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Terrible real estate agent photographs

terriblerealestateagentphotos.com

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Re: Terrible real estate agent photographs

#151
post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I agree that it's wasteful but let's leave "climate change" out of it and call it what it really is: ecological load.

Re: Terrible real estate agent photographs

#153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I think you highly under-estimate the sales skills and other life competencies required to be in a high pressure sales job like being a real estate agent. Also, be really good looking.

Real estate for normal housing is definitely not a high pressure sales job.

Agreed - I laugh when people call me a “salesman”. Matchmaker and project manager are more in line, with a whole lot of very specialized knowledge of finance, marketing, negotiation, soils, fencing, construction, environmental law…

Re: Terrible real estate agent photographs

#154

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…

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Weird, having bought/sold a number of houses in the last ten years (our family moved several times), I can't say I've ever run into a real estate agent that seemed like a "high pressure" salesman. Perhaps its just the market so they don't really need to try, but IME the best real estate agents -- on the buyers side, at least -- were the ones that listened carefully and did a good job of finding houses that matched our needs. Definitely requires soft skills/empathy, but not really a sales role.

Do such things exist? Are there real estate agents who are like "and if you buy today, we'll throw in this grill!"? Genuinely curious.

On the general utility of real estate agents... Really knowing a market and understanding construction/houses/permitting, etc... is a pretty important knowledge/skill set. I had one excellent agent figuratively drag me away from a condo that she understood to have serious foundation/construction defects. The good ones will help you understand what's good/bad about a house, problems to be alert for, etc...

Like a lot of middle men, I think they do provide some service of value. Now, is that worth 3%/6% of a houses value? In many cases, undoubtedly not. We sold a house in Austin when the market was so hot that we got an eye popping offer the day after the agent put a "pending" sign in the yard. I think he did like 4 hrs total work. So afaict, the profession as a whole acts as sort of a rentier over the MLS listings.

Re: Terrible real estate agent photographs

#155
post #89

That's how all photos should be - original, no editing, no staging; If I want excitment, I can Prompt a Generative-AI platform to create mind-bendingly-creative imagery. I've wasted so many days viewing flats/apartments because the Photos looked amazing, and the actual property was utterly awful. issues: - narrow/steep Staircases - very old photos (now the place a dump) - fish-eye lenses (or similar) enlarging the sp…

> That's how all photos should be - original, no editing, no staging; The second entry at the moment is an example of really bad staging.

The second one is the fake bookshelves one (at least for me). I think that the house really has been lived in with that hideous wall.

But yes there are plenty of bad staging photos, and at least one totally ridiculous photoshop (the sofa planted completely out of perpective and in front of a mirror that ought to be reflecting it).

Re: Terrible real estate agent photographs

#156

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…

This will sound harsh, but mostly real estate agents are suckers who are actively getting scammed by the brokerage. Brokerages have a virtual monopoly (oligopoly) on listings and comparable sale prices though MLS (I'm in Canada but I think the US is the same) and as such it's in most seller's and buyers interests use them. Agents are getting charged all sorts of scam fees to market themselves in exchange for getting…

There might be some nuance here between the US and Canada - would love to chat over frosty beverages and learn more and the system up there as eventually I’d like to expand into BC. The MLS fees (I belong to two and will likely join a third and possibly fourth) aren’t terrible and I would say listing services are generally a good thing for both the consumer public and agents. But - as you note - the public has a very limited view of all the ways brokerages and various third-parties try to scam and fleece agents. The overall system is exploitative of agents and that has a role in the cost to consumers for real estate services. And, name brand online services are just another third party looking to make money off agents.

Re: Terrible real estate agent photographs

#157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a client who only sold 5million$+ estates and I went with them a few times on showings and I bought quite a few houses myself in the 5-20k range. The effort made by the estate agent was the same; close to nothing. I don’t know what’s wrong with these people and they definitely don’t deserve the commission. But when I ask just give me the location and the keys, they don’t do that. So totally useless and yet they…

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

Here you have to sign a contract (so competitors or the owner don't sell it cheaper to you) and they take a copy of your passport and proof of residency. So not exactly strangers. And in this cases where I asked for the keys, they were local realestate agents I went to school with. Not that anybody locks their door over here; it's just often not clear what the location is to prevent personal negotiations.

Re: Terrible real estate agent photographs

#158
Half of these just look like really terrible British homes people have died in.

IE bought 40 years ago, never changed, the children just want a quick cash out now.

I've viewed a dozen that would make it on to this blog this year alone.

Re: Terrible real estate agent photographs

#159
post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having been through buying a home I think I’ll push back on that a little: our agent knew what was a fair price, what we’d likely be able to push the sellers down to, advised us through the whole process. Rental brokers on the other hand… now they’re absolutely useless and you can sometimes pay astronomical brokers fees just so they can sit between you and the landlord.

You do not need an agent to know a fair price lol

You aren’t wrong, but it means you have to do your own research and generally only have access to public information. A realtor who knows their market has done that research for you (saving you time) and generally has information beyond what you can get off Zillow et al.
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