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Why do realtwhores think we like to see their mugshots on everything?


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2006 Oct 14, 4:35pm   13,635 views  137 comments

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HARM's ideal Realtwhore

I just got a calendar from the completely useless woman who pretended to be a buyer's agent when we bought our house. Every month has a cliche' landscape photograph - but whatever meager uplifting value this may have had is now ruined with an inset of the idiot realtwhore. This same pest has in the past sent utterly useless magnets plastered with her face, and a cheap and possibly toxic coffee mug in an attempt to generate repeat business and (gawd-help-me) referrals.

Why do realtors believe that a cheesy, touched-up perma-grin photograph has any sort of marketing value - especially when theirs is a face that launched a thousand quips ? If they really wanted their card to get your attention, shouldn't they instead photoshop a picture of Angelina Jolie (or Jake Gyllenhaal, depending on your... ah... persuasion)?

Feel free to comment and/or publish links to examples of this particular strain of vanity.

SP

#housing

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1   SP   2006 Oct 14, 5:09pm  

Do you really want to see this face on a magnet everytime you walk up to your fridge?
http://tinyurl.com/y6frhu
SP

2   SP   2006 Oct 14, 6:30pm  

By the way,the picture I linked to is not the realtor who sent me the calendar. It was just a random realtor pic that I found on the web.

SP

3   FormerAptBroker   2006 Oct 14, 10:41pm  

I’m not trying to bring up a topic from a past thread but since many ladies seem to go in to real estate as a career after they get dumped for a trophy wife many will put in a photo so people recognize them (and hire them since they feel sorry for them).

Pity is a strong emotion (can anyone think of a time when the wife of a guy who died running for office didn’t win his seat?) and many ladies want the people who saw them working for years in the Cathedral Parents group on the CMPC Deb ball committee to know that they now need work.

Others put their photos in their ads because they are good looking (like the attractive lady with Mediterranean features and olive skin that SF Woman posted a while back) or have amazing eyes (like this gal that a friend’s wife introduced me to at a JL event on the Peninsula). http://www.dulcyfreeman.com/

My first boss used to toss any business card with a photo in the trash and he really hated the photos where the RWs were “so busy selling homes that they didn’t even have the time to put down the phone for a photo”…

4   Different Sean   2006 Oct 14, 11:30pm  

that first picture reminds of the multi-regional theory that homo sapiens is really just homo erectus...

5   Different Sean   2006 Oct 15, 1:06am  

hmm, jennifer wallen is good-looking... but does she know anything worthwhile about business or real estate?

6   SP   2006 Oct 15, 1:51am  

SFWoman Says:
Just in case I ever have to become a Realtor I am saving a really great photo of myself, taken in 1987

I actually know a realtor who does exactly this! I forget his name, but he operates in the Crappertino area. The guy appears to be pushing 75, but the picture on the sign was from when he was 30-something. Very old-school, seasoned type of guy though - pays attention to you, makes you feel comfortable, and keeps the sales-talk strong but subtle. I was just very amused when I noticed the sign on my way out of the open house.

the opposite of Dorian Gray. The photo will never age, but the Realtor will.

LOL
SP

7   frank649   2006 Oct 15, 1:54am  

http://www.jimpappas.us/seller_mistakes.asp

Found this guy on realtor.com with the largest number of ridiculously priced listings in my area. I filled out the form on his website to send him a congratulatory note :->

8   SP   2006 Oct 15, 2:10am  

SFWoman said:
Yes, yes! Tell me the seven real estate mistakes I never want to make.

I bet one of the seven mistakes on Jim's list is "not hiring a realtwhore to sell your used house".

SP

9   frank649   2006 Oct 15, 2:16am  

SFWoman: "Perhaps we should all write to him"

I was counting on everyone's desire to reach out and make new friends. Hehe.

10   astrid   2006 Oct 15, 2:23am  

SP,

Dude! Your comments should come with warning labels! Now I have tea all over my keyboard.

11   frank649   2006 Oct 15, 2:30am  

SFWoman, would it be too cruel if Jim mysteriously became a new registered member of some men-seeking-men blog (along with photo, ofcourse)?

12   Michael Holliday   2006 Oct 15, 2:46am  

Realwhore Question for the South-San Jose'ers:

Before my parents sold their home in Dec. '98 and moved to Phoenix,
they had BOB BIGGS as the realtor. You know, the guy with the 1980's motorhome with his stats posted on the side: "$$Five Billion$$ sold since
1978.

