Realtorsincars.Tumblr.com
August 24, 2011 4:28 PM   Subscribe

Realtors in Cars is one of the strangest sites I've seen in some time. I have no idea how these agencies got their realtors wedged into their cars, or why.
posted by mek (34 comments total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
There are professions whose practitioners are generally more narcissistic (brain surgeons, orchestra conductors, actors), and there are professions with lower, shall we say, barriers to entry (McDonald's check-out people, social media consultants, hobos), but taken as a package deal, Realtors(R) are kind of unbelievable.
posted by randomkeystrike at 4:34 PM on August 24, 2011 [12 favorites]


Real estate is very much about personal brand-building and old fashioned sales persistence - thus almost every realtor you meet has their photograph on their business card because it's an article of faith that it will help customers to remember one better, increasing the change of the that sale and fat commission.

Most likely the 'vlog in a car' thing was suggested on some business website or at a seminar, and it's the latest fad among needy salespeople trying to get an edge on the competition. Being in your car means you're a go-getting sort of person who doesn't lounge around the office waiting for the phone to ring, and serves a signalling purpose to clients, competitors, and employers that one is in one's car out of necessity - presumably because one is en route to servicing one of many potential buyers.

Now, I'm off to register pointless-isolated-fads.tumblr.com.
posted by anigbrowl at 4:36 PM on August 24, 2011 [4 favorites]


I think the car vlogging has more to do with making the most of your time. They sit in their car driving between locations for hours a day, making no profit. They're just trying to capitalize on their time.

Dogging specifically on Realtors is a waste of time. Lump them in with general salespeople. You'll cover more ground.
posted by LoudMusic at 4:39 PM on August 24, 2011


taken as a package deal, Realtors(R) are kind of unbelievable.

I'm always baffled when they advertise on television. Particularly because the adds pronounce the word real-tore, which I definitely don't. (Quick way to make me think your product isn't for me--pronounce it in a way I've never heard. Well, that and the bit where I rent.)
posted by hoyland at 4:45 PM on August 24, 2011 [2 favorites]


God knows if I pronounce 'realtor' properly, but I meant to type 'ads' up there.
posted by hoyland at 4:45 PM on August 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


That website makes me want to spit nails.

I don't understand why people can't get it through their thick heads that cell phones and driving do not mix. Extrapolating from that, video blogging and cars DO NOT MIX.

I'm sorry but if you're more concerned about how your hair looks, about remembering the lines of your script, about selling your services, and looking at the bloody camera, then you're not watching the road, and that makes you a hazard to me and to everybody else on the road.

At least realtor Cliff from Calgary appears (from the few seconds I watched) to be sitting in a stationary vehicle.

Not that I'm in the market for an agent, but I must say, I'd rule out any agent I discovered to have made one of these videos, and if they ever asked me about why I didn't hire them, I'd let them know in uncertain terms about the type of menace they are on the roads.
posted by sardonyx at 4:48 PM on August 24, 2011 [7 favorites]


Sorry. Should be "...in NO uncertain terms...."
posted by sardonyx at 4:49 PM on August 24, 2011


Dogging specifically on Realtors is a waste of time. Lump them in with general salespeople. You'll cover more ground.

For me, realtors aren't really in the same category as the guy who tries to up-sell me on shoe protector spray at Foot Locker.
posted by Hoopo at 4:53 PM on August 24, 2011


Heh. Nice.
posted by jeffamaphone at 4:56 PM on August 24, 2011


We were really fortunate to have a Realtor located in our new hometown that helped us from all the way across the country. I initially came out to look at houses on my mother's behalf and we weren't even serious about moving yet, hadn't listed our house, etc. and were just looking for some idea of what this town was like. Our Realtor and her husband (who has since joined her in the biz) took a lot of time out of their busy schedule to drive me around town, checking out houses and the area in general for a few days. It was thanks to them that we actually decided to list right away and move here. I got to fly out three times in as many months to do some househunting and act as a proxy for my mother. All that is to say that we shouldn't knock Realtors. I wouldn't dream of buying or selling a home without a Realtor, just the amount of knowledge and assistance and peace of mind was well worth the commission (even according to dear old Mom who actually paid it lol).

