June 20, 2008

And then the 6%'ers sent flyers in the mail promoting that they sold a house. Any house. Even a crack den covered in graffiti.


Thanks to photogmatt for the flyer.

You'd think the 6%'er would cover up the graffiti before snapping the pic.

You'd think.

But that would involve actually doing some work that day.

Amazing.

42 comments:

Anonymous said...

no way, that is a joke, isn't it?

Anonymous said...

1. but that's QUALITY graffiti...

2. and the 6%'er is looking
for SELLERS - like he doesn't have ENOUGH inventory...

Frank R said...

Wasting advertising money on something that's already sold is proof of the six-percenters' single digit IQs.

blogger said...

it's the real deal

but anon 2 is right - it's not graffiti - it's:

'a beautiful hand-painted outdoor mural, due to give you hours of enjoyment as you sip tea on your wonderful veranda'

now pay me 6%

Anonymous said...

Actually - it's really clever.

The ad is meant to show his skills in selling real estate. The viewer is supposed to think - "If he was able to sell THAT piece of s***, he must be really good..."

I know I'm playing the devil's advocate here, but to me it actually seems the guy knows what he's doing. Also, he has recognized the direction the market has taken - he isn't looking for buyers but for sellers. Can't be all that stupid.

Anonymous said...

I get flyers like that too. Funny thing about them is the "JUST SOLD" refers to a house sold months and months ago.

Anonymous said...

Hey this ad comes from Suffolk County, Long Island, NY. That's the place where denial is still very strong.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I get a lot of that here in Lisbon. When they sell a house, they put a sticker over the sign saying "Sold". They even use spaces on their catalogs with houses that are already sold, trying to pass the image that everything is alright... but they won´t disclose the actual price of sale. So its nice he sold that horrible house, but at what price?

PJ

Anonymous said...

Bad formatting of ad piece. The REALTORs picture needs to be MUCH bigger...

The NAR wil be sending out a new memo guidelining self-promotion.

blogger said...

I'd guess the crack house went for about $50 plus six packages of ramen.

Anonymous said...

Good thing I had put my coffee mug down before I saw this. Otherwise I would have spewed coffee all over my computer screen.

Unbelievable!

anon said...

Congrats to the party that bought that dump. They're smart enough to know that whether the paint is on the inside *or* outside, it's only paint and can be covered up. All you dolts who have decided not to buy a particular house because you "don't like the paint" are complete morons. That is all.

Anonymous said...

How about the hedge fund 30%'ers? You give them your money to gamble with, and if they hit a blackjack, they take 30% of the profits. If they lose, then your money is gone - ala the Bear Stearns high grade structured debt hedge funds.

Anonymous said...

The more listings you have under your name, the more chances you have of getting a sale.

Anonymous said...

Well, I beat your promotion:

AP -- Condos banking on clothing-optional pool to increase sales

TAMPA, Fla. -- A Hillsborough County housing complex is planning to have a clothing-optional pool in an effort to sell units in a slumping market.

A spokeswoman for the project's developer said one pool is being set aside for nude swimmers, sunbathers and hot-tub users at the Arbors at Branch Creek.

Christine Pirkle, director of sales for project-developer Eden Condominiums, said they came up with the strategy for the 390-unit complex to set it apart from other condos.

The rules still must be approved by condo owners, but most of the complex is being rented out. Landscaping is also needed to keep out prying eyes. No one younger than 18 will be allowed in the pool area.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps the street thugs that taged the house bought it now that the price is affordable?

Anonymous said...

Congrats to the party that bought that dump. They're smart enough to know that whether the paint is on the inside *or* outside, it's only paint and can be covered up. All you dolts who have decided not to buy a particular house because you "don't like the paint" are complete morons. That is all.

We may be morons, but we're smart enough to keep our families away from neighborhoods with graffiti even on homes.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, I get a lot of that here in Lisbon. When they sell a house, they put a sticker over the sign saying "Sold".

I said many times here that C. Ronaldo was overrated. Sure enough, not even with Felipao they can win.

Anonymous said...

They're smart enough to know that whether the paint is on the inside *or* outside, it's only paint and can be covered up.

Hey moron, have you ever thought about what kind of neighborhood it is? The grafitti will probably show up again and again along with a few bullets

Anonymous said...

it's almost clever

Anonymous said...

i know BLOGS are infamous for lack of research on facts but please for the love of god call them 3%'ers.....realtors only make 6% when they represent both sides. which is less than 10 percent of the time. get it right.

