As a former healthcare administrator and risk manager, I was responsible for assisting in the development of "disaster" plans -"? plans designed to identify ways that staff could"? continue to deliver core business services in the event of unplanned business interruptions. Over the past 3 weeks, our real estate practice has experienced two simultaneous events that resulted in business interruption! I decided to share this with new agents so that you can review these experiences and the "lessons learned!"

Information Technology:

The right combination of hardware and software is critical to a real estate practice. We operate a home office and a leased office at the brokerage. Each office is equipped with a personal computer. The home PC is equipped with our contact management system (Agent Office) and financial systems (Excel and Quicken). The home office files are backed up nightly to an external hard drive (Maxtor) and operates with Norton antiviral software.

In addition, we have two laptops and a hand-held IPAQ (Hewlett Packard). The home PC and laptops are on a network (Netgear). We noted symptoms of corruption on our home PC and contacted an IT consultant. What we thought was a one hour repair turned into two weeks ' the hard drive was deleted and re-built TWICE! (Before you start wondering about my IQ, remember that we work 14-15 hour days and operate in the red ' we are trying to get a real estate practice started!).

Lessons Learned:

We are in the process of developing a way to replicate contact management and financial systems on both PC's so that if one is down, we can continue all processes without interruption. It will take additional time, which is a scarce resource, however, it will be worth it to minimize future problems.

Polybutylene Pipes:

Simultaneously, we experienced a water main break at the house, resulting in a flood on the main level. The foundation cracked and water soaked carpets and ruined flooring in the foyer and hallway. We went without water for one week and repairs have taken almost a week (repiping, drywall and paint repair, and flooring). What does this have to do with real estate? Take a moment and learn about this issue:

Review of www.propex.com says:

Polybutylene piping is a low-cost piping formed of plastic resin. It is commonly gray, white, or sometimes black in color. Poly piping is employed as a substitute for copper piping in both underground water mains and interior plumbing. Due to the ease of installing poly piping, it was used in the construction of millions of homes throughout the U.S. between 1978 and 1995; however, it has been discovered that as poly pipe ages and reacts with water-soluble oxidants, it begins to degrade and can leak, causing severe damage to the surrounding building structure.

When polybutylene pipe reacts with the oxidants in normal tapwater, it becomes brittle, sometimes scaling or flaking. This results in a fracturing of the interior surface of the pipe, which allows for more deterioration. Eventually the pipe will begin to leak, causing damage throughout a home. Poly pipe with plastic fittings or with metal fittings will eventually incur damage; poly piping is not a reliable piping under any circumstances. If a pipe has been leaking for some time without the knowledge of a homeowner, severe structural damage to the home can result, making repairs extremely difficult.

This has resulted in a class action lawsuit:

What is the COX vs. Shell Oil et al. Settlement?

The Settlement is a national class action settlement involving certain polybutylene plumbing systems and polybutylene yard service lines installed between January 1, 1978 through July 31, 1995. The Settlement provides for the disbursement of a billion dollar fund to claimants who qualify under the terms of the Settlement Agreement. The Consumer Plumbing Recovery Center (CPRC) is the third party administrator. It is a claim handling facility established as a not-for-profit corporation approved by the court to administer the terms of COX vs. Shell, et al. national class action Settlement.

Lessons Learned:

We were fortunate enough to know about the lawsuit and contacted CPRC. We now have copper pipes throughout the house! As you know, the Sellers Property Disclosure requires owners to disclose presence of defective items or products that are part of lawsuits. Going through this will only enhance our resale value.

They say that what doesn't kill us makes us stronger! Needless to say, it has been physically, financially and emotionally challenging. However, spiritually we intend to succeed and view all of this as a blessing!

Have a great week and a great attitude!

Kendra