Realtor Hires a Homeless Man to Promote Business

Apparently Chris Rezac, a homeless man in Denver really “Will Work for Food.”  After observing Rezac several times standing on a street corner holding up a sign asking for assistance, a local Denver Realtor and real estate broker, Joe Manzaneres wanted to find a way to help the homeless man while promoting his real estate business.  Manzaneres decided to hire Rezac to hold up a sign that reads “I’ve been sponsored by RE/MAX” to promote Manzaneres’ business.  Besides providing a steady paycheck, Manzanares also gave him new clothes and a haircut.  He’s also trying to help him get a cell phone, bus pass and creating a resume. Continue reading

Agent Threatens Homeowner With Gun To Get Real Estate Sign Back

According to The Dallas Morning News, a resident of the 4200 block of Windhaven Lane in North Dallas found a real estate sign in his yard. Since his house wasn’t for sale nor did he give permission to have a sign posted in his yard, he took it down and threw it away. Now I know how much real estate agents have to pay for those signs, having a stack of signs myself, but I think this person (article doesn’t confirm whether or not it was a real estate agent) went a bit too far. Continue reading

Four Texas Cities Rank In The Top 10 For “Most Sex-Happy” Cities


Attention Relocation Specialists:

Looking for ways to convince people to relocate to Texas? Looking for an upbeat, non-apocalyptic real estate ranking where we rank among the highest? Look no further. Now we have a ranking we can be proud of. According to Men’s Health Magazine, Texas dominates the top 10 with four cities ranking as the most “sex-happy” cities. I can hear relocation specialists now, “Want sex? Come to Texas!” Living in Dallas, Texas, I’d like to think I did my part to help with this ranking but I see I have some work ahead of me if we’re ever going to be number one. Time to take one for the team! Continue reading

Top 10 Signs You Have A Bad Tenant

Image created by Jeroen Van Oostrom, provided courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Being a landlord or property manager isn’t as easy as it sounds.  It’s very important to thoroughly screen prospective tenants.  Here are a few tips to help you find that perfect tenant.  Lots of landlords, especially accidental landlords (home sellers forced to rent when the house doesn’t sell) fail to do adequate background checks when screening new tenants.  In the rush to get the rental filled, some landlords have discovered that they preferred the vacancy over the troubles their current tenants are dishing out.  While you’re looking over your crop of prospective tenants, keep these ideas in mind. Continue reading

Haunted Listings – Real Haunted Houses For Sale

 

Halloween by Salvatore Vuono – used with permission by freesdigitalphotos.net

Agents specializing in niche markets is nothing new to real estate, but specializing in the buying and selling of haunted houses is something I’ve never seen… until now.  Are you looking for a house with a ghostly presence?  The San Diego Paranormal, and Medium, Bonnie Vent can help your real estate agent find that perfect haunted house to fit your needs.  Their website lists several houses, currently occupied by ghostly tenants.  Some of the descriptions of the goings on in these houses may effect resale value somewhat.  Here are a few of the paranormal activity descriptions of the houses for sale on that site.  Here are a few: Continue reading

Sexy Staging – Using Sex To Sell Real Estate


Want to attract buyers to your listings?  Ever thought MLS listing pictures could be sexy?  You will from now on.  Peters & Associates, a brokerage in the Charlotte, N.C., that specializes in luxury properties, has taken a unique approach to attract buyers to their listings.. Sex!  This Charlotte, N.C. brokerage firm sells “lifestyles” instead of houses and have created a unique approach to achieve this through their listings.  They created two test listings.  The first listing had traditional house photos, but the other listing had “lifestyle photos,” featuring beautiful women posing in the rooms being photographed.  Did it work?  You bet!  Continue reading

Former Real Estate Agent Chauffeured A Mummified Corpse In Her Car For Months


In Costa Mesa, California, a 57-year-old former real estate agent, was caught with a mummified corpse of a woman in the passenger’s seat of her 1997 Mercury Marquis.  The police are trying to discover the female corpse’s identity.  All they know is that she was a transient from the Fountain Valley area, known to the driver as Signe.  Police estimate that Signe had been dead for three to ten months due to the amount of decomposition and mummification.  Her body only weighed 30 pounds when she was discovered.   Police officials are studying her DNA and dental records to discover her identity. Continue reading

God Cancels Open House

Image created by Survo Datta, courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

When Lynda Worthington, a Columbus Realtor, pulled up to one of her listings to host an open house, she might have been thinking “location, location, location,”  but that soon changed to FIRE, FIRE, FIRE!!!!  Apparently a tree near the house was struck by lightning and caught fire and started spreading to the roof.  Luckily she caught it in time to minimize damage.  If it wasn’t for the open house, the house fire might not have been caught so quickly and the damage could have been much worse. Continue reading

Psychic Staging – God, Witches, Pegans, Psychics & Qi Sell Houses


What do God, ancient Chinese philosophy, psychics, witchcraft and Saint Joseph all have in common?  These are the new tools in the real estate agent tool bag.  Apparently some agents are willing to blame their unsold listings on  “bad energy” and are using mystical techniques to get rid of all that negative energy to bring more ying & yang balance into their listing.  While other agents don’t believe it will work, they also believe it couldn’t do any harm and are desperate enough to try it. Continue reading

The New Road Warriors – Mad Max Meet The Mad Real Estate Agent

Real estate agents may be on the bottom of the popularity list, ranking below lawyers and used car salesman, but we shine in one area.  Real estate agents have the distinction of ranking as high as #4 on the latest list of “top 10 crashers by profession,” according to insure.com.  While Doctors rank #1, Real estate agents are still a force to be reckoned with.  Insure.com mentioned one possibility for real estate agents ranking high in automobile accidents was that they spend so much time in the car, often being distracted by clients.  I’ve often observed real estate agents trying to combine interacting with clients, reading maps, talking on a cell phone, and looking at house numbers, with driving a car and navigating unfamiliar territories.  With multi-tasking like this, something’s got to give. Continue reading

Man Stabbed With A Real Estate Sign

Sure a real estate sign is an effective tool to sell your house, but I bet you didn’t know it makes a pretty nice weapon too.  One man discovered this the hard way when he was impaled on a real estate sign.  North Fort Meyers, Florida deputies were called out to handle an assault at River’s Edge Mobile Home Park.  When they arrived at the scene, they discovered Zeke Smith had been stabbed.  While stabbings in Fort Meyers aren’t an unusual occurrence, the fact that the weapon was a real estate sign instead of a knife made it quite newsworthy.

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Real Estate Agent Tries To Earn Business At A Funeral


Sadly this is a true story that happened to me before I became an agent.

About 17 years ago, my grandmother passed away and I inherited the family house in Montrose, Alabama. At the time, I lived in Memphis, Tennessee so I didn’t know too many of my grandmother’s friends in the Fairhope, Alabama area. So, during the visitation, the day before the funeral, people were coming up to me introducing themselves all day long. During the visitation, I noticed one individual who was purposefully hanging back. Continue reading