Terrible real estate agent photographs • Hacker News Board

Re: Terrible real estate agent photographs

#131

Post by scott_s » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 2:03 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…

Strongly disagreed. Unless you regularly buy and sell houses, when it comes to buying a house, you are out of your depth. You need the help of a professional, and you want one who is looking out for your interests.

I admit finding a real estate agent who you can trust is not easy. I don't know how to do it, other than from who you know. I was lucky, and ours was a friend of my wife's family.

Re: Terrible real estate agent photographs

#132

Post by tzs » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 2:03 PM UTC

hospitalJail wrote: post #29

arkitaip wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, just hand the keys to someone's home to a complete stranger, what could possibly go wrong.

Eh, with security cameras for ~$20 per camera, you can buy a lot of security cameras for the 25k commission. Heck, you can buy over 1000 security cameras and still save money.

There was a now deleted reply to that, probably intended as a joke, about how the cost of electricity for all those cameras would wipe out the profit.

I was curious and did the math. I'm using motion sensitive security cameras that only record and upload when motion is detected. At the places with the most expensive residential electricity in the US or the EU 1000 of those cameras would need under $5 of electricity per year. There's also the thing that the cameras upload to. I don't know how much power that uses, but it is powered by a 5 W USB power supply so can't be more than $22/year.

Re: Terrible real estate agent photographs

#133

Post by cwilkes » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 2:03 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…

What does a software engineer do? They type on a keyboard.

Re: Terrible real estate agent photographs

#134

Post by deelowe » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 2:10 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…

In my area, agent fees are 6%.

Re: Terrible real estate agent photographs

#135

Post by Solvency » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 2:11 PM UTC

alistairSH wrote: post #101

rplst8 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 wit…

If their inspector sucks that's on your friend.

We searched and vetted and found our own inspector. On Yelp of all places, one of the least trustworthy websites. It took us less than a day to find someone good.

And he found absolutely every single imaginable problem even down to the most hysterically unimportant detail. Like the tension on one of the kitchen/garage door hinges being slightly higher than the bottom door hinge. This was on a list of over 100 other things.

The point is, inspectors are jobs like anyone else. Some are good, some bad.

Re: Terrible real estate agent photographs

#136

Post by borbulon » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 2:11 PM UTC

Our house had photos that made it all look so small and close, which is the exact opposite of what you get when you walk in the door.

We were supposed to be auditioning the RE agent but we walked out saying “this is the house we’re going to buy.”

Re: Terrible real estate agent photographs

#137

Post by xyst » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 2:13 PM UTC

jhony1104 wrote: post #117

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.

A youtube video from the buyer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbbwv-ZbXDk

I don’t know what compels people to live in these McMansions. Perceived status? Second vacation home? Fuck you money?

American lifestyle is so wasteful. It’s disgusting. Climate change is impacting everyone and these rich assholes continue to waste resources on shit like this.

Re: Terrible real estate agent photographs

#138

Post by poulsbohemian » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 2:13 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…

>What does a real estate agent do? They unlock doors.

Think of real estate agents through the perspective of the 10x programmers we love to talk about here. The multitude of agents are as you describe - they publish listing photos from their phone, they know how to open a door, and then can mostly write down what you tell them on standardized forms. A 10x agent on the other hand, will absolutely benefit you in the same way that a 10x programmer will outproduce. Classic 80/20 rule stuff, where you want to be working with the 20 and ignore the 80.

Re: Terrible real estate agent photographs

#139

Post by Solvency » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 2:13 PM UTC

hospitalJail wrote: post #29

arkitaip wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, just hand the keys to someone's home to a complete stranger, what could possibly go wrong.

Eh, with security cameras for ~$20 per camera, you can buy a lot of security cameras for the 25k commission. Heck, you can buy over 1000 security cameras and still save money.

This is the most cliched HN thought pattern I've ever seen.

Re: Terrible real estate agent photographs

#140

Post by parkersweb » Fri, Jun 30, 2023, 2:15 PM UTC

mtmail wrote: post #2

Interview with the author https://www.digitalesbild.gwi.uni-muenchen.de/inexplicably-b... "KP: Is it important for you that the photos actually originate from real estate marketplaces? If so, how do you verify their origin? AD: Yes, that’s actually really important, otherwise the blog is just unverifiable user-generated content. If an image is submitted without a link, or no agent’s logo on the image, or I can’t find…

And for that reason the horse photo is still one of my long standing favourites: https://terriblerealestateagentphotos.com/post/62824754189