Some realtors still hating on Seattle Bubble

edited December 2008 in Seattle Real Estate
I thought that the days of real estate agents posting angry, demeaning, and/or generally combative things about me were behind us. Then I saw this post from Marlow Harris, REALTOR®©™
Tim and his fellow minions have killed several years now in writing Seattle Bubble, a blog devoted to documenting the rise and fall of real estate in Seattle and around the country. The blog is equal parts post and comment and the many threads boil down to

1. Real estate is overpriced

and

2. Only an idiot would buy or own a house.

So, it's a curious and puzzling partnership. Why would a real estate business hire a writer/representative who doesn't believe in owning real estate?
I don't really even know what that's supposed to mean, "doesn't believe in owning real estate." And when I tried to point out that in no way do I either espouse or promote the #2 viewpoint, she responded:
Oh, please. The reason you started that blog was to lament your inability to afford a home without, as you put it, taking out a "toxic mortgage". Seattle Bubble's entire raison d'être is to discourage, frighten and bully people.
I just want to say... what the heck? How can someone read the posts on Seattle Bubble and come to that conclusion? And how is not being willing to take out a dangerous loan (the only way I could have personally afforded a home in the insane housing market of 2005) equivalent to saying that only idiots would buy or own a house?

Sometimes I just don't get people.

Comments

  • face it Tim, you are a bubble blogger ewww

    And lets see, redfin cuts 20% of their workforce and changes their billing model to make it higher fixed, less variable - and they are in a death spiral. Meanwhile, the traditional real estate industry is losing agents at a clip of 17% a year and all is fine and dandy!
  • The Tim wrote:
    How can someone read the posts on Seattle Bubble and come to that conclusion?
    She can't. The reason she's saying those things isn't because she actually thinks that way. It's just that she's really really bitter. She really hates SB (and by extension you) and redfin and now put the two together and she'll come up with anything to try to discredit you. It's a desperate flailing attempt to make herself feel better at the expense of others. Like when you lose at sports and then insult the winning team.
  • Some people make their livelihood off the ignorance of others. It seems she finds the dissemination of real estate information to the general public (including potential buyers) as threatening to her way of life. After all, it's always a good time to buy, right? It doesn't matter if I can afford it, I just don't want to be priced out forever! How can real estate agents make payments on their luxury vehicles if we don't buy houses every few years? :roll:

    As for bullying, I'm not sure what that's about. Oh, btw Tim, here's my lunch money and your completed homework. :wink:
  • Marlow is a bit dilusional, but we should not take these flames personally. After all, real estate agents are still people, have emotions and are hurting ... The problem here is that many of these people (such as Marlow) don't care how they have hurt, are hurting now and will hurt in the future others. That's where this blog comes in.
  • Many real estate agents hate Redfin and similar agencies as a threat, thus why they hate them so. In business, someone won't hate you unless you're going to cut into their market share. Then they'll take your kneecaps.

    I think that the discount houses are probably hurting just as bad as all of the other real estate brokerages out there. Sutton folded, who has been around forever. I've also heard that Help U Sell is in alot of trouble as well.

    In retail, you either offer better service or better price. Something has to give one way or the other. Discount places have to do it in volume, or their business model can't survive. If you're doing more work then the other guy for less money, eventually you'll get burnout. It's inevitable.
  • We're your minions Tim.
    OWN IT!
  • Oh, please. The reason you started that blog was to lament your inability to afford a home without, as you put it, taking out a "toxic mortgage". Seattle Bubble's entire raison d'être is to discourage, frighten and bully people.

    As opposed to Realtors(R), right?
    • Buy now or be priced out forever
    • RentersAreLosers / with rents increasing you won't be able to afford your current lifestyle.
    • We demand a mortgage bailout now!

    Might I also add shortsighted, and greedy to the list of Big Real Estate's sins?
    • "I don't give a RA about financial markets"
    • The never ending lists of unethical practices we've been hearing about for over a year now.

    Compared to that, I think the real message behind this blog is A) yes you can live within your means, B) yes you can lead a happy fulfilled life without chasing houses, and C) if you do A and B you will probably be able to get a home you want eventually anyways without sacrificing everything else to do it.

    Marlow is just hurting financially, and needs a whipping boy. I don't think you can take the bitter sentiments of some people too seriously.
  • "I don't give a RA about financial markets"

    Actually, the quote was about banks instead of financial markets (not that that's any better right now). And to give Ardell credit, she seems to have come around since then.

  • Actually, the quote was about banks instead of financial markets (not that that's any better right now). And to give Ardell credit, she seems to have come around since then.

    She has, but my remark was regarding shortsightedness. It's easy to come around once you've noticed that loans are unavailable and your income is suffering because of it. It's only marginally more difficult realize the one might affect the other in advance. Every facet of the real estate bubble has been about shortsightedness and greed.

    Looking back, who in their right might could argue that our GDP should be focused on building homes? It's not like this is Myanmar. It's not like we were all living in grass huts. We already had about enough homes. Likewise, it didn't take a whole lot of smarts to know that prices couldn't really go up 3%-6% higher than inflation or population growth infinitely, and yet many "experts" predicted that after 10%-15% annual increases through the end of this decade, Seattle would settle into 6%+ increases for the foreseeable future.
  • Tim,
    Tell Marlow Harris to stop drinking all that Haterade! Her argument is ridiculous.
  • Just another soon-to-be-eating-ramen "used house salesperson"....ahem..."professional".

