I have the best blog readers, I swear.
Do you know that every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday, I wake up and say, “Today is the day; today is the day that I have absolutely nothing to blog about.”
It happens like clockwork, every couple of days.
Most of my blog topics are borne of my daily interactions with other market participants, many are regular “features” such as the monthly market roundup and look at statistics, photos of the week or MLS musings, and then many topics come directly from the readers themselves.
A reader emailed me two weeks ago with an observation and a question, and I immediately opened up WordPress and began typing. It made for a great blog post, and the reader emailed me back the next day and said, “LOL…..glad I could help!”
So keep them coming, folks. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the suggestions.
This week, no less than ten people emailed me a real estate rap video that has not only been trending online, but has also been picked up by Global News, CBC, and BlogTO among others.
I haven’t heard of the agent, but it looks as though he’s got his “niche” in the market, working for “Real Estate By Bike.”
He was also voted the “Best Real Estate Agent In Toronto” by NOW Magazine.
He’s selling a “little yellow house” that, on its own, looks pretty non-descript.
It’s a 12.5 x 110 foot lot on Coxwell Avenue, 1-bedroom, 1-bathroom, no parking.
Priced at $499,900 with an offer date set for May 13th.
The house is cute, but it’s the price point that’s attractive. So I have to wonder: on its own, would this house do well on the market? Or does it need………….a rap video?
Check this out, I have to admit it’s quite clever:
Kudos to this agent for thinking outside the box, but also for taking the time, and spending the money necessary to produce this video, and generate the amount of press that it has!
The property has been on the market for a mere four days, but already the following media articles have popped up:
CBC News: “Will A Rap Video Convince You To Buy This Home?”
Global News: “Lil Yellow House For Sale Becomes Viral Rap Video Thanks To Toronto Realtor”
Hamilton Spectator: “You MIght Forget An Address But You Won’t Forget A Catchy Name”
Toronto Storeys: “This Realtor Made A Rap Video To Sell A ‘Lil Yellow House’ In Toronto”
There are far more, I just don’t have time to post them all.
So my question becomes: is this effective?
On the one hand, how can it not be? It’s generated significant social media chatter, the media has picked it up, and look – I’m a ‘competitor’ but I’m writing about it!
On the other hand, do you risk being cheezy? Or not connecting with the entire buyer pool?
Somebody sent me this the other day:
SOLD AF
At the risk of insulting many of you, I feel as though I need to spell this out.
For those of you who aren’t completely caught up with 2019-youngster-vernacular, “AF” means “As Fuck.”
It’s a fad-term that’s been trending for a year or more, and is very commonplace. “Long day, I’m tired AF,” etc. I’ve seen it in a thousand memes and social media posts, and I’m waiting for it to die out just like “Give’er” did around 2003.
So when somebody tries to think outside the box, and instead of putting up a traditional “SOLD” sign, gets cheeky and puts up “SOLD AF,” I think that plays well with a certain demographic (not to label, but I think it would be younger people), but will that agent ever get a phone call from a 65-year-old downsizer as a result?
I’m suddenly reminded of the adage, “If you’re not failing, you’re not trying,” and I give props to anybody out there that tries to think outside the box, but I would advise them same people to tread carefully.
I love the “Lil Yellow House” video, and I think it works. I think this agent got a ton of publicity for the house, and I think it’s going to sell for more as a result.
Now as for other real estate rap videos, it’s Friday, so let’s have some fun.
Here’s a real estate agent out of Chicago:
This lady has pretty good rhythm, a great voice, and I like the beat.
The video is a bit short, but so too are people’s attention spans.
She runs down her entire list of services, and gets to the point.
I like it!
–
Here’s a better-produced, and longer video from 2014 featuring a team of three agents from Los Angeles:
The guy is tough to listen to, but the girl in the middle – Sara Spalione, does a pretty good job.
It’s not nearly as “real” as the first video though.
