The husband of former state Rep. Theresa Esposito said she was not involved in the decision to sell the condo to lobbyist Don Beason.

Alfred Esposito said he chose the Realtor and approved the sale.

"In a household, husband and wife take on certain duties," he told Dome. "Wives cook dinner, wives wash the clothes, men throw the garbage out. In my family, I throw the garbage out, but I also handle the financial matters."

Esposito said he chose Rep. Julia C. Howard because he knew her personally and wanted someone in Raleigh to take care of the transaction. He said Howard told him she had listed the property.

He said Beason made the first offer of $142,500, and he decided it was close enough to his asking price of $145,000, so he accepted it.

"I didn't know Beason from Adam," he said. "I had never met him."

The Bishops Ridge condo was not listed for sale in 2002.

A search of the Multiple Listing Service used by real estate agents to market properties shows that the condominium eventually bought by lobbyist Don Beason was never listed.

That means that the sale was highly informal.

It is standard for a real estate agent to post a property on the Multiple Listing Service within a day or two of signing a contract to represent a seller. It's the single-largest market for property listings in the Triangle.

In some cases, homeowners selling their own properties will skip a listing and use word-of-mouth instead, but in that case they wouldn't have a real estate agent.

Last week, Rep. Julia C. Howard told Dome that she listed the property and talked with several interested buyers before Beason made an offer.

Jim Black paid his rent out of campaign funds.

After last week's discussion of the former House speaker's condo in Bishops Ridge, an alert reader pointed out that Black used campaign funds for it.

That's unusual, but not illegal. Still, it's interesting to note that Black paid $1,200 a month to his landlord, according to a campaign finance report from December of 2006.

That's about how much an apartment or condo goes for in the Bishops Ridge area, which means that Black's roommate, then Rep. Bill Culpepper, either paid him directly or lived there free.

Critics of Black have long said that he used real estate deals to grant favors. This arrangement certainly raises questions, if nothing else. 

Bishops Ridge has long been popular among Raleigh politicos.

Disgraced former House Speaker Jim Black roomed with then Rep. Bill Culpepper in this condominium. His aide, Meredith Norris, owns one across the street. Lobbyist Don Beason worked out of another condo.

They're not the only ones. In fact, the complex might as well be the Melrose Place of Raleigh politics.

Top lobbyist Roger Bone also has an address on Brighthurst Drive, as does Sen. John Kerr.

There's nothing necessarily nefarious about that. The complex is close to Wade Avenue — convenient to driving to the airport or out of town — and to Glenwood Avenue — good for going to Jones Street, heading downtown or just getting some pizza.

In addition, there's a nice park nearby and the condos date to the mid 1980s, making them nice, but also affordable for an out-of-town legislator.

Update: Reliable sources in Bishops Ridge say that Sen. James Forrester and former Secretary of Revenue Norris Tolson also live there.

Laura Leslie blames the Bishops Ridge deal on a part-time legislature.

On her Isaac Hunter's Tavern blog, the WUNC reporter writes that lobbyist Don Beason's purchase of a condominium from a legislator "certainly doesn't pass the smell test."

But she argues that it's the kind of deal that will happen when legislators try to work at their regular jobs while in session.

As it stands now, no one but the rich and/or retired can afford to walk away from their day jobs for months on end to serve - and it's one of the primary reasons why so may promising young leaders bail out of the game.

Leslie argues that paying legislators full-time salaries or combining a ban on personal business deals during session with session limits would solve the problem.

Correction: Leslie's post has been corrected. 

N.C. Spin argues the Bishops Ridge condo sale "smells."

In this week's edition, the weekly political newsletter says that it's suspicious that lobbyist Don Beason would buy a Raleigh condominium from a retiring legislator using another lawmaker's real estate firm.

The deal smacks of subtle influence peddling, a clever way to slide $8,500 to an influential legislator and a couple of thou to the law firm of another.

The newsletter also says it's "mysterious" that Beason decided he needed an office for his lobbying business after living and working in Raleigh for years and that he chose a condo in a residential complex.

N.C. Spin chose not to credit Dome for any of the information.  

Don Beason's office was not up to code.

The Bishops Ridge condo that the lobbyist used as an office since 2002 is zoned R-20, a residential district that allows for uses such as apartments, schools, churches, civic clubs and fraternities.

Home offices are allowed under that zoning, but they must be the primary residence of the business operator, not a separate location, explained Raleigh planning administrator Greg Hallam.

Beason has a house on Fairview Drive, where he presumably lives.

The office may not have gotten much use, however. In a 2005 profile, the N&O's Dan Kane wrote that Beason didn't spend much time at Bishops Ridge:

He operates out of a nondescript office just north of downtown that is often closed; he has no secretarial staff.

Rep. Julia C. Howard said there was "nothing weird" about a real estate deal she brokered with lobbyist Don Beason.

In 2002, the Mocksville Republican was the real estate agent for then Rep. Theresa Esposito, who wanted to sell her Bishops Ridge condominium in Raleigh because of her impending retirement.

Howard said she has worked with several other legislators, including giving advice on deals that she isn't directly involved in. She later helped sell Esposito's home in Winston-Salem as well.

"That's my business," she said. "It's what I do in real life." 

She said she listed the property and talked with several interested buyers, including a few lawmakers, before Beason made an offer.

Howard confirmed that she was a dual agent for both buyer and seller, earning a 6 percent commission, or $8,550, on the $142,500 sale.

"There's nothing weird here," she said. "The whole thing was very above-board."

A closing attorney confirms that Don Beason paid cash for a condo.

John Cargill, who worked on a real estate deal between the lobbyist and then retiring Rep. Theresa Esposito in 2002, said he has no record of a loan, indicating that Beason bought the condo outright.

"I guess it was a simple cash deal," he told Dome. 

Cargill said that such transactions, usually done by a certified check, are rare but not unheard of. 

He did not remember the deal until reading about it on Dome and said he was not sure how Beason and Esposito chose him. He said that his legal partner, then Rep. Bob Hensley, may have recommended him, or possibly Hensley's wife, Pat, who is a real estate agent.

"Sometimes I would get referrals from them," he said. 

Cargill and Hensley worked together from 1997 until this June, when Cargill left for another firm.

Don Beason used the Bishops Ridge condo as an office.

According to real estate records, the condominium was listed as the office of Beason's son, Mark, from its purchase in September of 2002 to January of 2003.

From June to October of 2004, it's listed as the address of a Jack Tyler.

And from 2005 to 2006, it was listed as Don Beason's office. It's currently listed as being owned by Beason's company, The Capitol Group.

Wake County Tax Assessor Emmett Curl said that the $142,500 purchase price would have been in line with the county's 2000 assessment of $135,123.

He said appraisers haven't gotten to Bishops Ridge for the 2008 revaluations, but the property likely has gone up significantly in value. Similar condos in Bishops Ridge have sold for as much as $204,000 this year.

Hat Tip: Lamara Williams-Hackett