Well, he sucked as my parents realtor. Apparently, he was blackballed by other realtors in the area who hated him. As a result, my parent's house in South San Jose didn't budge.

Finally, my mom said "screw it," got another realtor, and it sold within a month.

Anyone have any good BOB BIGGS stories? Is he really all that sleazy of a realtwhore? Is the dude still even around with that big Winnebago motorhome with his stupid stats on it?

13   astrid   2006 Oct 15, 3:01am  

In all fairness, I must say that I'd prefer Hugh Jackman or Eric Bana to be my realtor. I will also take Brad Pitt or George Clooney over Gyllenhaal. Jake Gyllenhaal is way too young and idiosyncratic looking to be taken seriously - even as a realt-whore.

For female realtors, I thought single guys preferred Jessica Alba to Angelina Jolie. I think married couples would probably prefer a Lauren Hutton type.

14   skibum   2006 Oct 15, 3:52am  

I remember just before moving from Boston there was a RW who put her face on big ads on all the city buses. I don't know why or how, but somehow someone drew mustaches on all of them - it even made the local evening news.

15   skibum   2006 Oct 15, 4:04am  

A bit OT, but more FB sob stories from the MSM, this time from back in Boston. The story's a bit long, but the individual FB tales are priceless:

http://tinyurl.com/yzqstq

The homeowner's day of reckoning

As property values soared, we got hooked on the idea of using our house as a bank, pulling out blocks of equity to pay for renovations, vacations, and more. Now, will the softer real estate market cost some of us our homes, our shirts, even our retirement?

16   SP   2006 Oct 15, 4:18am  

astrid Says:
I thought single guys preferred Jessica Alba to Angelina Jolie.

There's guy-hot (Monroe, Jolie, CameronDiaz etc.) and there's girl-hot (Hepburn, GraceKelly, etc.). Overlaps are rare.

SP

17   SP   2006 Oct 15, 4:29am  

astrid: "I thought single guys preferred Jessica Alba to Angelina Jolie."

SP: "There’s guy-hot (Monroe, Jolie, CameronDiaz etc.) and there’s girl-hot (Hepburn, GraceKelly, etc.). Overlaps are rare."

Okay, I just checked who J.Alba was, and realized my analogy (monroe v. hepburn) doesn't quite apply in this case.
SP

18   skibum   2006 Oct 15, 4:29am  

@Ha Ha,

My credit score is bigger than yours. Wanna compare? On the other hand, it's not the score that matters, but how you use it. ; )

19   SP   2006 Oct 15, 4:38am  

Muggy said:
I wouldn’t have recognized my realtor without his mug on his card.

That's a plausible theory for how the practice may have originated, but it doesn't explain why they insist on putting it on _every_ page of a 12 month calendar.

One idiot who does business in Fremont handed me a card with his picture taken in front of some lame painting of a Swiss alpine landscape. "Ohh wow - looks like your head is floating over Zermatt! Please help me buy a home!" Didn't happen.

SP

20   SP   2006 Oct 15, 4:45am  

Jon said:
Explain that you’ll pass her name around your office and that you know lots of people interested in buying a house and stupid shit like that.

They lap this up. In fact, it is a prime reason why I don't wear anything with my company's logo when I go to check out an open house.

SP

21   SP   2006 Oct 15, 4:46am  

Correction:
"my company" == "my company where I work".

Not to be misunderstood as "my company that I own"

SP

22   skibum   2006 Oct 15, 5:05am  

Then she actually shows up and it’s fuckin’ Skeletor.

LOL.

23   Peter P   2006 Oct 15, 6:58am  

My question is what is my combined credit score?

I heard that they are taking the middle score.

I do not know why my scores are not as high. I pay off credit cards every month, I have a lot of unused credit and I do not have late payments.

24   Paul189   2006 Oct 15, 7:04am  

816

25   skibum   2006 Oct 15, 7:12am  

Peter P Says:

I do not know why my scores are not as high. I pay off credit cards every month, I have a lot of unused credit and I do not have late payments.

My understanding is that more than unused credit, a history of paying off debt and/or servicing costs (interest) in a timely fashion gives you the high credit score (on top of everything else basic, like no defaults, etc.) Hence, when we closed out our mortgage after sale and now rent, our credit score went down slightly.

But mine's still bigger than Ha Ha's.

26   Peter P   2006 Oct 15, 7:17am  

Hence, when we closed out our mortgage after sale and now rent, our credit score went down slightly.

