From Thomas A. Duke Company to Mid American Group... What a BIG mess!

A lot of you are wondering what happened with the studio search..... Let me say this in a blunt, honest-to-goodness-way... NONE OF THESE DANG REALTORS WANT to rent their properties! I swear, every "For Lease" sign that you see are only placed there for "tax Deduction" reasons and NOT for leasing the actual space!  From a business point-of-view, if you are a rental property owner, you have a tax write-off if you advertise the property for rent, pay the utilities, etc...etc... It is a huge write-off!
To start with, the ONLY Realtor that we found that actually worked with people - personable, yet professional was Brad Margolis from The Farbman Group.  We would have finalized a deal with him, but we believed his sudden business in Vegas gave us one week to decide that his location would not work for us. This is when our stress began...
At first, the property owners of the Philmar Plaza, Darla was a gem!  When we were looking for property (to service our students of Livonia, Novi, Farmington, and the surrounding areas) we found one at 8 Mile and Farmington.  We instantly thought the front unit of the Philmar Plaza was perfect for our needs. We texted and emailed Darla and came up with a price and lease that we were all happy with.  The only concerns we had, was the music level in the units, but we all came to an agreement with that too.
While doing the final negotiating of the front property, Darla kept insisting for us to look at her other property next door to the unit we were interested in.  We agreed to look at the other two units, but kept telling her we really would like to stick with the initial plans.  Although the other two units would have worked, we kept telling her that we needed the front unit because it was closer to the main street and our signage would be visible to 8 Mile.  (The other two units were in the building that was facing away from 8 Mile and did not have any type of signage that we were seeking.)
Darla gave us a great price for the middle unit, but we kept insisting that we still wanted the front unit and we would consider the side unit.  At this point, she got her Realtor involved, Steve Valli from Thomas A. Duke Company, (too bad Brad from The Farbman Group  wasn't the Realtor for the Philmar Plaza!).  As soon as Steve got involved, everything hit the fan!  Somehow they concentrated on the side units and changed our initial plans for the front unit!  
We ended up having too many emails to count and NOT ONE PHONE CALL to have a normal conversation!  I never knew that important decisions only happens via emails and texts, but nowadays that seems to be the norm!  Donna even wrote this email to Steve: Steve, I have an idea that might work for the both of us. I believe a lot of what we were trying to say got lost in the translation through emails. As with all negotiations, emotions can ebb and flow. I would prefer all matters to be discussed personally or by phone.  
Steve never called Donna, BUT emailed her with new demands!  Now they wanted a Personal Guarantee and the lease would change, with NO exceptions
We were highly advised NOT to do a Personal Guarantee and that was the ONLY way we could get into the front unit (They added this on since we kept saying we wanted the front unit).  So, we said, since we will not do the Personal Guarantee for the front unit, we will now consider the side unit (since they said we did not need it for the side unit). At this point we did not want to stop the negotiation and was hoping the front unit would be the final deal....
Guess what? NOW they ADDED other conditions about the sound proofing etc...etc... for the side unit!  Donna replied back (this must have been over 40-50 emails by now and still NO phone conversations)
Steve,
We are no longer interested in the side unit and looking at other opportunities. Contact me if the LL would like to move forward with the initial plans that she offered us for the front unit and we will consider meeting you with a contractor to get the soundproofing estimate on that unit only.
Donna
We did not want to settle for something that did not fit our needs.  The two units in the side building that Darla and her Realtor wanted us to desperately rent, were in very poor condition. They plan to remodel the plaza over the summer, but Darla said they were renovating the side building last...
We also found out the reason why they kept pushing the side units... They have it up for sale and It would look much better if the building was "active with tenants".
We found a newer unit down the street and Susan Acciaioli  from Mid American Group told us (in her words),  Send me an Intent to Lease email... give me any price... even if you think it is unreasonable and I will make it work...."  We did and she DID NOT stick with her word!  In fact, we made a better deal for this newer property with us doing ALL of the work to improve the property and still NO ANSWER!
We now have TWO "Intent to Lease" emails out there... One with Susan Acciaioli  and the other with Steve Valli.  One would think that they would be professional enough to reply to the email or at least call! 
We came to the conclusion that ALL REALTORS are like Susan and Steve (with the exception of Brad).  We called a few other properties and NEVER received a reply or they never answered their phones!  You would think these Realtors would be happy to get some tenants into their buildings! Here we are... Two Ladies with a 25-year old business, with a nice client-base and excellent credit!  IF I had a building to lease, I would want tenants like us!
Now you know what is happening with the studio plans.  We are beginning to believe that God is giving us many signs NOT to open a studio or we are just struck with bad luck? Either way, we will continue to offer you the best classes at all the same locations (Actually, we were planning to keep all of the same classes that you are familiar with and add additional classes at the studio).
If something comes up and it sparks an interest for us, we may consider it, but for now.... We plan to breathe and let go.....................

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