Hello, My name is Dee and I am a Home-aholic… there, I said it. I am a lover, voyeur , oooh’er and aahhh’er of homes. I am addicted to watching all sorts of shows about homes, such as buying and selling, decorating and renovating — you name it. I can’t seem to get enough. I so enjoy watching people walk through other peoples homes and critique them. I can’t get enough of listening to couples argue over the size of closets or the lack of granite counter tops.
However, there is one element in the “Home” oeuvre that I have a difficult relationship with: the real estate agent. I have bought and sold several homes over the years and frankly, the experiences have been…trying. Once again I performed a very scientific Twitter poll and asked the following question… “Do you trust real Estate Agents?” The response was a resounding NO! As one horror story followed another, people had no qualms admitting that they would basically trust a used car salesman more than an agent…ouch!
I started watching Million Dollar Listing New York, and I am shocked at the things these agents do and say on camera. Sharks! And yet, I can’t look away. Seeing inside all of the fabulous Manhattan homes and apartments is like a drug for me. Not to mention the tension and the drama between the agents, clients and more agents , oh my!
I do know one thing, if I was ever to buy or sell a home again, I would want Fredrick to be my agent. Frederick Eklund is from Sweden and is known as the “listing machine”. If you watch the show, he is a machine, on many different levels. When I first saw him I honestly thought that he was an actor — a set-up for the show — but the guy is legit. He owns a huge business back in his home country and is sweeping the real estate market off its feet in Manhattan. I’m thinking of going “apartment shopping” on my next trip to New York just to meet him. He is larger than life and no holds bared…The only way to be!
So I must conclude, that even though my sleuthing of Twitter and Google regarding real estate agents yielded every manner of unflattering adjective (such as slimy, unethical, self-serving and worse), the truth is, people are extremely emotional about the sale or purchase of a new home, and drama inevitably ensues. It’s intense! After all, they’re dealing with hundreds of thousands of dollars — most likely their largest purchase ever — and they’re playing with their dreams! A home, or the idea of one is very special and sacred to many people; it’s where they raise a family, where they feel safe.
Do real estate agents play with that? Most definitely. But it makes for some really good TV!
What kind of experiences have you had with agents? What would improve the industry?
Dee Brun is the award-winning author of Libations of Life: A Girl’s Guide to Life One Cocktail at a Time, a cocktail chef and stylist, TV personality, home entertaining guru, writer, humorist, wife, mother of 4, TV Junkie, shoe-aholic, and borderline George Clooney stalker. Read her column, Isn’t it Deelightful, every Friday on Slice.ca.
