Thursday, July 31, 2008

the jean gibson fan club




It is still a buyer's market. The number of homes on the market has increased and the asking prices have adjusted to the market. Now is a great time to buy, while Vancouver homes are at rock-bottom prices.

Good grief.They must have started adding mind-addling fluoride (or something) to the water when I was not looking. The above quote is from the Kerrisdale Real Estate blog. The picture is a screen-shot of the blog page.

The previous article, entitled Buy The Dream has seven things that jean (the realtor/author) has learned about Real Estate. They sound to be from Ozzie Jurock's latest $1599 RE Action Week-end, or maybe just from his Insider Alerts.

Now, I'm not usually vindictive, or even nasty, but I am feeling a bit ornery lately (I have my reasons). Jean looks to be a nice, grandmotherly type (In a W.A.S.P.ish way), but how can she believe the crap that she is writing? Will anybody else believe it?
I would like to see every person, who reads this, own their own home. Preferably using me as their realtor.
I hope I have nudged you to go out and buy that dream!
Now, that is just elitest. She wishes every person who reads her article will own their own home. What about the other 3.999999 million people in BC who will never read those words? Too bad. And I love the plug to use her as your realtor. (She forgot the capitalization, and TM. I am more deliberate)

I don't get a huge number of comments here, and I appreciate the ones that I do get, but this lady had ZERO comments until today (other than spam), when a bunch of readers of Rob Chipman's blog trooped over there and started laying on a bunch of snark for her. So, why not join the jean gibson fan club, and mosey on over to leave your good wishes? I am sure that she will be gratified by the traffic.

Just be nice, she is, after all, someones Grandma.

38 comments:

Anonymous said...

Buy the dream? That gothic 1914 POS is a nightmare at any price.

Will someone PLEASE raise some women with good taste?

Frank Lloyd Wright

Anonymous said...

"I would like to see every person, who reads this, own their own home. Preferably using me as their realtor."

Wow, Jean maintains 27 blogs. Times must be slow...

blueskies said...

real "grandmas" don't sell real estate, they nurture the next generation

Anonymous said...

I swear, two of those houses are on my parents' street...

Paul said...

LOL! I just took a look at all the comments. She is in for a surprise. Imagine the fleeting glee she feels when she sees 28 comments only to read the scathing coments seconds later.
Fair enough imo. Brutal commentary.

blueskies said...

oh the anticipation of your very own blog!

oh the horror of leaving the comments section "ON"

the entertainment value for bears in the blogosphere ..... priceless!!

i haven't had this much fun since discovering puberty :-)

YatterMatters said...

Hey everybody,

I think you have truly reached a new low.

You all need to take some deep cleansing breathes and give your heads a shake.

This post is equivalent to smacking down an old woman and kicking her while you steal her purse. Not nice and F---- uncivilized.

Commentary times must be desparate.

Sure Jean is peddling bullshit, we all know that. So what! Are you going to run out and buy a house from her. Not a freaking chance.

But, think about what you have done. You have presented yourselves as nothing more than a frenzied mob. Are you any further ahead for having pissed in her teacup. Reflect on that for a moment.

I have followed most of you folks for some time and have had good respect for your commentary, insight and wit until now. This time however, I know you have exceeded the bounds of reasoned discourse and need to be called on it. In my opinion you have gone too far!

Jean has been around a long time and has done much good for her community, more perhaps than many of you ever will. She is old guard who would no more understand than would a child crossing a freeway, that by blogging she is playing in a minefield.

Similarly, like your children, she is no more capable of defending herself in a cage of bears than an old cat.

Cut her loose and find better, more worthy sport.

And to my contemporary from the North Shore, remember this, for one day you too will be an old fart who will benignly peddle bull shit but never understand why the mob pounced.

My Name is Larry Yatkowsky
I'm am Realtor and you if you have something to say to me you can reach me at lmy@yattermatters.com

solipsist said...

Thanks for all the comments everyone. Larry too. This has been an amusing diversion.

Larry, I understand your outrage (sort of), but hyperbole such as "This post is equivalent to smacking down an old woman and kicking her while you steal her purse.", and all the rest, is a bit over the top. Vote Conservative much?

Your scenario consists of physical assault, and robbery. Those are serious crimes under the law. Unfortunately, misleading people is not. Both are immoral.

If someone gets on the Internet and writes bullshit, they are fair game, I don't care how old or infirm they are - especially when you take into account all the kiddies who will be hurt by the financial problems of their parents, which ultimately lead to divorce, or worse. What about the helpless kiddies Larry?