Anonymous said...

I just confirmed that this is real!!!

Anonymous said...

Maybe the Graffiti was done by a yet to be famous artist, so after he dies the house could be worth hundreds of millions in the future.

RayNLA

Anonymous said...

I wonder if any of his buddies were arested yesterday?

Anonymous said...

That was one of the most funniest ads I've seen outside of "Headlines" on the Tonight Show. Someone should send this ad to "Headlines" c/o Tonight Show (3000 W. Alameda Ave, Burbank, CA 91523).

Another point which has been brought up before, why the heck would I, as either a buyer or seller, care what the realtor looks like or care about the realtor at all? I just want to either buy or sell a piece of property.

Anonymous said...

He should have played up the crack house angle in that if he can sell an overpriced crack house, imagine what he can do with your moderately price tract home.

Anonymous said...

Allow me to defend myself....
The picture that you see is only half the home, the other half was burnt down. This was listed by a previous broker and they could not sell it. I put it on the market at the right price trying to reach investors and/or builders. Remember in real estate.....There is not one objection that PRICE cannot cure! Now comes the amusing part..... I have a service that once a home closes, they send out a "Just Sold" card. I should of canceled this post card, but.....I was too busy sipping tea on my veranda.

Anonymous said...

Don't you see the goal? This guy sells in this 'hood and that's what considered normal. I wonder how many crooked loans he helped create in his 'hood, over the years.

He may have niche that makes him money.

Sad but possible. If it is true these customers and buyers are your citizens who vote in California.

blogger said...

Evan - nice to see a calm level headed response - from a 6%'er

So, the question is - what did the home originally sell for when it was no doubt involved in straw-buyer mortgage fraud, and what was the post-graffiti post-crash, fire-sale price?

Anonymous said...

"Evan said..."

HPers said: Hey FUCK YOU you 6%er douchebag.

Take your massive ego and go sell it to some dumb Joe/Jane SixPack.

Your industry is doomed. Try truck driving. Put your picture on the trailer. Change your name, otherwise No one will trust you with a load of dead chickens once they learn you were a REALTOR...

Oops, this call is for you douche, it's the FBI...

Anonymous said...

Here is ANOTHER great honest REALTOR example. Just trying to 'help her people'. At least she allegedly spread the frad around to her immediate family members and got them involved.

Maybe they can all serve in prison together after they are convicted. Who says we shouldn't have debtors prisons? Gloria sounds like a perfect match for asshole Evan. Soounds like they think alike...

Former Su Casa real estate agent arrested, faces 11 felony counts
WOMAN, RELATIVES ACCUSED OF SCHEME TO DEFRAUD MORTGAGE LENDERS, CLIENTS
By Pete Carey
Mercury News
Article Launched: 06/20/2008 01:32:38 AM PDT

Booking mug for Gloria Madrigal Alvarez, former star agent for the...

Gloria Alvarez was one of the top agents at a dominant East Side real estate company during the heady days of the recent real estate boom, but Thursday she was in jail facing multiple felony charges.

Alvarez, 40, was arrested Wednesday on a $1 million warrant as she was leaving a Santa Clara County Superior Court room where she was appearing in a civil suit for a settlement conference, which normally requires a defendant's appearance.

The former star agent of the defunct Century 21 Su Casa real estate brokerage faces 11 felony counts, including grand theft involving an alleged scheme in which she and two relatives are accused of defrauding three lenders and several clients.

It marks the second arrest of a real estate agent from Su Casa, which went out of business last year after Century 21 withdrew its franchise. Last year, a Su Casa agent and his wife were arrested and face charges of occupancy and mortgage fraud. Su Casa was the subject of a Mercury News investigation of subprime lending in East San Jose.

A Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office complaint accuses Alvarez of using "straw buyers" and falsified loan applications in several million dollars worth of real estate deals.

Straw buyers allow their names and credit to be used by others to obtain loans for real estate purchases. The scheme conceals the name of the true purchaser.

Also charged in the complaint are Alvarez's sister, Patricia Alvarez, and Gloria Alvarez's
son, Ricardo Alvarez, a licensed notary, both of San Jose. Ricardo Alvarez was arrested later in the day. Patricia Alvarez was also charged with forgery. She has not been arrested.
Gloria Alvarez made her first court appearance Thursday. She was arraigned, but no plea has yet been entered. She faces up to 14 years in state prison if convicted, according to the district attorney's office.