Also, Kevin Hardy from Vancouver is a hottie. :-)
posted by 1000monkeys at 5:01 PM on August 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


Oh, and I forgot to actually make my other point, which is that our Realtor(s) are now like a part of the family. They're the only people we know locally and they are really good people, so it's sort of like having distant family members that we keep in regular contact with and love to bump into all the time. Heck, she's the only person who regularly comments on my blog (even though I know my entire extended family reads it regularly lol).
posted by 1000monkeys at 5:03 PM on August 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


video blogging and cars DO NOT MIX.

In that vein, this seems ripe for parody.
posted by XMLicious at 5:08 PM on August 24, 2011 [2 favorites]


My husband is a realtor.

I am convinced that there is absolutely no correlation between brain cancer and cell phones because realtors would be dropping like flies if there was. In the car, in the house, in the yard, does not matter where that man is, there is a phone attached to his ear and he's talking.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 5:14 PM on August 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


The first realtor I had was the first person I knew with a car phone. A phone IN YOUR CAR -- can you imagine?
posted by girlhacker at 5:15 PM on August 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


Shades of "Marion and Geoff" the Rob Brydon comedy filmed in its entirety in his car as he talks about his estranged wife (who never appears). The only thing funnier that's ever been filmed is Brydon's "Human Remains" with Julia Davis. Rob Brydon is the funniest man who has ever lived on the earth. Some of these realtors (excuse me, Realtors (tm)) give him a run for the crazies.
posted by Fnarf at 5:29 PM on August 24, 2011


My dad was a title insurance representative. Which essentially meant that he was an insurance salesman, but he only sold to realtors. Maybe that's some kind of cosmic revenge or something.
posted by LionIndex at 5:47 PM on August 24, 2011 [1 favorite]


Wait, what is the "correct" way to pronounce realtor? Don't say real-a-ter, because that's some bullshit.
posted by !Jim at 6:53 PM on August 24, 2011


For some reason I love that the videos are tagged with the opening greeting: "Hi everyone!", "Good morning, everyone!", "Hey Guys".
posted by knave at 7:20 PM on August 24, 2011


Semi-derail: I really have no problem at all with real estate agents as a group or profession. And I know that membership in national trade organizations isn't really endorsement of those organizations at all. But the simple fact is that I can't think of any other profession that trademarked its fucking title - it's not like my dad calls himself an Engineer (TM) or my mom calls herself a Teacher (R). The fact that the National Association of Realtors trademarked the word 'Realtor,' and got away with it, and that it appears in otherwise English texts as "Realtor (TM)" all over the fucking place - it makes me burn, it makes me furious in a way that I freely acknowledge far surpasses any rational distaste.

Also, vlogging in cars is irresponsible bullshit.
posted by Tomorrowful at 8:34 PM on August 24, 2011 [2 favorites]


...if they ever asked me about why I didn't hire them, I'd let them know in uncertain terms about the type of menace they are on the roads.

Jessica Edwards (the last video in the series) hardly ever looked at the road while she was driving.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 8:46 PM on August 24, 2011


years ago, after studying for the new mexico real estate exam, i drove to las cruce for the test. on my way there, my car was struck by lightning, which forced me to the side of the road, feeling very groggy. i made it to the test site and failed the test. the following month i drove down without incident, passed the test and got licensed. showing up at the agency on my first day, i parked my car across the street and as i got out of the car my pants cuff snagged the brake pedal and i did a bellyflop on the pavement. how many warnings do you thing a guy needs?
posted by kitchenrat at 9:03 PM on August 24, 2011 [2 favorites]


Tomorrowful - it might be trademarked but in the States, there isn't much control over who can call themselves a realtor. Its rarely capitalized and the definition is truly more of job description.

In Canada, its controlled by the Canadian Real Estate Association and must be written as REALTORĀ® and its only legal meaning is "a member of the Canadian Real Estate Association".

I'm one. I describe myself as a REALTORĀ® and professional salesperson.

