Chicago Politics, Real Estate, Senator Obama And Kickback Artist Rezko
If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
Senator Barack Obama is looking to 2008 and has Presidential ambitions. Unfortunately, he comes out of the fair city of Chicago where politics is a full contact sport. To play in Chicago politics you tend to get your hands dirty. Now a suspect land deal with the “indicted” fixer Tony Rezko may derail this promising career.
A note to politicians, real estate is complicated enough if you try to make money on it for personal reasons. Also, all transactions are public records. So if you are ever going to try to scam the system, use cash, not real estate. Properties leave trails.
On the very same day last year that Obama purchased his gracious $1.6 million South Side home, Rezko’s wife paid $625,000 for the 7,500 square foot vacant lot next door. An Obama spokesperson confirmed that the senator lunches or dines with Rezko “once or twice a year,” and that he may have mentioned the available lot to Rezko. But the spokesperson said Obama never suggested that Rezko buy it.
Later, Obama decided he wanted to fence off his property from Rezko’s and balance his lot size. He asked Rezko to sell about one-sixth of his adjoining lot. Rezko agreed. Rezko paid for the fence, because city law requires him to fence the lot. Even though an appraiser valued the slice of land Rezko sold at $40,500, Obama decided it would be fair to pay Rezko substantially more: one sixth of his original purchase price, or $104,000.
Rezko, a top fundraiser for Gov. Blagojevich, is charged with plotting to squeeze kickbacks out of state contractors. via cbs2chicago.com
whatever do you know him or were you there? correct we were not there so why are you so sure ...
This property is a wonderful property that just closed escrow for $ 16.5 Million. The asking price was way ...
Unfortunately, there's only one reason Oliver isn't telling you the 'other side.' The victim's version was true. He is what ...
I find all of this very interesting. I have recently moved into a community that is considering offering lease/buy options, ...
Realist, you've got some points in about the article. Seeing as how anyone at NAR is probably a bit biased, ...
I would speculate that RE/MAX agents lower their commissions most often because of how the brokerage is set up - ...
Your definition of "facts" is rather loose - pretty heavy on anecdotal observations and subjective terms. And classifying Lawrence Yun's ...
I have always wondered how all these houses built in one week hold up- do they build them in one ...
Damn mainstream news and media! That is why I listen to NPR! 
Pingback by Chicago Developer Was Mole For Feds, Target Obama Buddy Tony Rezko — The Real Estate Bloggers on 24 June 2007:
[…] If you follow politics you will know many of these names in a developing story of corruption in the Chicago commercial real estate market. John Thomas, convicted of business fraud in New York, went to Chicago to “facilitate” commercial real estate deals. One of the people he did business with was Rezmar Corp. owned by Tony Rezko, the shady developer who gave neighbor Barak Obama the sweetheart deal on a piece of land. […]
Comment by Phil Krone on 1 January 2008:
Actually, Barack got the house he wanted, paid a more than fair share for an extra ten feet of the adjoining lot (which would eliminate even the appearance of impropriety), and which did not reduce the value of the adjoining lot (still 50′ and therefore developable), and because it has frontage on Hyde Park Boulevard has of right zoning for up to 16 units. From a practical standpoint, and because it is in a historic district, the ‘profitable solution’ would be to have 4-6 townhouses, or 4-6 edifices which appear to be townhouses (with floor through condos) or one mansion appearing edifice with 8 - 12 condos. Even with zoining approval for 16 units it is difficult to plan for more than 12. In any event, the land price per unit of housing makes the price paid for the vacant lot a real steal.
He obviously didn’t want the vacant lot, although he did want to get a larger side yard. He also wanted a fence that met his awesthetic standards, and the reason he mowed the mpty lot aas well as his house’s yard (ant the additional 10′ he purchased) so that it would have a proper appearance.
If anyone has questions concerning my remarks feel free to email me.
Comment by Mary on 10 January 2008:
Oh please. AT the time Obama purchased the property, he couldn’t afford the additional lot and the one who could make it affordable for him was Rezko, an indicted political operative who incurs favor with political figures such as this guy and extracts contracts and other favorable deals. So the suggestion that Obama was innocently just looking for a nice yard is absurd and suggests that all of us are so stupid that we cannot see this deal for what it truly is. Even Obama didn’t go that far. He admitted that it was a “bonehead” decision on his part, which I don’t think he would have said if he felt that he was truly innocent in this mess. Regardless, I believe that all of this will now be aired out by the Clintons for the remainder of this campaign.