The three are accused of bilking Comerica Bank, Fremont Investment and Loan, and Countrywide
Savings and Loan in the course of three real estate transactions valued at just over $2 million.
The complaint alleges that Gloria Alvarez and Patricia Alvarez paid a man $5,000 to act as a "straw buyer" for a home in December 2005, and that Gloria helped draft a loan application containing false income information, while Patricia forged names on checks.

The investigation is continuing, Deputy District Attorney James Sibley said.

Gloria Alvarez's lawyer didn't return requests for comment.

The district attorney said Alvarez "has been the subject of more complaints to the Santa Clara District Attorney's Office Real Estate Fraud Unit than any other individual real estate agent."

But because many of her clients lost homes to foreclosure, the district attorney's office said its investigators are having difficulty locating the victims.

Last year, Su Casa was the subject of a Mercury News investigation of East Side residents being sold homes they couldn't afford, using falsified loan applications they hadn't been told about.

Anonymous said...

Keith - I got involved after the fire. The homeowner was in a desperate situation, he had no where to live and he had no insurance on the home. I know that you may find this hard to believe, but......there are some good people in real estate. Check out the link to view the home.

Evan

Anonymous said...

Another Genius REIC with 'many years of experience'. I wonder if she has all her teeth. Sorry for the long post HPers, I GUARANTEE it is worth reading...

REALTORS, YOU ARE ALL LYING SHIT TURD SCUM. ALL OF YOU, EVERY ONE.

NO EXCEPTIONS.

READ IT AND WEEP OR LAUGH, I DID.

Real estate mess hurts those in field twice
Some find themselves among foreclosure victims as business dries up.

"I don’t see this industry picking up and putting me back where I was," Shelly Butterfield says. The former real estate professional has seen her annual income go from $80,000 to $12,000 in a year.

By Jane Hodges
MSNBC contributor
updated 5:37 p.m. PT, Thurs., June. 19, 2008
Shelly Butterfield, 53, has more than 20 years of experience in the mortgage industry, in roles ranging from lending officer to regional manager of a lending company. She’s accustomed to the rhythms of her commission-based work, hustling in busy months to prepare for slow winters, keeping her eye on a shifting lending landscape so she knows what products are available to different clients.

She’s also accustomed to making a handsome wage: $80,000 a year — or more, if she pushes herself. The money goes far in her hometown of Puyallup, Wash., a small rural community near Tacoma.

Then in July 2007 one company funding loans for several of her clients went out of business. Then others did.

Now Butterfield has become a poster child for the real estate slide: Her income has fallen 85 percent and her home is in pre-foreclosure, scheduled to be auctioned to the highest bidder in August.

Butterfield is hardly alone. Among the many victims of the housing industry meltdown, the millions of people who worked in the field are among the hardest hit.

In residential construction alone, nearly a half-million jobs have disappeared since the peak in September 2006. Membership in The National Association of Realtors, which nearly doubled over the decade ending in 2006 to about 1.4 million, is on its way back down.

A May report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated that year-over-year employment in “housing-related industries” was consistently below prior-year levels throughout all of 2007 and into 2008.

Agents and brokers’ incomes also is dropping. Median income for agents and brokers combined was $42,600 in 2007, down 10.7 percent from the $47,700 the group logged in 2006, according to NAR. Agents alone earned a median of $31,000 in 2007, down 10.4 percent from the $34,600 median income they earned in 2006.

For Butterfield, the situation is dire. Friends have offered to lend her money to keep current on mortgage payments on the contemporary three-bedroom house she bought for herself and the granddaughter she raises, but Butterfield won’t take their money — not without a job to guarantee she can afford to keep the house.

She now earns just $12,000 a year doing $10-an-hour jobs, including house-cleaning and temping as a security officer.

She’s not optimistic about her economic prospects, especially given how many peers she’s seen lose jobs and income during the market’s contraction. One employer offered her loan-processing work, but only for minimum wage.

“I have 309 job applications out right now. I don’t think I’m going to be hired at my age, and I don’t see this industry picking up and putting me back where I was,” she says. “There have to be at least a million people affected by this market.”