What community does she do so much for? AA in Point Grey? You are right, I probably will never do much there, but I bet she doesn't shovel snow and cut grass for old people, or water trees on the boulevard with a bucket, or ... Compare and despair, Lar.

I usually help old ladies navigate across busy streets, and would certainly stop them from trying to cross a freeway. Where is your chivalry Larry? Help the poor woman understand. And I don't think it is very nice to compare her, or my children to an old cat. Does she smell funny like Grandmas often do?

I guess my new low is really rock-bottom - just like those housing prices.

My name is solipsist, and I can be reached here if a duel at dawn is demanded.

Anonymous said...

Hey, I never bugged the lady.

I merely called the house an ugly gothic POS.

Understandable when you see an entire generation of clueless women rolback every architectural advance you birthed.

Frank Lloyd Wright

Anonymous said...

Uh oh, Larry's got a girlfriend!

Anonymous said...

Larry @ yattermatters.com

It's a good thing that you're trying to defend Ms. Gibson. If things are as you say, she has no idea what blogging is all about.

Personally, I don't agree with character attacks in these blog comments. That said, if you're going to post blatant BS in a blog, you've got to expect that people are going to react. Soliplist's original post is completely above board, he even asks people to take it easy on her. The majority of the comments are addressing her post's assertions that we're seeing "Rock-bottom prices". The comments in Ms. Gibson's blog calling her a "lair or a moron" are uncalled for, as folks have already dismantled her post with valid economic arguments.

Anyways Larry, you might want to suggest to your friend that she take down her blogs. They're clearly not doing much for her business, and she's evidently in over her head.

blueskies said...

larry:
chill!

you are so used to shoveling this stuff around you can not distinguish hype from reality......

this particular real estate professional is being disingenuous at best and most likely willingly deceitful at worst in the hopes of unloading this mansion unto some poor unsuspecting "greater fool"...

your concerns about ethics and moral behavior don't ring true.....

"rock bottom" pricing.....

you can fool some of the people some of the time but.....

BeMeCollective said...

My comment dissapeared. Maybe the rough language got it removed...


Let's try again:

The nice old lady has just removed her blog, after the 38 negative comments.

A bit like the Vancouver Sun did.

Solipsist, sorry if I used 'too harsh a language'.

Cheers

arit

Anonymous said...

kerrisdalerealestate blog has been removed. hm.
I was really hoping to see a response/defense wrt to 'rock bottom prices'.

I guess it's just too bad.

blueskies said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
solipsist said...

arit - I did not remove your comment. I'm not too concerned with language, as long as it is not slanderous, or too over the top.

blueskies - I did remove the comments from Jean's blog, just because it was too long, and my scrolling finger is sore. I saved the archive for posterity, so thanks for posting it none-the-less.

It's too bad that she she removed her whole blog. It was not my intent to chase her off the web. She could have just deleted the comments, or the post, or both. It was a golden opportunity for her to expand her reach (if she just got real about it), as between Rob Chipman's blog, and this one, she had more hits and comments in two days than she had in the last 800 days.

Maybe Larry should have told her that.

solipsist said...

arit - I just found your comment in the previous post to this one - good and cheap, and fast.

No language too rough there.

YatterMatters said...

If it matters:

Spoke with Jean.

She was oblivious to the entire episode. She doesn't understand, doesn't care and was just as happy to stop blogging.

So much for managing your image or what's left of one. Bears take the point.

I'll shut up now.

blueskies said...

soli: no problem!

i can see the headlines:

RE granny gets nuked with bear spray!
carnage at 11:00

i can see granny standing by the smoldering remains of her now cratered RE blog......

wtf was that?!

do bears ever high 5?

solipsist said...

Larry - doesn't understand, doesn't care...

Then why did she nuke it?

So much for managing your image or what's left of one. Bears take the point.

I have no image (or at least, I don't care if I do). I am an anonymous blogger, writing for my own amusement. That my blog gets more hits in a day, than yours does in a year, does not mean that much in the grand scheme of things.

I hope that what does come of this is that bullshitters take the point.

blueskies - thanks for the snicker(s).

BeMeCollective said...

Thanks Solipsist. My mistake then...


arit

YatterMatters said...

Don't know her real reason for dumping the blog. I was surprised as well. Maybe the kitchen was too hot. Who knows.

Strataman said...

"She doesn't understand, doesn't care" Yes I would say that pretty well sums up her attitude towards her potential buyers.

