TimesToCome

I think this about sums up the weekend.

I take the page I have on my website about our house with all the interior shots and send it to The Salesman. I’ve been marketing it on the web.

Now when you google search the Salesman’s name and Attleboro in Google it is the top link. If you google DiscountBroker and Attleboro it is the 4^th link. I am so good. I point this out to the Salesman. I wonder how long it will take the bright boys at DiscountBroker to realize that I could choose to put anything at all that I wanted to where that page is? Like this journal of our experience with his company? An awful lot of people considering doing business with the broker and his firm are going to Google him first and just might end up seeing something unexpected there instead of what he wants them to see.

I call in a few favors on the web and bump us from on 4^th to 2^nd on Google. I’m not going to try to hold 2^nd right now, just trying to make a point with these people.

Way cool another showing is scheduled for this weekend. Husband was home and we spend 8 straight hours, scrubbing polishing and cleaning out stuff. I want this place picture perfect for the showing. I am so very exhausted.

The family showed the google hack to all their friends. I scored major geek points. They all agree they have never heard of a broker not giving you a release.

I look up average number of showings per home sale. It takes an awful lot of digging, but I’m good and finally I find a reputable source with hard data. Ten showings??!! TEN? 10… Damn. We are a long way from 10. Three showings in 5 weeks puts us in Houston long after when we need to be there.

Further research yields more depressing information. Seems that the number of existing home sales in Mass. and in Rhode Island are up 14.8% in Mass. and up 7.7% in RI. But Manager told us sales were down. I ask the Salesman and he gives me some cock and bull about new home sales in western Mass. skewing the stats. New home sales are kept separate from existing.

Broker agrees to put my web page about the house with the interior shots up as a URL in the next round of ads. Wonder of wonders! The world hath changed – now showing interior shots doesn’t hurt sales after all. Can’t tell whether I’ve just terrified the broker so much now that he’ll say anything to make me quit pestering him or whether he just wanted to spend less money on the advertising (fewer pictures must be cheaper). Beginning to wish that I’d never, ever heard of DiscountBroker. If you meet them, perhaps you want to rethink whether you want to deal with this dreck…