    From Marlowe's webpage...."I pride myself on offering creative real estate solutions, no matter what the situation or circumstance. "

    How ironic. Wasn't it "creative real estate solutions" that got us into this whole mess in the first place? :twisted:
  • Just another soon-to-be-eating-ramen "used house salesperson"....ahem..."professional".

    From Marlowe's webpage...."I pride myself on offering creative real estate solutions, no matter what the situation or circumstance. "

    It seems to me that many out of work Realtors (R) will require creative real estate solutions in the near future.

    "I've got this refrigerator box, for only a couple dollars you can buy it from me and drag it into the wooded section of the park."
  • ...and now this argument is famous. Well, it is to anyone that subscribes to the Puget Sound Business Journal, anyway.

    Rival bloggers Ellis and Harris exemplify real estate's angst
  • The Tim wrote:
    Harris, who has run her blog for about three years, offers this perspective: "Irregardless of the ups and downs, I still believe it's a way for the average person to build wealth in the long run over a long period of time."

    She is both linguistically and mathematically in error. Let's replace this sentence with any other asset.

    Irregardless <sic> of the ups and downs, I still believe it (investing in buggy whips, canned food, sail boats) is a way for the average person to build wealth in the long run over a long period of time.

    So, we can completely disregard surges or declines in supply/demand as long as we are buy and hold investors?
  • "Seattle Bubble's entire raison d'être is to discourage, frighten and bully people."

    I don't think anyone on this site is seriously on the fence and influenced by Seattle Bubble. I've been a housing market pessimist since 2003, despite all the harassment from my mother to invest in real estate because it was a sure thing (which really has to be way, way up there as a contrarian indicator). To the RE agents, however, everyone must want to own a home, so anyone who is skeptical on the idea of home ownership should be locked up in a mental institute because they are clearly unbalanced. So, they're hostile to having a website full of the people who otherwise should be in mental asylums talking to each other.

    However, really, a better raison d'etre is to comfort ourselves that we were right while the rest of the world lost their mind thinking housing could appreciate 20% y-o-y without a day of reckoning.

    It'd be nice to see this website turn positive when the markets finally turn positive so that it becomes a positive force in hooking people up with cheap real estate and making sales happen -- but right now the numbers just aren't there.
  • Wow. You got in the same room with her or is this photoshopped?
    213198-0-0-3.jpg

    I thought she might rip your throat out and drink your blood :D
  • Does she really get several thousand hits a day? I just don't understand how anyone would want to read her tripe which basically ranges from "Oh man, I really really hate redfin!" to "Redfin totally sucks!". I think her post bashing SB has the most or nearly the most comments of any of her posts on the blog and most of the commentors were showing support for The Tim. I guess what I'm saying is that despite the article I hardly think 360Digest is a blog comparable to SB. Sounds like the business journal is really reaching to try to create some news.
  • deejayoh wrote:
    Wow. You got in the same room with her or is this photoshopped?
    Nope, not photoshopped. It's right in her CBBain office. She was cordial. It's not the first time we've met in person.
  • She needs a new laptop. Or is that a prop?
  • uwp wrote:
    She needs a new laptop. Or is that a prop?
    Sssh, it's a prop, but she doesn't know it. She also thinks she's an expert on the housing market.
  • I love that Marlow uses the word "irregardless" in the Puget Sound Business Journal article. That fits her perfectly.
  • uwp wrote:
    She needs a new laptop. Or is that a prop?

    Remember, you have to hold it upside down and shake it to reboot
  • uwp wrote:
    She needs a new laptop. Or is that a prop?
    It's not her laptop, just one that was lying around the CBBain office. She was actually making fun of it the whole shoot, too.
  • You could have at least tucked your shirt in, slacker.
  • Typical Seattle redneck passive aggressive bearded hippie. Do you bathe, Tim?





    ;)
  • Posted on the PI today, any chance you could dust off the reporter cap?

    Real estate forecasting 2009
    Wondering if the market has reached bottom yet? Are you a buyer, seller or a holder? Whether your interest lies in commercial or residential, you may be interested in this real estate panel discussion sponsored by the Institute of Real Estate Management that is going on this week at a Qwest Field meeting room this Friday, Dec. 5th. They've changed from local experts giving lectures to an open panel discussion which promises to be an exciting and lively discussion about where we are headed in local real estate in 2009.
    Keynote Speaker: David Legeay, SR VP, Key Bank
    Guest Panelists:
    Kemper Freeman, Kemper Development
    Matthew Gardner, Gardner/Johnson LLC
    Bart Brynestad, Panattoni Development
    Thomas Parsons, Opus Northwest
    J. Lennox Scott, John L. Scott Real Estate
    Guest Moderator: James DeLisle, Univ of WA
    Special Guest: Reggie Mullins, CPM. 2008 IREM National President.
  • cheapseats wrote:
    Posted on the PI today, any chance you could dust off the reporter cap?
    I saw that. Looks like it could be quite interesting. My only issue is that the $69 admission fee is probably going toward some sort of compensation for the "expert" speakers including J. Lennox Scott and Matthew Gardner. Not exactly where I want to throw my money. Hmm...

    addendum
    Also, as I look more closely at the event, it's being hosted by the Institute of Real Estate Management, a group that focuses on "real estate management" and "income-producing properties." Looking at the keynote speaker and other list of speakers, it seems like the focus of the discussion will be pretty different from the usual topics we cover on Seattle Bubble.
  • More on why Realtors(tm)(r) might be angry these days...
    A coworker today told me she made 1/6 as much this year as she did in 2006 as an agent. She was a high performer in her former office. She took this current job to make ends meet.

    Ouch. I might be a bit surly too.
  • That's the boat most agents are in right now, present company included.
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