Million Dollar Listing on BravoTV is giving Realtors a bad name. Last season, the show had an agent painting her finger nails during an Open House while talking with potential buyers. And now this season, Bravo has agents breaking and entering, making racial slurs and bad mouthing each other. I am shocked at the lack of professionalism and poor education level of these agents and am surprised that Coldwell Banker and Christies Great Estatesaccepts this behavior from their agents. Why has NAR not done something to combat the bad image these types of shows give the rest of us?
I have long thought that more education and stronger fines were needed to improve the behavior of agents in our business and watched the show at another agent's urging as an example of how bad we as Realtors are pictured to the public. These men each have done bad and good things as agents during the show that may get them local business and fame, but what their actions are doing to the other 1,000,000 agents in NAR is not positive for any of us in the business.
These agents are working and doing well in a microcosm market. They all had very good starts from their families and they are giving back through their community involvement, but what Bravo is using to make Good TV is making the rest of the industry look bad. No disclaimers are given throughout the show about how the actions on the show are isolated to the show and that the tactics and "norms" quoted pertain to their market only. As Realtors, don't we have a responsibility to paint an ethical, true and accurate picture to the public as a whole?
(The photos here are from the BravoTV website)
This show is NOT what real estate is all about! WELCOME TO AR!
You are soooo right Michael. real estate and being a REALTOR should be a higher standard, not the lowest common denominator.
I do look forward to seeing the show each week. I find it amusing, financially inspiring and finally... another hit on REALTORS. There should be some type of disclaimer noted.
This is the second post that I have read about this show maybe I'll TIVO it so I know what it's all about.....aparently these guys are really doing some bad stuff!
Latonia, Bravo knows what people like to watch, unfortunately- Million Dollar Listing may be entertaining for the "stars" but to the rest of the industry, they make REALTORS look bad. You are right it is another hit. Even when there is a logical place to educate the general public, the show skips, edits or cuts to commercial disregarding the technical mechanics that would give all agents more credibility. Thanks for the comment!
Mandi, that is what I did. and being able to fast forward is good for more than just the commercials. Last season, there were worse things than the nails, but I stopped watching. Check it out and see if you think NAR should do something to counter balance it like: "1031- Timebomb" or "New Home New Life" or "Realtors- Going the extra mile".
All I can say is in Maine, its nothing like it is on this show. Such as the buyer asking, geez its listed at 5.3, do you think offering 4.5 is too agressive? Should we offer 5 ? I work alot harder for people then seems on this show. I think Josh is lucky for his grandmother. What a great connection!
This show also lacks to show you the hard work we all do in order to get a sale or listing. Thats why you have all the FSBO out there that say I'm not paying you to do just paperwork. I new and even I know what it takes to complete what I call a HAPPY CLIENT......
Justin, you Maineiacks never do anything like those of us who are are really "Down East" :):):) You make a great point, I have people offering 50% less on my "Million Dollar Listings" and they think they are being generous, not insulting, in the current real estate slump- a 4.5 offer would be a wonderful jumping off point(especially since that is close to the top of our local market). Reality TV, just isn't real!
Scott, You are right, I just got home and have been at a listing since 9 am withinspectors. Every vacation I have ever taken has been interrupted consistently by work and I can not go anywhere without people asking me real estate questions. We do a lot more than paper push; I have sat all day with a client in the hospital, spent hours packing or unpacking rooms, held hands through appliance or paint choices, been the yellowpages andemployment office and MapQuest rolled into one, and have followed civic issues for clients for years. That's why I love my job-the people. You do not get that real happy client connection feeling on the show.
Come on leave her alone. She needs to paint her nails to look good for the client. Its all about presentation right? :-)
I am kidding. I agree completely. Definitely doesn't help our images.
Hey Mario, You are the first Coldwell Banker agent that has commented. How has the company handled the show from an internal franchise point of view? Do they plug it or hide it?
I'll add one more show for us to rant about: "Property Virgins" . . . this one is all about first time buyers and the 'agent' on this one bullies them into offers with no building inspection or protection of any kind, offering usually MUCH higher than asking price, and pretty much assumes the buyers are idiots for not being as all-knowing as she thinks she is. I'll put it on if I've had a bad day and then allow myself the freedom to yell at the TV for awhile :0)
Property Virgins, Property Ladder, Flip That House, Flipping Out, and Million Dollr Listing, are all shows I have watched from time to time, and some of the things have been helpful, but mostly laughable.
The Million Dollar Listing show pretty much makes me mad sometimes, especially when these agents are willing to lose a deal rather than give up a little of their $50,000 + commission.
Jane, Interesting post. I have not seen this show, but I will be looking for it and try to catch one or two. Thanks for the heads up.
Susan, I will need to watch out for this show, thank heaven for my DVR.
Kevin, Thanks for the comment and for mentioning a few others that I might need to look into. I am thinking of filing an ethics complaint against NAR as a whole for not stopping this type of bad press.
Bob, as a retired warhorse, you might find the showshocking and that each one of the agents needs to go through bootcamp
Hi Jane:
Well, I had never heard of those RE shows, but now I can understand why we have such a bad reputation. I just flipped over to Bravo and Million Dollar Listing was on. No wonder my clients say they're amazed with my attitude and I'm not at all what they thought I'd be like. I actually try to find them what they want, I look at the commission later. I always give the buyer agent the largest part of the commission split and give my seller a break. Oh well, maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I think I'll just continue as I am.
Thanks for this post, because I would have never seen any of these shows and still may not. I've seen several things on TV lately that made me want to crawl through the screen and rip some heads off, and that's not good. Reality shows are nothing like the real estate market in Florida, thank goodness. Again, thanks.
Sondra- Keep doing the right thing. I think agents need to stand-up against these negative type shows and write NAR.
Brenda, Great suggestion!