Normally, Butterfield’s savings and rental income would have carried her through a tough patch. But both those reinforcements evaporated: She bought her current home in early 2007 because a flood destroyed her original primary home and an adjacent rental. She had assumed her other properties could be rebuilt and rented, but due to legal technicalities she can’t rebuild and has been been forced to sell the land at a loss.

She put her current home on the market in March for $315,000 — slightly more than the $310,000 she paid for it — and has had only one looker thus far.

She didn’t bother to renew her state lending license when it expired in December.

The downturn also is hitting newer agents especially hard. Even those who had a strong running start are watching transactions take longer due to their clients’ financing challenges.

Brett West, a 38-year-old agent with McEnearney Associates Realtors in Washington, D.C., spent the first 16 years of his career working in public relations before making the leap to a career in real estate.

After closing two deals last fall, his first quarter in business, he felt confident enough to resign from his job at a PR firm and go full-time in real estate.

But as 2008 progressed, he watched as some clients’ deals fell apart or took on long, drawn-out schedules due to financing issues. Instead of achieving his goal of closing at least 12 transactions during 2008, he’s closed only one thus far — though he expects at least three more this summer.

Earlier this month, he resumed working 20 hours a week at the PR firm, both because he’s remained friendly with a former superior but, equally importantly, because he needed the financial stability of a salary.

“As an agent finding a second job, I’m grateful I didn’t have to take an evening or weekend job, waiting tables or bartending,” he says. “Real estate happens in the evenings and over the weekends.”

Indeed, real estate still happens. But as West, Butterfield, and others will attest, it happens more haphazardly than it once did — and for those working in the field, it’s ugly.

Anonymous said...

Evan said...
"I know that you may find this hard to believe, but......there are some good people in real estate. Check out the link to view the home."

This guy is just too easy. Check out the 'good REIC people' from San Jose, CA. I just posted.

Hey, Evan-the-dipshit REALTOR, please stop already. You're killing me with my own laughter. If you're selling your Florence Nightengale-White Horse craziness, try somewhere else. Were ALL waay too sophisticatd to the ways of REALTORS for your retarded reasoning. You sound even dumber than Bush. Try Politics next career.

Remember REALTOR scum: Never bring a knife to a gunfight.

Anonymous said...

Blah...Blah...Blah

The realtors don't create the market. We just get a small percentage of the sale. Do you hate all salespeople?

Anonymous said...

It's actually damn good marketing.

Sends the message of "If I can sell this piece of junk, think what I can do with yours?"

Anonymous said...

You all have Evan's telephone numbers. Why not call him late, LATE tonight and ask him about the market and the small piece 6% he and fellow REALTORS "get"...

Hate All salespoeple? Not at all. Just HATE the Charletans, liars and Frauds. So in other words, REALTORS (all CAPS)like YOU.

Last word or do you want to go on?

Anonymous said...

The 6%'er is trying to run his business, also in though times. I can only respect a man running his business without covering the nasty parts (graffiti houses).

Anonymous said...

Evan said...
Allow me to defend myself....
The picture that you see is only half the home, the other half was burnt down. This was listed by a previous broker and they could not sell it. I put it on the market at the right price trying to reach investors and/or builders. Remember in real estate.....There is not one objection that PRICE cannot cure! Now comes the amusing part..... I have a service that once a home closes, they send out a "Just Sold" card. I should of canceled this post card, but.....I was too busy sipping tea on my veranda.

______________________________________________________________________


Sipping Tea on my Varanda?

Notice the capital V as Varanda is a brand name and even if you were "sipping" tea on yours never let anyone know about.

RayNLA

Anonymous said...

Now Butterfield has become a poster child for the real estate slide: Her income has fallen 85 percent and her home is in pre-foreclosure, scheduled to be auctioned to the highest bidder in August.

Ha, ha!

No, Butterfield has become a poster child for Butterball Turkeys, because that's what she is.

You see, she thought she could rule the world forever. She lived large and in charge for years...decades, even.

While you slaved to get a college degree and work a real job, she played and raked it in and laughed at you.

The market is peppering her arse but good.

Enjoy the show!

Anonymous said...

That's not graffiti, it's urban art!

Shoot, if the stupid realtor couldn't literally remove the graffiti from the house, he could've at least had it Photoshopped out of the picture!

Anonymous said...

Will Evan tell the price that the crack house went for?

Let's have an "auction" of guesses it went for.

$100,000?