trinacriabob

climax

Ocn, read Reg's post. So true about the fee you get as an architect versus the amount of work. An architect doing custom homes can only do about 6 to 8 of them a year, at best, and has to deduct a boatload of expenses...CAD programs, malpractice insurance (that's right), employees, etc., etc. A realtor can show a couple of houses and make the same percentage, and without any education or formal training. And therein lies the problem. No barrier to entry like a traditional profession so there are too many and not all will make it. And because there is no barrier to entry, people that are unprofessional can get into the field and so, yes, a lot of realtors can be less than optimal to work with so it is about realtors. Let's face it. There are so many realtor nightmare stories, as there are car sales stories, so I don't apologize for the gist of the thread nor its title.

Hey, good job ditching the goatee. You look like a respectable Eastsider instead of a typical 981xx-er! And dressed to complement your car, too. That looks like the Bridge of the Gods in the background of the other pic...

seratonin

oppression

The only foreign ones I've been on--- Lufthansa ... never fails to take my carry on away from me. It meets the carry-on standards. I might have an extra sweater or towel stuffed in there that adds an inch or so. It fights into the overheads perfectly. That's why I don't like them and they are militant about it. Alitalia...well it's just a riot of sorts. It's a flying Italian restaurant with a lot of theatrical people on board. It's the most entertaining of the foreign carriers. They've gotten better and more punctual...remember, according to a joke, A.L.I.T.A.L.I.A. means "Always Late in Take-off, Always Late in Arrival." Air France...actually very good. Not snobbish, as one might imagine. Professional yet relaxed, punctual and the food is also very good. Aerolineas Argentinas...loved them. They are the nicest of any flight crew with great personalities. It seems like they enjoy their jobs. They can run late, but not on any of my flights. Iberia of Spain...I thought they would be nice, but they were clinical and bland. They weren't bad...it's just that they weren't good, either. Domestically, I've gotten the best service from Delta, followed by United. Very little experience with the other coast-to-coast carriers.

launch pad

The poll/thread was to discuss reactions based on experiences. Mine have been mostly negative. Those of my parents buying a house in Portland OR were appalling and extremely unprofessional. I already wrote what the first lady said to me. So now I will add that the realtor that sold them their current house was giving my Mom the once-over and made some comment how she could fill her big new walk in closet with new clothes. This lady was about 45 and flashy and my Mom was nearing retirement and dresses like she could be a librarian. I thought: what a catty sn@tch! Pantho, I doubt you would go to get your estate plan drawn up or your taxes done or your cavity filled and hear $h! like this. It's nauseating. There are good realtors. In Atlanta, I fired the first realtor when I sold my place to go to grad school. He had an ad in my parish bulletin. He was as milguetoast as the day is long. I had no clue how he made it as a realtor. The second realtor was a single lady from NY I met at an open house 2 years before. She was proactive and made a good impression. She didn't push me to buy the listing she was showing. I then gave the listing to her. She sold the place....so it has nothing to do with gender or education. The lady I met at the open house this time around sends me batches of listings so that I can act on a purchase over the tight window of a 3-day weekend when I go back to where I was vacationing. There is no way I would use her for my eventual purchase if I choose to relocate. Car salesmen: a LOT of them ARE assholes. Some aren't. Look at all the stories we read on this very forum about altercations at car dealerships. I had a great car buying experience with my Regal. I went to the Pontiac-Buick-GMC place about 10 miles from my parents' house. The guy showed my both the Grand Prix and the Regal. He let me drive both. He handed me brochures, a business card and told me when I gave it some thought and was ready that I should give him a call. I liked the way he didn't push me. Two months later, I make an appointment. I type out a list with all the options I want, together with the codes and the MSRPs. He comes back in 10 minutes with $ 1,800 off of an $ 18,736 car. Done deal. Good service department, too. Incidentally, on those career aptitude tests, I score extremely high in sales to the point that it scares me, including being a realtor. Obviously, I don't want to do that. I am just appalled because I would take such a different approach to handling people than what I have seen. That's what the thread is about....professionalism/lack of professionalism

