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As some of you may know from other threads, I find myself in a real pickle. My wonderful house on what was formerly the nicest street in a formerly desirable neighborhood is on the market. Unfortunately, it's also on a shared driveway with the worst house possibly in the entire town. For fear of once again being accused of political incorrectness, I will refrain from specifics, but let's just say that these neighbors take "trashy" to a whole new level with infractions that aren't even ordinances on the existing books because... Who does that???
Anyway, after a year of calling the police and city code enforcement and getting nowhere (you fix one thing, and they come up with something else), I suggested to our second in what will probably be a long line of realtors -- after eight months with only seven showings (most initially interested parties don't get past the drive-by) -- I complained about the... Well, so as not to slur any one group of people, let's just say "idiosyncrasies" that I believe are making my house undesirable and that it might be wise to now think about targeting a particular audience or group of potential buyers, that being members of the same ethnocentric demographic who wouldn't mind the cultural differences -- who might even enjoy and embrace them -- but one with the financial means to actually buy a house.
It does, at this point, seem to be my only hope. And I did use the "M" word, which is merely factual.
That launched my (former) realtor into a diatribe on my "offensive racist" attitude that I felt was wildly inappropriate and didn't appreciate one bit. Not only is it not helpful or empathetic (adding insult to injury), his PC denial makes him not very savvy about marketing this property, obviously... He gone...
Sounds like you came across wrong to this agent. If your neighborhood is multicultural perhaps a multilingual realtor would be a good idea. Or have you considered listing and marketing the house yourself?
Just saw the post above from Mike--this idea differs because it says to make sure to include ALL cultural groups in the buyer-pool.
Oh, yes, that wonderful house that hasn't been updated in decades and has been sitting way overpriced in a buyer's market for months and months.
And based on your prior posts about this house, someone saying you are racist is making an accurate factual statement. Thoughts? I guess try to find a more racist real estate agent who agrees with your marketing strategy?
There is BIG DIFFERENCE between seeking a real estate agent that has the skills to market your home to the widest range of potential buyers, that very well might INCLUDE folks that would appreciate dealing with a native speaker of their first language that might not be English and OTOH suggesting to "steer" buyers of a particular racial / ethnic background toward your property. One of these actions is CLEARLY a violation of fair housing laws and for all a potential listing agent knows you could be trying to set them up for a FEDERAL Fair Housing violation / sting...
Wow, good that agent to stand up to a racist like you. Trashy is trashy, race is irrelevant. The house isn't selling because it's overpriced. You need to just accept that 1-You're either coming off as a racist or you are racist (or both) and 2-the house isn't selling because it's overpriced.
If you want to sell lower the price. You can't target a race, that's illegal. I'm glad that there was a good agent that stood up to you.
..... I guess try to find a more racist real estate agent who agrees with your marketing strategy?
OP:
You may want to find those guys in the sheets and pillow cases over their heads... they even carry Bibles!... or is it crosses? They may even invite you to one of their cookouts?
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