Comment by Yermal on 23 January 2008:
The land deal is still clouding the image of Obama when we exaamine the deal developments. The seller had two adjacent separate lots. One has the old Georgian renovated mansion in which Obama was interested and the adjacent lot was vacant. The seller wanted to sell both the lots together. Obama could not afford to buy both the lots. He discussed the matter with his buddy Tony Rezko, the shady real estate developer, and Rezko wanted to help Obama, a rising political star. It is no surprise that Rezko decided to purchase the adjacent lot so that Obama would be able to buy the mansion in a transaction which was carried out on the same day.
Obama was able to purchase the masion for $300,00 less than the asking price while Rezko, an astute developer, paid the full asking price of $625,000 for the adjacent lot of 9000 square feet. Soon after, Obama wanted to have a larger yard for his mansion and purchased one-sixth of the Rezko’s lot for one-sixth of the price ($104,500) Rezko had paid. However, the appraisal value of that piece of land was estimated at $40,500, when Obama got it appraised. If this value is applied to the entire lot of Rezko, the value of it amounts to $243,000, about $382,000 less than what Rezko had actually paid to the seller. Considering the above matters, it appears that the land deal of Obama and Rezko raises important questions to be further investigated.
Pingback by Real Estate News This Morning - January 30, 2008 | Real Estate Radio USA on 30 January 2008:
[…] Obama For Change? Seems Like Every Other Politician / (Doesn’t He?) […]
Comment by Phil Krone on 2 March 2008:
Everyone who has posted since mine is missing the point. First of all Rezko contributed to many excellent public officials. Secondly any developer would have done well to purchase the adjacent lot to Obama’s house. The fact that the price of the house was reduced from $1,950,000 to $1,650,000 and the empty lot’s price was not reduced is irrelevant. What has not appeared in either the Tribune or the Sun Times is that the house Obama paid $1,650,000 for was purchased by the sellers for only $825,000 in 2000. Obama is honest and honorable and so is his wife.
I offered to communicate with anyone who wishes to email me, but no one did. The problem with most people who leave comments is that facts mean nothing to them.
Comment by Mary on 4 March 2008:
The facts mean everything to me but apparently nothing to Obama who is not honorable nor honest. If he practiced the transparency he preaches, he would tell us how many fundraisers Rezko threw for him. He would tell us the total amount of money that Rezko contributed and/or bundled for him. He would tell us why Rezko needed to conduct a walk through with him before making this big purchase. That is just the beginning. Even his media supporters, i.e., Lynn Sweet and Carol Marin, are asking these questions and noting that he is not forthcoming.
That the sellers paid only $825,000 for the house in 2000 is totally irrelevant. No developer would want to buy a lot with the notion of immediately reducing its value by siphoning off a portion of it let alone pay full price for that lot. That it was a bad investment on Rezko’s part, and therefore was not intended to be an investment or purchased for development, is clearly established by the fact that it has been sitting unoccupied ever since the purchase. That Rezko contributed to other politicians does not exonerate Obama who is running based on claims that he is good and truthful and honest and sincere and wonderful. I don’t believe that anybody will call the present governor of Illinois an “excellent public official” as you suggest and Obama certainly has never proven that he is because he has done nothing for his constitutents. What is relevant, however, is that you are one of the people affiliated with the Obama campaign who also has thrown fundraisers for Obama.
The problem for Obama is that all of this is slowly coming out and undoubtedly will crescendo during the Rezko trial, particularly if the defense calls him as a witness, which it should.
Pingback by Obama Rezko Real Estate Deal Could Play Large Part in the Election — The Real Estate Bloggers on 5 March 2008:
[…] may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!A year and a half ago I did a post at on Barak Obama’s real estate deal with Tony Rezko that is playing a major role in the Democratic Primaries. The post has even attracted […]
Comment by Mary on 10 March 2008:
Your last entry did not link to the correct page. Would you please redo?
Comment by dela on 19 June 2008:
I worked for a Muslim in West Africa who was as corrupt as they get, but that does not mean that I am corrrupt. I’ve had several bad bosses, some of them might have even been part of the Mafia, when I worked in restaurants in Virginia Beach. They helped me in many ways, but they still did not corrupt me. Just because Obama knows someone who is corrupt doesn’t mean that he is also corrrupt.