Every family has one or two that are drivers. Bob Edgren has been, is, and continues to be the driving force for decades in building the Edgren family Trust and cash flow. Dave has contributed virtually nothing to the family Trust. If the family followed Dave, the parents most likely would be mobile home or modest rest home. And Bob made his brother Dave a multi-millionaire.
What Bob did.
1. Assisted Emil and Lucille in selling Emil’s mother’s home in San Francisco. Funds went directly into the Family Trust Stock Portfolio. The Exxon shares are from Emil’s stepfather John Erickson.
2. Bob assisted in getting an additional $100,000 from a wrongful death suit filed by the family for deceased stepfather John Erickson. The original settlement offered by the City of San Francisco and almost accepted by the parents Emil and Lucille was $25,000. Upon getting involved, Bob scrutinized several reports on the incident and found nine significant errors and contradictions, giving the representing lawyer enough to pursue and negotiate for a higher settlement.
3. Bob assisted his mother and father in the sale of Emil’s Aunt’s house in San Francisco. Six different real estate brokers met with Bob, Emil and Lucille at the house to discuss the sale value. The opinions all ranged around $200,000. Emil was distraught. Lucille did not wish to sell. Bob walked the neighborhood and found an open house being represented by one of the top Coldwell Banker agents in California. Bob told the broker about their situation, and later they met with Emil and Lucille. Bob told the broker to list the property for $270,000, which she was reluctant to do, stating, “that is far too overpriced.” Bob insisted, and the property was listed at $270,000. Within two weeks they had a full price cash offer which they accepted. Again, these proceeds, went directly into the Edgren Family Trust stock portfolio.
4. The sale of the parent’s Capitola house. The parent’s were living in the “Jewel Box” area.
Upon deciding to move into the family owned property at 204 Monterey Ave., they decided to put their jewel box house up for sale. Bob had a friend, broker Janice Spencer list the property, however at a much higher market value. Janice said it was way too high. Nevertheless, within thirty days, they received a higher offer that closed, about $70,000 more than what Janice had targeted. Again these funds went towards paying down the loan on the 204 Monterey Ave family house, with the remainder going into repairs, and again the Edgren family stock portfolio.
5. The purchase of the family invested property at 204 Monterey Ave, Capitola. Bob discovered the property. Deceptive from the street, at the time it was one of the largest houses in Capitola Village, boasting 3,000 sq. ft. 2 bedrooms and 3 baths. In 1985 Bob, Emil and Lucille put it in contract at $245,000., but short in qualifying income for a loan.
They contacted Dave and Dawn to see if they would like to join in. Dawn was all for it, but Dave dead set against it. Dawn won over Dave. Each participating partner put in the following; Bob $27,000. Emil and Lucille $27,000, and Dave and Dawn $27,000. Bob handled all the management including managing the vacation manager. Dave would often whine and complain and often expressed “we should sell the place.” From the initial investment there were no other capital contributions except from the parents.
Today, the property is worth about $2,500,000. Dave frequently boasts to friends that he is part owner of a prime Capitola estate, and takes great pride in “his investment savvy.”
6. Kauai timeshare – The parents owned for years a timeshare condo on the Island of Kauai. When Emil was having a difficult health episode, the annual fees were due. Bob confronted Dave with sharing the cost. Dave answered, “Let it go.’ Letting it go would have created much damage to the parent’s credit rating as it would be a foreclosure. Dave did not care.
With his own funds, Bob continued to keep the timeshare alive. The condo was a favorite of the parents, and Bob hopes to get them there this August.
7. Purchase of Capitola income property 415, 417 Capitola Ave. Bob was contacted by a real estate broker about a special property that was coming up for sale. For decades it was the famous “Plum Tree”, a specialty gift boutique. The owner was retiring. Parents purchased the property, Bob did much of the management of tenants, helped physically divide the building in two, making it more affordable and easier to rent, did endless repairs. This property remains today as a main cash flow generator for the parents, bringing in nearly $38,000 annually.
8. Boulder Creek. During the several years living with the parents, Bob would often drive them around to see properties for sale, one of their favorite past times. There was one property for sale in Capitola that Emil that Emil wanted to buy. This was located on Caoitola Ave., and Bluegum. After discussing potentials with the city, Bob discovered there was too many restrictions on doing anything with the historical property. He discussed these with Emil and discouraged against buying it. Bob checks MLS listings at least three times per week. Bob had been watching a Boulder Creek property, a former brewery/restaurant in the downtown. It had suffered a fire but there remained, a very intact cinder block perimeter wall around 5,000 square feet, on a quarter acre. The property was listed at $300,000. Bob had heard the two partners that owned it were having troubles, and watched the property closely. Suddenly one day the price dropped to $200,000. Bob immediately phoned the broker who informed him it was already in escrow. Bob had met another Broker in Boulder Creek who suggested making a backup offer. Figuring it was a long shot, Bob offered $180,000 as a backup. After two weeks, Bob got a call that the first party in escrow, had backed out. Because of desperation of the sellers, Bob’s offer was accepted. Almost immediately upon discovering an extensive amount of work that had been done, about $40k worth of engineering, architect plans, restaurant designs plus an active permit to build, all paid for by the former owners, Bob relisted the property at $450,000. As of this date, there is a standing offer of $450,000.
9. Esplanade Property. Bob was in the process of making a transaction that would have significantly increased the trust’s value and parents cash flow by $3,000 to $4,000 a month. Bob had worked on the negotiations for a couple months and finally entered into escrow. The Petition stopped the transaction cold. This was a sad loss for the parents and the trust. And would have made Dave another million dollars minimum.
10. Bob’s Bankruptcy – protect the trust. The wild real estate boom years of 2002 to 2005 and easy to obtain loans opened options up for Bob and millions of others that was unprecedented. No one knew what the future held as the loans stopped. And they stopped. Realizing, the national banking and financial system was about to implode, Bob took measures to insure an insulation and protection of the trust from creditors. Bob like any good businessman studied reorganization chapter 11. Consequently, Bob arranged with parent’s attorney Kathleen Brewington to have him removed from the trust. Bob was aware there was a two year period of being off a will or trust in order to state he was not on a trust or will. After two years, Bob filed bankruptcy. first several chapter 13’s to buy time, and try to work with creditors. It was a time of great confusion in the markets, financial, real estate, lending. After several weeks, Bob filed for reorganization that lasted a year. One of the first questions the court trustee asked was “Are you in a trust or a will.” Bob was confident to say “no.” He had never given thought that his brother Dave would have twisted the facts to harm him later on.