Well Bob, you post a lot on Raging Bull and you see all of these people so excited about PRWT there that they sign off with their little "84"'s. Now this is a rather amusing phenomena in its own right, but knowing that this is derived from their belief that somehow Realty Money Centers is going to instantaneously appear in all of these 393 84 Lumber Company stores with little mortgage kiosks really stretches belief.
If you have never been in an 84 Lumber store, just think about how many times you have been shopping in Home Depot, and you just impulsively decide that you are going add a new addition to your house, or heck just go full wallow and build a new one from scratch. And so you say to yourself, "If I only had a mortgage, I could go home today with all of the supplies that I need to get started. Why look, thank goodness here's a mortgage broker right here", or better yet "here is a videophone that says I can talk to someone right now and get this arranged. I am sure that I won't need to read through all of the loan covenants because heck I'm in a hurry and I've get to get to the grocery store." And so there you are completing a major life decision and moving to the next level in just a matter of minutes.
Of course you would never think to shop the mortgage around and get other quotes from other sources. Never think to talk to your bank and consolidate your existing loans into one package. Why heck, there would be no need to do that, because there will be a picture of John Schmitz and Merv Rosenfeld right there in the kiosk, smiling ear to ear in their cheap suits. Just look at those pictures. These are surely people you can trust.
Of course you will have forgotten that Sears long ago abandoned their Allstate kiosks in their stores as people just don't think to go to Sears to buy fire and casualty insurance. So surely you think that this little synergistic venture will pay huge dividends for PRWT and their Realty Money Centers. We'll over look the need for those 393 agents that will work need to work double shifts to match the store hours, or shall we just await the financing of the 393 kiosks at what about $10,000 a pop and monthly line charges of $75 a month all multiplied by that 393 number. But no problem, why indeed they must have the $4 or 5 million needed to undertake such a venture, why just look at their financials. See how strong they are?
Oooops I forgot, they don't publish financials. It gives them more leverage when they are making acquisitions. |
