The market is red hot! Almost too hot to stop and smell the roses, er, in this case, take silly photos and make cynical, snide comments about them.
Note the word “almost,” however…
Real estate TV shows have absolutely flooded the airwaves.
HGTV, Slice, Bravo, Women’s – they’re all real estate, all the time.
And this leads the viewer to believe that he or she is not only a real estate expert (welcome to my pain…), but also a professional “Do It Yourselfer.”
Here’s Exhibit-A why people should not attempt, well, anything on their own. Because something tells me that this wiring isn’t exactly to code…
Meeting with prospective sellers is one of the most difficult parts of my job.
I pride myself on being the most brutally honest Realtor in the business, and often I wonder, and worry, what I’m going to say to a potential client.
I was driving by this house the other day, and about twenty comments came to mind.
What would you say if you were called in to evaluate a house that some lunatic covered in plastic wrap?
“Yaaaaw, bro, what up….dog?”
“Not much man, whatchu sayn?”
“Aaaa ya kneeow, just over here at the digs gettin’ some phatos done. Got mah listing coming out soon.”
“Naaah wayh! Yew got a listing, bro?”
“Yah maan. The photaaawgrapher’s takin’ the phatos as we speak. Should be up on MLS tomorroawh. Neways, I’m gonna run out and get yet another cool hat and jeans, since it like looks soooooo proffesionahl.”
(Just in case I wasn’t clear – this photo was actually up on MLS).
It could be worse, I guess.
The only thing worse than the Realtor standing in the photo while talking on his cell phone is, well….
I mean, whatever happened to just putting up crappy photos?
Like this one, for example.
Here’s half a room. Half of the walls, and half of the floors.
“But act now, because this baby won’t last!”
Somebody sent me this one last week – so I’m not sure where this is.
A lot of Realtors are starting to put innovate, savvy “riders” (as they’re called) on the bottom of their FOR SALE signs. I’ve seen QR codes, “text alerts,” and all kinds of other gimmicks to try and get potential buyers to search for more information about the property.
Then, you’ve got something like what’s below, which is either meant to be funny, or it’s just pointing out a super-important fact:
And last but not least, what the hell is this photo doing on MLS?
What are they trying to sell here?
“Forget million-dollar view! We’ve got one that isn’t worth ten bucks!”
Ralph Cramdown
at 7:12 am
That last photo is probably a full disclosure thing. It’ll save the agent from fielding a lot of go-nowhere phone calls/showings from buyer agents. Whether it’s wise or not, I can’t say.
ScottyP
at 9:22 am
I agree… but he could’ve presented a somewhat better angle, I figure….
lui
at 1:52 pm
Agree you dont have to put it on the for sale sign but to tell the potential client about the house previous history.
ScottyP
at 4:35 pm
I think Ralph was talking about the photo below that one lui, the one taken from the condo balcony that overlooks a giant quarry-like pit of despair.
As for the “For Sale – Not Haunted” photo above that, to me that’s just a gimmick to get people talking, and to maybe make a double-take or two. Funny, but ultimately pointless IMO.
Joe Q.
at 9:35 am
The plastic “enclosed porch” thing is somewhat common in my neighbourhood.
Cquee Gee
at 10:57 am
I wish there more photos like the one with the two guys in the narrow condo space. It gives a truer picture of the space than the typical tiny, poorly-lit, fish-eye-lens shots on realtor.ca.
Paully
at 1:02 pm
My favourite recently-seen “rider,” (Now that you have educated me about what they are called) is one that says “Honey, stop the car!”
More oddly, I have noticed a number of signs in my Willowdale neighbourhood with at least five “Sold” signs per side! Makes me wonder if a sale is so uncommon that the agent just has to “shout it from the highest mountain top.”
Jonathan C
at 10:05 am
Those two bros appear to be looking out the window from my old place at 11 St. Joseph Street, observing the sketchy back alley behind the building. Perhaps they are observing a drug deal going down, or checking out the fetish window display at North Bound Leather. Ah, the memories. I’ll never forget the time I had a party in the fish bowl party room while the cops investigated the bloody trail left by the drug user who got stabbed in the alley and ran through the building to escape his assailant…
I don’t even think that the photo matches the unit for sale. The unit in that photo looks to be similar to the “03” unit I lived in, with bedroom on the right accessed by a sliding door. You can see that the other photos show a different layout, with bedroom on the left which is what I would expect given the unit number.
I can assure everyone that the unit they are standing in is quite narrow, and the sliding door has the effect of making it seem more like a studio. A good place for a single person, but a couple will feel on top of each other all the time.
lui
at 11:47 am
arent people suppose to remove their shoes when viewing,its seems the two bros are wearing shoes,at least wear a shoe cover….
ScottyP
at 12:00 pm
I wonder if the agent in this case was a newbie, who was too hesitant or obsequious to tell these guys to take off their shoes and, you know, get the HELL out of the photo.
Something tells me that David would’ve adopted a different approach with these guys….