinforced by my involvement with the team was something I already knew.... Money doesn't mean shit! There will come a time in most everyones life when they realize that $20 bill they hold so dear will not buy them another minute.  If I can offer one bit of wisdom let me say Loosen Up, Give a Little...

Well.... Last week I was Tee'd Off at the apparent incompetence of the On-Line Continuing Education that is required to renew my Real Estate License but after a week of delaying another afternoon of agony I decided to take my final course today.

My choice was to learn about 1031 Tax-Free Exchanges.  Math has always been one of my strong subjects so on the list of educational courses I ASSUMED this course would be both beneficial and relatively pain free!  I'm not quite half way through the material but I am thoroughly disgusted.  Will someone PLEASE point out what I am not understanding that caused me to FAIL the chaper two exam.  After misunderstanding some questions on the first exam I decided to move on and not over analyze why I was wrong.  The second exam has pissed me off....

Below the summary shows I failed by getting two questions WRONG...

Here is Question 1 for which my answer was $13,500.   Basically it appears to be pretty simple math but there is clearly something wrong.  Looking at the word problem I am told of a Capital Gain of 135,000 but the seller offered financing and only received 45,000 in the first year.  Taxes would be 15% on the gain in the year is is received... So...  Am I wrong or is the test answer WRONG?  They say the ANSWER is 36,000 but go on to justify how they arrive at 13,500  ( my answer )  Can some one show me the light?

Below is the review of Question 7 that is a little more subjective to interpretation but equally disturbing.  Keep in mind the yellowish portions does not show up on the test.  The question states  "When an owner sells a property on installment, taxes are paid on the ____________"   Knowing from the reading assignment that capital gains are taxed at 15% and interest income from installment sales would be taxed as unearned income in the year the money is received I had no doubt my answer was correct.... "portion of capital gain and interest received in each year" WRONG!

I don't think I'm wrong on either of these questions and would welcome any feedback to set me straight if I have made an error.   Back to my aggravation for another few hours....

For Tee'd Off Tuesday this week I will stay on topic and discuss Real Estate.  May is license renewal month in Connecticut and this year since I have been busy preparing to run the Rock-n-Roll Marathon with the Team in Training I have not yet completed my required continuing education classes.

In past years I have always gone the traditional route and sat through each class but running 5 days a week consumes many hours so I decided to try the on-line course that allows me to fit the hours into my schedule.  The first two courses went pretty smooth, Current Issues in Real Estate I and II are required by the state and seemed bug free.  Next I have two electives so for my first course I picked Red Flags Property Inspection Guide.  That course did bring on a little frustration.

The courses are all laid out the same,  a reading assignment followed by a 10 question quiz that requires a score of 100 to pass before moving on to more reading and testing. Getting all questions right is not as easy as you would expect.  Maybe I think differently from the rest of the world but I always seem to stumble into disagreements.

One quiz where my performance was less the 100% was the result of this question. A 50/50 shot with a True or False answer which I thought I confidently knew.  Well the WISE ASS that developed the test decided to play games with spelling and that set my attitude in a negative direction for the rest of the course.

During a reading assignment I was struck with another bout of confusion.  Seems I am being told that the  distance from the top of a slope with a drop greater than 1 vertical unit in 3 horizontal units to the face of a footing can not exceed 40 feet.  Fortunately the illustrator was bright enough to know the author was confused and should have said the distance need not exceed 40 feet.

So...  As you can see Real Estate Continuing Education is one more of the behind the scenes annoyances that takes our time and money.

This course contained many more questionable errors.  One statement on the test read "Tree branches extending over a roof will cause transpiration." I would say an overhanging branch is an indicator that the roots may extend under the foundation and remove moisture but as stated the question is flawed.   

Here is another example of a test question I thought was poorly defined.  True or False - All retaining walls last at least 10 years.  Anyone with a little design knowledge or construction background might consider that statement false. An incorrectly installed wall could easily collapse after a hard rain.  Poorly designed drainage might allow water to build up behind the wall causing freeze damage during the winter and failure in the spring.  The wizard who decides right and wrong concerning test answers wasn't smart enough to ask a question that could clearly be True or False.

Yes.... Today I'm Tee'd Off because I have to waste my time and money dealing with all the bureaucratic bull that goes with being a Realtor! 

I did learn enough to offer a RED FLAG...... Warning.... Beware of the Real Estate Continuing Education Class entitled Red Flags Property Inspection Guide Version 3.0 because it contains plenty of non-sense. 

Spring is heating up in the Northeast and sales activity picked up quite a bit during the month of April.  In the five towns that comprise my primary marketplace 62 Single Family Homes sold. 

Anyone ready to undertake the adventures of searching for property in New Haven County can contact Dan Cummings - The Running Realtor via email or call my 24 hour access line : 203-672-2455

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