I guess I would have to buy a house for it to exceed 800 then. :(

27   skibum   2006 Oct 15, 7:40am  

@tannenbaum,
Thanks for the link. I don't read the Chron regularly - I can't stomach the bad writing.

What amazes me about Google's continued media/investor darling status is that, they are basically a very good search engine and advertising venue. Why should that result in stock valuation in the hundreds per share, overshadowing many old-line industrials and DJIA component companies?

I read a while ago that a significant portion of Google's revenue comes merely from re-investment of its cash from other investors. The YouTube deal just highlights this. Remember back when Google would "do no evil" and refused advertisers on the search home page?

28   Doug H   2006 Oct 15, 8:09am  

Skibum,

No.....no....no. If you pay off your debts early, your credit score will go down because you are not living up to your end of the agreement and not allow the creditor the projected profit.....FACT.

They do look at all the other BS; but I found out about this little factor when I got pissed at my mortgage company and wrote a check to pay off my loan......score went down just over 20 pts.

When I was in business, I was a CC company's worst nightmare. Free card w/benefits and would charge about $20k/month......and then pay in full each month so I would not pay interest. The bank did everything they could to talk me into the wonderful debit card to save me from having to write a check each month....LOL I asked the branch VP why in the hell would I want to stop using their money for free and getting paid to do it.....would he? The last I checked, his face was a blank stare as I chuckled and left the lobby. I *LIVE* for moments like that.

29   skibum   2006 Oct 15, 8:25am  

Doug H,
You read my post wrong. I said *exactly* what you are saying. Keeping open loans and credit lines (mortgage, credit cards) increases your credit score, as you continue to pay the payments on time. Paying them off and closing them removes from your credit record any trace of your timely payment history. Why else would I have used my example of paying off my mortgage resulting in a decrease in my credit score?

30   Doug H   2006 Oct 15, 8:59am  

Can you folks get the Bay Area Hippies to stop protesting the war long enough to help the military with this problem?

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15239501/?GT1=8618

31   Peter P   2006 Oct 15, 9:06am  

Can you folks get the Bay Area Hippies to stop protesting the war long enough to help the military with this problem?

Afghan marijuana plants? I say burn them down!

32   FormerAptBroker   2006 Oct 15, 9:30am  

SFWoman Says:

> Just in case I ever have to become a Realtor
> I am saving a really great photo of myself,
> taken in 1987, where I look attractive, yet intelligent
> and as thought I’d work for your best interest.

Many of my sisters friends have started using “old” (aka thinner and hotter) photos on match.com to get more dates and don’t want to listen to me when I point out that:

1. It’s “false advertising”
2. They may be getting more “dates” but they are still single…

33   astrid   2006 Oct 15, 9:37am  

SQT,

I feel exactly the same way about husband and wife realtor "teams." A little diversification please! They're probably the kind of people who used to invest their entire 401(K) in the same (pets.com) company where they work and receive all their healthcare coverage.

34   FormerAptBroker   2006 Oct 15, 9:38am  

SFWoman Says:

> Could somebody please help our mayor select his girlfriends?
> First we had his wife, rather self promoting, their magazine
> spread made everybody laugh at them. Then he goes and
> dates a Scientologist. WTF? Now he is dating either an
> under aged drinker or girl who lies about her age (by seven
> years) on myspace.

Gavin and his 20 year old (as of a few weeks ago) girlfriend Brittanie Mountz is the top story on sfgate.com

Just think if they get married and she goes in to real estate she can put her picture on bus stops and Marina Safeway shopping carts with the (dirty sounding) name:

Brittanie Mountz Newsom…

P.S. Someone needs to tell Gavin the “1/2 your age + 7 rule” (since it is weird for a guy to date someone younger than half his age + seven years)…

35   Peter P   2006 Oct 15, 9:40am  

A little diversification please!

How about a husband-and-wife of mortgage-and-real-estate agents? In case real estate goes down, there is still mortgage.

I mean a mortgage to pay... :)

36   Paul189   2006 Oct 15, 9:48am  

20 year old Brittanie Mountz - you can't make this stuff up!

37   skibum   2006 Oct 15, 9:56am  

Brittanie Mountz Newsom…

Don't forget that Newsom's family owns "Plumpjack's"...

38   Paul189   2006 Oct 15, 9:58am  

What's Plumpjack's?

39   Paul189   2006 Oct 15, 10:00am  

A Winery - thanks Google

40   Paul189   2006 Oct 15, 10:03am  

FormerAptBroker:

That's hillarious!

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