- 13 - Hugh had sold real estate in San Diego before and believed that the city was a good test market. Sale By Owner opened there. Almost immediately the business had problems. As an advance-fee broker the Department of Real Estate had to preapprove all of its advertising. The time lag destroyed Sale By Owner's marketing agility. Furthermore, and perhaps more importantly, few homeowners in San Diego wanted the service. The office in San Diego closed in November of 1982, and Sale By Owner moved to the Palm Springs-Rancho Mirage area (Desert Area), a resort market with seasonal buying patterns. Hugh, who was "broke" at this point, quit the project. The experiment continued in the Desert Area, using Hugh's corporate brokerage license, and began to turn a profit early in 1984. However, in the same year, both Far Western and Sale By Owner abruptly collapsed. In August of that year, Hugh's membership with the Board of Realtors and the Multiple Listing Service for the Desert Area, which both subsidiaries used, was canceled. Hugh's father, McMahon, in that same month, instigated the McMahon Litigation. As a consequence of the impending litigation, Far Western and Sale By Owner were not able to find another corporate broker and failed to participate in the 1984- 1985 selling season in the Desert Area. Furthermore, the suit consumed much of the time of petitioner's management. By 1985, both subsidiaries had ceased operations.Page: Previous 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Next
Last modified: May 25, 2011