Trinette Lindsey from Chicago was more or less herself. These three agents are basically doing a parody of themselves.
–
Now if you want a parody, then you’ll love this video.
“Zillow? It’s Me.” Based on Adele’s “Hello? It’s Me.”
The video isn’t the key here – it’s the lyrics, while not catchy or really entertaining, they’re on point, especially for those of us that work in real estate:
–
And last, but certainly not least, we have the “Rapping Realtor” from San Diego, Rafael Perez, who I’ve featured multiple times on this blog before
I don’t know what’s better: that his lips don’t come anywhere close to matching the audio, or that he tries to rhyme words that don’t come anywhere close to rhyming.
That’s it for me this week, folks. Have a great weekend!
Chris
at 9:14 am
The evidence just keeps piling up that money laundering, particularly in real estate, is a serious problem in Canada.
“The U.S. Department of State has designated Canada a “major money laundering country” where foreign drug-trafficking gangs are exploiting weak law enforcement and soft laws.
The report says Canada is especially vulnerable to money laundering through casinos, real estate, money services businesses, currency exchanges, wire exchanges, offshore corporations, legal “funnel accounts” and bulk cash and hawala transactions”
https://globalnews.ca/news/5102137/us-canada-major-money-laundering-country/
“Transparency International Canada claims in a new report that criminals are “snow-washing” billions of dollars through anonymous purchases of luxury homes in the GTA.
The report’s authors looked at some 1.4 million residential property transactions dating back to 2008. Among the group’s chief concerns is that privately-owned corporations have spent $28.4 billion on luxury residential homes (those worth between $7-10 million) over that timeframe and didn’t provide information about their beneficial owners.”
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/anti-corruption-group-claims-criminals-laundering-money-through-toronto-real-estate-1.5065777
“The fight against money laundering in Canada will require tougher measures that shine a light on the perpetrators who now operate in the shadows, says a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute.
Canada’s anti-money-laundering protections (particularly as they pertain to real estate) are among the weakest of those of the western liberal democracies, he writes, so Canada likely receives a significant amount of international dirty money. “While it is impossible to estimate the exact amount of money laundering, a realistic estimate of the magnitude of dirty money laundered in Canada each year likely lies in range of $100- $130 billion,” says Comeau.”
https://www.cdhowe.org/media-release/fight-against-dirty-money-needs-tougher-measures-cd-howe-institute
“More than $7-billion in dirty money was washed through British Columbia’s economy last year – driving up the cost of buying a home by at least 5 per cent, according to reports released on Thursday by the B.C. government.
In fact, Prof. Maloney’s investigation found that Ontario, Alberta and the Prairies had an even bigger problem.
“Clearly this is a national issue,” B.C. Attorney-General David Eby said.”
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-money-laundering-in-bcs-real-estate-market-inflated-home-prices/
I hope those of you who argued against FINTRAC late last year are starting to re-think your positions. As I stated then, the answer is not to scrap reporting requirements, but rather to increase enforcement and penalties.
Libertarian
at 10:43 am
Speaking of demographics, can someone please explain to me what is “pingback”? Is it good? Bad? Every post begins with this same person linking to David’s post.
Mxyzptlk
at 4:29 pm
Absolutely! It mysteriously appeared a couple of weeks ago, as I recall, and it’s irritating and stupid. Are we supposed to link to it? If so, f*** that!
Andrew
at 7:46 pm
Check out the link. It’s basically somebody stealing all of David’s blog posts! David, why have you not done something about this? Are you even aware?
Jimbo
at 6:08 pm
I think my favorite part of the yellow house is to visitors of the city the car that will be out front will look like it’s worth more than the house. A good spot for kids like me in my day to see if any”packages” needed delivered to the trap for cash….
Frances
at 10:19 pm
I hate rap!
Izzy Bedibida
at 8:13 pm
Rap is crap, and rappers are crappers.
Appraiser
at 9:21 am
How about that jobs report ?
An all-time record, with 47,000 new jobs in Ontario alone!
