Brokers Blog

Larry Lupton, a Brookfield, Wisconsin home broker is convicted after asking for a $75,000 kickback from the buyer of the $30 million state office building and for being economical on the FBI with the truth.

Sentencing guidelines suggest 41 to 51 month imprisonment while the prosecution wants four years. Lupton’s lawyer then asks for probation only. But U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman decided to give Lupton 2 years instead and refused bail while the appeal is ongoing as she sees it as a delaying tactic to avoid prison time.

Judge Adelman says that this is a non-political and uncomplicated case of simple bribery.

Lupton have been defending himself for two long years and testified that he was only following the state law of Winsconsin by presenting his potential buyer a competitor’s bid. The home broker says that this is a usual practice in the real estate business. He reiterated until the day of his judgment that he did what was necessary and acted for the best interest of his state, Wisconsin.

And due to Lupton’s refusal to plead guilty, he had to face a tougher punishment.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Haastad says that the home broker’s defense is a big lie to try and cover his personal interests.

Judge Adelman says that Lupton may have opted to ask for a bribe because he can not handle his uncontrolled gambling problem. Investigation shows that Lupton used $576,000 of his so-called earnings to gamble within 5 years only. During the time of the bribery in early 2007, it was found out that the home broker is in the middle of losing straights in the casino while he was not doing well in UGL Equis Corp.

The sale of the office building was then cancelled after the bribery was exposed.

Here we can see how troubled home brokers can take advantage on their unknowing buyers. So, before sealing in a deal, make sure you know your real estate broker and the process you are going through. Validate that what you are paying for is necessary and legit. You can never tell when your home broker is taking advantage of your ignorance.

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In selling your home, you can be your own real estate broker. By allotting some of your energy into it, you can sell your home on your own.

By skipping the option of hiring a real estate broker, you can save 6 percent of their commission. But despite the great saving, many homeowners who want to sell their property still think that they need the help of a real estate broker.

But it is time to correct this false impression. Here are 5 reasons why you do not need a real estate broker:

• Real estate brokers used to have an edge— real estate information and resources are only available to them. But nowadays, everything is available online. With just a few clicks with your mouse and the help of real estate search engines, you can sell your personally.
• You can even do marketing by yourself too. You now do not need a real estate broker to break into online listings to get your property in the market. Even the main realty marketing tool, Multiple Listings Service, can be accessed by home sellers with just only some hundred of dollars.
• To now the real worth of your property, you do not need the help of a real estate broker at all. It is an appraiser’s job to evaluate the right price of your property. They can do this assessment for only $200 – $300.
• They say that one of the conveniences of hiring a real estate broker is that they will do all the needed documents and arrange legal matters for you. What these real estate brokers do is to only give you directions, for this aspect is actually handled by real estate lawyers. Real estate attorneys are the experts you really need to talk to.
• But the real convenience of having a real estate broker sell your home is that you do not need to exert any effort, just financing. But come to think of it, if you only know what you need to do, you can sell your home yourself.

Of course, if you want to avoid all the hassles and problems that come with selling a real estate property, getting a real estate broker to handle everything certainly makes sense.

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