I also don't have any personal video blogs (in car or otherwise) but know many of the people on the tumblr. I wouldn't be surprised if its an attempt at SEO :)
posted by jeffmik at 9:07 PM on August 24, 2011


- it might be trademarked but in the States, there isn't much control over who can call themselves a realtor. Its rarely capitalized and the definition is truly more of job description.

In Canada, its controlled by the Canadian Real Estate Association and must be written as REALTORĀ® and its only legal meaning is "a member of the Canadian Real Estate Association".



That is true in the US as well, at least in CA.
posted by bq at 9:31 PM on August 24, 2011


Realtors and cars. Oh, what a match made in hell. I never had a thing against them until I lived in South Africa. I got SO SICK of the ringing doorbells and cards left in the mail box, of the latest housewife to take up selling houses. All coming to try to convince me to sell my house, because property values were so high. Never mind that selling mine would mean I had to buy another over-priced house in which to live. Never mind that each transaction increased the chance to get stuck holding mortgage debt higher than the property value.
posted by Goofyy at 11:18 PM on August 24, 2011


Frank Bascomb? Your moment is here.
posted by From Bklyn at 12:29 AM on August 25, 2011


I'm a real estate agent and I don't usually call myself a Realtor though I am one. They make it out like it's an organization people join as a pledge that they are committed to certain ethical standards. Actually it's something agents have to join in order to get access to the MLS (multiple listing service) and to be able to get a lockbox key to access properties for sale. There's no way I could be an agent without being a Realtor.

Being a Realtor does mean that someone can file an ethics complaint against you but that is really not the primary focus of the organization.

It has always struck me as weird that real estate advertising relies so much on photos of the agents. There's been studies done that show people trust agents more who have photos of themselves in their advertising and the larger the photos are and the more of them, the more trust. When I look at ads that feature big photos of the agents I just think it looks unprofessional and vain.

Classic Onion Article:
I Wasn't Going To Buy This House Until I Saw The Realtor's Headshot On The Sign
posted by Melsky at 1:06 AM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


I think the car vlogging has more to do with making the most of your time. They sit in their car driving between locations for hours a day, making no profit. They're just trying to capitalize on their time.

I think car vlogging has more to do with looking busy than anything else. Job 1 for a realtor is to present an air of success, having lots of clients, valuable time, etc. I can practically imagine Shelly "The Machine" Levine telling Grace to book him a first class flight to Chicago in the middle of his V-log.
posted by ShutterBun at 1:11 AM on August 25, 2011 [2 favorites]


I Wasn't Going To Buy This House Until I Saw The Realtor's Headshot On The Sign

Regular or no-scope?
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 5:29 AM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


I went to Realtor Sin Cars expecting to see realtors, well, sinning in their cars. I didn't expect the sin to be the one of driving distracted. :(

F-, would not visit again.
posted by kcds at 6:15 AM on August 25, 2011


What I love about realtor websites and signs etc with photos is that about 75% of them have very out of date photos. Even if your haircut and clothing and extremely fuzzy photo don't clue me in (hint: they always do), I will notice when I meet you that you are actually 20 years older than your picture.

One of my rules for hiring realtors was current photos.
posted by jeather at 8:27 AM on August 25, 2011


Oh, no photos are fine, too, but using a 20 year out of date photo just irritates me, and all I want to do is mock the person. I think it shows a stupid form of vanity and a complete lack of understanding of reality. If you, as a realtor, don't think you can sell yourself as you are, how good are you at sales?
posted by jeather at 8:35 AM on August 25, 2011


I am pretty sure I once saw a for sale sign with a headshot of Cary Grant on it.
posted by bq at 8:55 AM on August 25, 2011 [1 favorite]


I'm laughing.

My husband is fifty-three. His realtor head shot is, I think, thirty-nine.

(not that he looks that much different, really.)
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 4:40 PM on August 25, 2011


I pressed play on all the videos at the same time and pretended I was eavesdropping at a party.
posted by milnak at 7:50 PM on August 25, 2011 [2 favorites]


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