Terrible real estate agent photographs • Hacker News Board

Re: Terrible real estate agent photographs

#101

Post by alistairSH » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 1:30 PM UTC

rplst8 wrote: post #83

WHYLEE1991 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

The reply was a bit harsh, but let's not act like the real estate industry isn't riddled with skeezy practices. 1) Home inspections that aren't really "inspections" and are just there to grease the skids 2) Buyer's agents don't have a fiduciary duty to protect the buyers. 3) Pricing "knowledge" that is typically public info, just locked behind access restrictions 4) predatory lending practices It's a very incestuous…

Totally agree on the inspection. They're next to useless - a friend bought a home a few years ago, super-weird water heater/HVAC system (co-mingled, WTF), never mentioned by the inspector. When it broke a year later, it was a VERY expensive fix, and I think they might have recovered a few hundred $$ from the inspector (on a many thousands repair).

An agent is only getting 5-6% of the home value (assuming no split with a second agent). And a big chunk of that goes to the brokerage.

Re: Terrible real estate agent photographs

#102

Post by jandrese » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 1:32 PM UTC

hospitalJail wrote: post #7

About 10 years ago, me and my wife took LSD on a vacation, and the sheer uselessness of a real estate agent appeared to us. What does a real estate agent do? They unlock doors. Who are real estate agents? We can all think of a few real estate agents, none of them are top performers. They are usually on their ~4th career before the age of 30. They are the type of person to wear a suit in public to pretend that it make…

I wouldn't go quite that far. They also handle the paperwork and coordination with the other agent, which is not a trivial job. It's highly questionable if the value they add is worth 5% of the gross sale price of the house, especially in our amazingly inflated markets, but few if any agents seem interested in working at hourly rates.

Re: Terrible real estate agent photographs

#103

Post by js2 » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 1:32 PM UTC

dreen wrote: post #31

junon wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is incredible given some of the listings. The fact one of the pictures is the house on literal fire, coupled with this context, goes to show that some people really don't belong anywhere in marketing or sales.

And it got sold! I happen to remember this https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64389615 I suppose leading with a picture of it actually on fire is better than a post or pre fire photo.

Life imitates art:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFwS_Dqd-IU

(Scene from Synecdoche, New York.)

Re: Terrible real estate agent photographs

#104

Post by whynotmaybe » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 1:33 PM UTC

convalescindrey wrote: post #65

whynotmaybe wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Québec it's starting to be disrupted by duproprio.com where the sellers manages the sale themself. The company takes the pictures & 3d scan and provides legal support. I guess real estate agents are so good at marketing that we believe it's a hard job that we can't do ourselves.

> are so good at marketing Yes, that's their job and primary purpose. Yes it's hard. Most people have anxiety to even talk to their neighbors without sweating. Sure there are lots of idiots out there, like in every profession. But those who are not idiots are providing a valuable service. Try selling your house yourself and then let's chat again about how it's not a hard job that you could just do yourself.

What puzzles me the most is that some people have no trouble doing dangerous DIY like fixing their lawnmower with some duct tape but are scared of selling their house because "legal stuff".

Real estate agent are always hitting the nail with the message that we won't have to worry if we hire them. And because of that message, people have a tendency to think that selling is worrying.

If you are genuinely worried with the selling process, like if you have trouble speaking to your neighbour, sure hire an agent. Same if you don't have the time to do it yourself. You'll pay them for the real service they provide and their real purpose.

If you are worried because they told you it's worrying, see for yourself.

Re: Terrible real estate agent photographs

#105

Post by smugma » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 1:33 PM UTC

rcme wrote: post #43

hospitalJail wrote: post #7

About 10 years ago, me and my wife took LSD on a vacation, and the sheer uselessness of a real estate agent appeared to us. What does a real estate agent do? They unlock doors. Who are real estate agents? We can all think of a few real estate agents, none of them are top performers. They are usually on their ~4th career before the age of 30. They are the type of person to wear a suit in public to pretend that it make…

Agents are facilitators of the deal. They are the lubricant that gets the deal done.

Agents are the friction that increases transaction costs.

Re: Terrible real estate agent photographs

#106

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 1:33 PM UTC

tgv wrote: post #71

aktuel wrote: post #11

This is entertaining, however in most cases it's not the photos that are terrible.

It's more the captions than the photos. E.g., the one that says "this is where the magic fails to happen", under a drab bedroom with a double bed, is a fairly accurate picture of the current state of that room. It also has a pillow on the bed that says "the best grandma in the world". Not exactly the most exciting thing, making the caption a bit cringy. Unless grandma is a failed witch.

[deleted]

Re: Terrible real estate agent photographs

#107

Post by lelandfe » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 1:35 PM UTC

brandall10 wrote: post #46

junon wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is incredible given some of the listings. The fact one of the pictures is the house on literal fire, coupled with this context, goes to show that some people really don't belong anywhere in marketing or sales.

RE: the fire, problem properties are actually a hot market... flippers love those. In reality that's a fantastic photo for marketing purposes.

“Motivated seller”

Re: Terrible real estate agent photographs

#108

Post by scop » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 1:35 PM UTC

moioci wrote: post #95

hospitalJail wrote: post #7

About 10 years ago, me and my wife took LSD on a vacation, and the sheer uselessness of a real estate agent appeared to us. What does a real estate agent do? They unlock doors. Who are real estate agents? We can all think of a few real estate agents, none of them are top performers. They are usually on their ~4th career before the age of 30. They are the type of person to wear a suit in public to pretend that it make…

> me and my wife took LSD on a vacation Did dropping acid enhance your vacation, or does LSD also stand for something else?

Ha! I feel like I’m in the crazy house as you’re the only other person who has asked that…all these well thought out responses that seem completely oblivious to the doozy of an introduction.

“So I once played poker with a gorilla and [insert point]” and everybody only talks about the point and not the gorilla???

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Re: Terrible real estate agent photographs

#109

Post by smugma » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 1:36 PM UTC

codekilla wrote: post #98

pg5 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you both bought and sold a primary residence without a realtor? Interested to hear about the experience.

Bought current house without agent (very desirable part of Los Angeles). Selling now without agent. If you buy with an agent you put yourself at a disadvantage because the selling agent will need to split the commission (typically 2.5% a piece or so). When you make an offer on a home without a buying agent, suddenly your offer looks a lot more attractive to the selling agent, who is the only point of contact the sell…

I’ve seen this happen many times in LA. Never in SF, and once in Oakland. I don’t have much experience outside California but helped friends in Chicago buy a condo. It definitely helped that they didn’t have an agent and leveraged the listing agent.

Not having an agent is generally a big asset when buying a home, much more than anything an agent will bring to you.

Re: Terrible real estate agent photographs

#110

Post by jahsome » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 1:38 PM UTC

stronglikedan wrote: post #94

convalescindrey wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He surely should have lost his job or worse.

I would have expected his job have guardrails in place to prevent this sort of mishap, like a full audit log and chain of custody of all evidence gathered during these investigations, as well as SOPs on the handling and storage of such evidence.

Physical evidence is perhaps handled with a greater regard, but from what I understand, background info gathered during surveillance isn't always intended for use in court and often really only serves to further the investigation itself. Usually a stakeout is gathering enough probable cause to effectively justify requesting search warrants, which is when the "real" investigation kicks off.

My shared connection to the Realtor dope I wrote about originally is someone I'm quite close to, and through them I've learned some pretty alarming realities of law enforcement.

It seems like the higher up the chain you look, the more indifference or incompetence you find.