What was it Joe said about Realtor-bashing? “Almost all of the negative commentary is hopelessly juvenile in tone, and leaves one with the impression that the commenter is either sorely in need of a remedial reading program or a refill of their prescription”? Keep that in mind when skimming through the anonymous trolling still underway below this post.
Its not just realtors that are hurt by the bashing that happens on the aforementioned blog (or others like it). The individual communities or owner of the property (or potential owner) is hurt as well. The dialog is not constructive…and although I am not a real estate professional, I would say that some of the bloggers on there are just wrong about when it is the “right” time to buy- or what is a good or bad investment/home. Not to mention that they don’t do research at all- haven’t been to the properties, know nothing about the builder/developor/finishes and simply know little to nothing about what they spew all day on crib chatter. Of course every property will have critics and those who don’t like its location/finishes/layouts, but why the same people like to blog about how they hate every property that is posted on that site is beyond me.
I think the regulars at CribChatter only hurt themselves – and their employers. Note how sharply the chatter falls off after working hours. And think about what it does to your productivity and your chances for advancement when you spend a good chunk of your day that way. They also waste the time of the well-intentioned buyers who go to CC to learn, only to be disappointed.
They may be hard to understand, but they’re easy to recognize. Actual buyers quickly spot what’s going on there, lose patience with it, and move on without according all the negatives any real weight. Lots of fouls; no real harm.
I am happy to debate JMM publicly on Yochicago, just as I have done with Larry Yun, COO of Zillow and Chief Economist At JPM on CNBC.
Let me know a convenient time.
MGG
Sorry, Matt. Too much of a mismatch.
From what I saw at CribChatter someone should have invoked the slaughter rule on JMM’s behalf. When even commenters like bob and g come to your defense the JMMs should surrender.
I can’t say because I have no idea who he is, but I think this is a great forum to debate if he wants to step up. I think his position is that I am a real estate agent and thus worthy of scorn. The fact that I have brought on additional people to help me with my business to provide better service makes me even worse. And since I went to a state school… Gasp… University of Illinois… I am basically some kind of ignorant cretin.
I am a crib chatter regular, so i am biased to defending the site. although i dont agree with some of the realtor bashing, like JMM on MGG.(JMM was looking for buttons to push for his own enjoyment/therapy) There are some realtors that need to be “called out”. i.e. fudging square footage, cellphone pics, making up new neighborhood names, and the like.
crib chatter is a crazy place, and everything there should be taken with a grain of salt. i have learned so much from Crib Chatter, and i wish there was a site like that when i bought in 2002. there is a lot of useful info there from the regulars and people who join in.
Being a life long chicagoan that lived in many neighborhoods i hope my experiances and knowledge contributes something. well between most of my random off topic comments i hope i add something 🙂
to this comment here; “And think about what it does to your productivity and your chances for advancement when you spend a good chunk of your day that way”.
i have added up my time wasted at work one day, it came to 37 minutes. and most of my longer posts are when i am in a meeting which the meetings kill my productivity more than anything.
speaking of productivity i better get home told my wife i would be done fixing my buddies dishwasher and sink plumbing at 10. well i have been done since 10:30 then we had a few beers and now i am sitting on his couch buzzed and posting on yoChicago 🙂
Groove77,
I’m sure your employer would agree that there’s no loss in productivity when you’re only taking the equivalent of a mere 20 workdays off a year to spend on CribChatter.
Who could be so hard-hearted to begrudge you that small amount of time?
And who can fail to see the humor in people spending someone else’s dime to rant at Realtors for not earning theirs?
Some observations:
– Realtors, in my considerable experience, present square footage far more accurately than CribChatterers. And Realtors get it wrong quite a bit of the time.
– Every single Chicago neighborhood name was made up at some point in time. One should keep that in mind when bashing Realtors for this – a practice of which I’m often guilty. CC is a source of almost unfathomable ignorance about neighborhood boundaries, a subject to which I’ve devoted many hundreds of hours of research over the years.
Joey Z,
20 days that does add up quick huh, but thats just reading way to into things. To what point do we become a policed work force in which each water cooler socializing/smoke brake/trying to hit on the new girl/checking personal email/and hallway small talk becomes a matter of productivity and company dime loss? i will now admit i will lose this debate cause i am going up against a lawyer 🙂
for one you shouldnt begrudge these type of folks wasting time on the intertubez, as it increases your viewership and exposure which in turn increase your revenue. (but i dont know if your clients base it off quality or overall exposure so its an asumption comment?)
i havent jumped in on the realtor bashing, i have commented on the professionalism of a few realtors when they step outside themselves in defense of some harsh comments.
as for the hood labels, i commented on CC when i told my 78 year old uncle (life long chicagoan currently in logan square) about the SoPo area. Being old and grumpy as he is…..well lets just say it was a heated convo. and SoPo was just a marketing tool name.
I believe CC and YoChicago have great product and am going to use what i have learned on both this coming spring when i sell and buy a new place.
so in CC defense if a person skips over the BS they can learn very much, from school districts to personal experiences in the suburbs/city debate to Renovators personal ideas/cost/troubles. Its with this freedom of speech that we as a society can learn from the good and be entertained by the bad.
BTW; I am not defending the crazy realtor and other bashing, i am defending the CC community which i am a part of and take pride in.
You guys are ALL hacks!
That really stings, Tony – especially since it comes from a guy (it’s almost always a guy!) who backs it up with a phony name and fictitious e-mail.
Just stopping back in to promote Matt Garrison as a stand up guy even after he takes some mean shots on crib chatter, the guy can hold his own and do it with tact. And thats the type of proffesional you want to do business with.