Art Vandelay said...

Great blog.

Anyone who presents themselves as an expert should have their opinions called into question when it is appropriate.

That includes realtors.

But there are some terrifying, if undiagnosed, anger-management issues with some commenters.

I have a cost-free solution to anybody who thinks realtors are over-paid: Don't Use Them.

solipsist said...

But there are some terrifying, if undiagnosed, anger-management issues with some commenters.

That is a good reason to choose anonymity.

It's a big web to be a spider on.

Carioca Canuck said...

Blog removed.....I love it. Snort.

If she cannot defend the BS she posted, she deserves to be roundly ridiculed as the typical realtor sterotype.

I love it. Realtor BS has to be publicly called out for what it is whenever you see it or else these conmen, and conwomen, will never be stopped.

solipsist said...

Realtor BS has to be publicly called out...

I must admit, it was good sport, with an unexpected conclusion. Maybe it could be a valuable public service, that ought to be pursued.

Something that I neglected was to give a hat tip to "vangirl" (I think it was) at Rob's place, who alerted us to the now-defunct site.

blueskies said...

Maybe it could be a valuable public service, that ought to be pursued.


blog bear spray!

BBS

Dave said...

Yattermatters, I like how you think that you are in the moral high ground. You admit that she is pushing BS, but are offended when other realtors call her on it. Some code of ethics you strive for.

BeMeCollective said...

I do not really understand the 'code of ethics '....


It is a known ritual that when an engineer looks at a problem to fix, he will blame all the problems on the original engineer who designed the system.


Many people go for a 'second opinion' to Medical Doctors. You have my word that Medical Doctors badmouth their colleagues more than anyone else. When you study 7 years and life dpends on your secisions, everybody else is an idiot.


Lawyers stand in court and try to convince the judge+jury that the other lawyer doesn' know what he is talking about.




So these professions don't mention in the 'codes of ethics' not to contradict fellow professionals.

These professions require 4-7 years of study...


How come realtors must all pretend to present a common face? Everybody is OK?

Is it because there is a lot of lying and scamming going on? No.... It must be something else....

Regards,

arit

Anonymous said...

You will not criticize your fellow realtors or you will be assimilated by the greater Real Estate Borg collective.

But seriously, it's simple; with all the potential for splitting commissions, why anger your possible partners?

Self-policing? Ha, that's a laugh when the higher the sales price no matter the tactics, the higher the split commissions.

Unfortunately, it's just the way the club evolved.

Are there those that buck the system and go their own ethical way?

Of course, but they are few and far between, and the nature of the customers' business need for a real estate agent (periodical and not ongoing) makes it even less attractive a course than kowtowing to those fellow agents you'll be doing business with far more often than each individual client.

jesse said...

"So, why not join the jean gibson fan club, and mosey on over to leave your good wishes?"

It's a cold slap in the face waking up to what life is like on the internet. I'm a bit sorry she got railroaded -- after all, lots of Realtors, some that occasionaly post here, have blogs that get close to no traffic -- but the days of one-sided spin are waning fast and she should get used to it or get another cold slap in a few years when everyone else has adapted but her.

We should all wish her well and hope she does her job with honesty and integrity through what may be some bleak times for her chosen trade.

markoz said...

I am a very long term bear but I have to agree with Larry on this one. The old lady sells real estate for a living. Everyone in sales knows there is such a thing as "puffery" which is so obviously untrue or incapable of verification that no one in their right mind would try to sue for false advertising ("we're the best______, #1 in Vancouver etc. etc.). It's a matter of where you draw the line I guess. Realtors need to earn a living and not one of them is ever going to say "Now is a poor time to buy". If your life depended on sales the moral high ground wouldn't be as obvious. People (her customers) are not likely to be misled by her comments about "rock bottom prices" any more than someone reading a "Brick" flyer believes what ever puffery is contained in it.

My friend just bought a very over-priced 1000 sq. ft. "townhouse" on 3 floors. His realtor wanted him to buy assignments NOW as an investment because they were such a good deal with US investors desperate to get out of the market. THAT is the sort of more sophisticated spin that deserves crapping on. We can all leave the old ladies peddling "Buy now before they're gone" alone.

solipsist said...

My Bad.

Anonymous said...

Ignore the apologists Solipsist your were bang on with this post.

solipsist said...

...bang on with this post.

I have no regrets.

Anonymous said...

You were bang-on, but classless, Solopsist.

Carioca Canuck said...

There is no need for class when your enemy has none to begin with.