show off

obsequious

You're the first one to comment on this and maybe others think the same thing. I don't care. This thread is about real estate experiences. You own your own place and perhaps you can chime in on that experience, but not attack me. Have you been around the block, ocnblu? No. Sounds like PA and MD and a modicum of travel, and that's about it. I've lived in 9 different states and overseas, not to mention a ton of travelling and a few college sheepskins in different fields. I also speak 4 languages besides English to varying degrees of proficiency which I don't think I would expend to energy to do if I was narrow minded. You know what? You can stereotype, to some extent. Go over to Europe, they all stereotype each other...the Italians are this way, the Brits are that way, the Germans are this way...and they are ok with it and actually have some fun with it. They are no more prejudiced than we are...in fact, Americans are more narrow minded. We just try to act politically correct. There's an entire field called "social psychology" that deals with making inferences about groups and group behavior ... and people make a living as social psychologists. Heck, they even do profiling for "fit" into different careers. (It's called a Strong Inventory and I have taken it...it has been validated statistically). The other thing is that I've been wrong sometimes, but if summing up your "initial read" is correct 90% of the time, that's pretty good. And that's about how correct I am. The other 10% of the time I am wrong so I have egg on my face. There's also a cultural dimension to all of this -- try living in a place that is a cultural mosaic, like an LA, a NY or a Toronto and you can observe differences in behavior, language, appearance, food, dress, temperment, acceptable social distances and the like. Also, trying to do a quick study is necessary for survival or for metering your precious time...if you are walking down a deserted alley, you'd better do some prejudging of who comes your way. Back to real estate...some professions have tighter codes of ethics than others. Real estate has very little filtering compared to others. A realtor also may have to be pushy because they don't get a regular paycheck the way you and I do...hence this can flavor their personalities. And then there are the more dubious segments of highly filtered careers such as law...i.e. the "ambulance chasers" that upstanding lawyers are ashamed of. I think for as long as you've been on this earth, ocn, you should be able to get a good read on somebody pretty quickly. Most of my friends compliment me on my "street smarts" and "quick reads" for being pretty "spot on." I actually just enjoy people's differences in a harmless way. (Most of my friends are foreign or 1st generation and we have a blast jabbing at each other). Thanks for chiming into my thread which really deals with consumer experiences, particular to real estate in this case (could have been stressful and dishonest car repair experiences) and turning it into a "critique" of trinacriabob.

douche bag

bidet

Dutch

steak

serf

eyebrows

Isn't ocnblu the biggest jerk on C&G ? :AH-HA_wink:

What...in Highland Park? Since when is Highland Park high rent? I do understand it is being upgraded, though.

She's the Queen of Montreal. They love her there. Gotta give her credit...she is one of some ridiculous number of kids and comes from very humble origins.She's also fairly attractive (except when she has SHORT hair). That French look ...with the longish nose...it suits her.

Good idea. Remember, the carry on is to be no bigger than 22x14x9 to get it on there safely. The only schmucks that have ever fought with me about carry-ons are Lufthansa...our strict German friends. Talk about stereotyping. Also, please report on the Texas coast at Corpus and thereabouts. Is it nice? I've always wanted to go there, especially South Padre...when the college age folks AREN'T around! I like it Q-U-I-E-T.

I would definitely read it. I can do the most basic things that don't require instructions (no dirty minds, please), so no one would benefit from my sharing. However, for more complicated items, I'm all for the more "hands on" people posting "how to." We just have to agree on topics or find out how to cull topics from all the possibilities. Thanks.

buco oh yeah, Sicilian would be: fossu or pertusu

This was 1990 when my parents and I were handed the MLS book.

On the sell side, I agree. Doing a FSBO is tough. I tried once, in Seattle, and gave it the listing to a realtor. The house is a given...you just need to sell it.On the buy side, I'm not so sure I agree. Matching your needs (both spatially and aesthetically) is something that might be tough for them to do. One quick story (disgusting): When my parents moved up to Portland OR from LA, they approached a house they liked and then didn't buy it, but the listing agent was going to show them some more listings. I was there to help them. She also gave them an MLS book to glance at. On the cover, she wrote "California buyers" instead of "Mr. and Mrs. xxx." On top of that, she turned to me and said "I'm glad you're here, I would almost need a translator." (They speak English with a heavy accent, they're from Italy). She was Tonya Harding white trash extraordinaire. Unbelievable. We then found a house with another agent. It was new and nicer than anything the others had shown them. This agent was also bad news, but given they house they got and for the price they got, they didn't care.