I wonder what affect that might have on housing demand in the GTA ?
If only there was something sensible that could be done to loosen the lending strings in a time of need…
Appraiser
at 9:29 am
Here’s another perspective: YTD, Canada has added 222k jobs, nearly as many as in all of 2018 (238k). It’s not just one month: it’s the best first four months of the year we’ve ever had.
~ Scotiabank
Jimbo
at 11:42 pm
Random number generator? How can we create half of last year’s jobs in one month?
Appraiser
at 6:40 am
Typical bear. Don’t like the data, attack the data.
“Random number generator” ?? Should we call you Jimbo Rabidoux?
Chris
at 9:35 am
“Today’s jobs report. While empl’t is up strongly (2.3% year-over-year) total hours worked are up by 1.3% (essentially = to population growth, at 1.4%). From this perspective, the data is neutral, rather than bullish. Thanks to @EconguyRosie
for pointing this out a while ago.”
– Will Dunning, Chief Economist, Mortgage Professionals Canada
David Rosenberg (aka EconguyRosie) is also skeptical, but I suspect you’ll write his opinion off because “typical bear”.
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/rosenberg-on-canada-s-record-jobs-gain-i-don-t-give-it-an-a-1.1257136
Kyle
at 10:14 am
Increased employment is supportive to house prices, increased population is also supportive to house prices. The above statement is actually very bullish.
When both numbers rise strongly, it means house prices are likely to rise. Whether the hours worked increase exceeds the population growth is really not the right take away if you’re thinking about real estate.
Chris
at 10:28 am
I don’t recall anyone saying that population growth wasn’t supportive for home prices?
Dunning’s point, in my opinion, is that the data is not as bullish as some believe it to be. He doesn’t stipulate for housing specifically, so perhaps he means for the economy in general, though given his career it’s certainly feasible he was referring to real estate.
He also doesn’t seem to trust the numbers:
“Employment in Canada: today’s release shows +106,500 for April versus March. This is a record for the largest monthly gain ever reported – the data starts in 1976. Is this also a record for the largest error ever reported?”
– Will Dunning, Chief Economist, Mortgage Professionals Canada
Kyle
at 10:34 am
You posted in response to Appraiser saying:
“An all-time record, with 47,000 new jobs in Ontario alone!
I wonder what affect that might have on housing demand in the GTA ?”
I’m just pointing out that what you posted as a rebuttal (short of it being erroneous – which no one has provided any evidence for) is actually very bullish to housing demand in the GTA, per Appraiser’s original statement.
Basically your rebuttal supports his statement further.
Chris
at 10:48 am
I posted in reply to Appraiser saying:
“Typical bear. Don’t like the data, attack the data.”
While Rosenberg could be lumped in with the bears, Dunning much less so; yet both are skeptical of the numbers.
As for the bullishness of the data, you and Appraiser are entitled to your opinions, and are welcome to consider the data however you like.
I’m simply sharing the position of the chief economist of Mortgage Professionals Canada, who, as he says himself, feels it is neutral.
Appraiser
at 11:30 am
Good points both Kyle.
Along with upward price pressure on ownership properties, I was also attempting to illustrate that higher employment increases demand for housing of all kinds, including rentals.
We have a serious housing supply issue that is not being adequately addressed.
However, we could always increase the stress test to 3% , right bears?
Kyle
at 11:50 am
I think that is an under-rated point. The true housing crisis exists in the rental market and bears haven’t really made the connection that the reason things are so dire in the rental market is because of the stress test.
The irony is that most bears are renters, and they don’t realize that when they cheer on B20, hoping that prices will come down. What’s actually happening is that rents are rising at a much faster pace. For every buyer that gets shut out of home ownership, there is one more renter to compete with when it comes time to move apartments.
Housing is like a balloon. If you squeeze on one part of the balloon, it just simply bulges out on a different part.
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at 12:57 pm
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at 9:08 pm
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