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News From The Shark!

By
Real Estate Agent with Compass

To be honest, I had all but given up.  I mean, it's been more than two months since I wrote about Angela, the Virtual Tour Shark.   As evidenced in the comments back then, a bunch of my AR buddies were as intrigued as I was by the mystery and charm of the shiny fish that seemed to randomly surface in certain downtown Washington DC listings.

I had emailed the listing agent who we suspected to have such a great sense of humor (according to his company website, it was a young guy with an MA in American art history from some university in Scotland).

But he never replied.  How disappointing, right?  Even worse, I felt slightly embarrassed thinking he probably thought I was spamming him with my strange inquiry that came coupled with an invitation to (and glowing promotion of) ActiveRain.  

But then, last night, it finally came: News from the Shark!  From the agent, that is.  His name is Nate Guggenheim, and here is what he wrote:

"(...) Anne, my business partner, and I found that it was kind of fun to put a little stuffed animal in our listings, so we had a bunch – a turtle, a giraffe, an blue elephant, a couple others AND a shark. When the shark was in the listing, we used to get calls from people saying they wanted to “see the unit with the shark in it.” We would also hold open houses and people would say that they saw a unit with a shark with their agent, or that they wanted to see a unit with a shark.

"So we thought, the hell with camels and turtles and giraffes! Then we put sharks in everything. I think that it works for the price point at which we sell most of our properties and it is fun. For a while I was naming all of them and making up stories, but it got out of hand (...)"

Now let's see if we can get Anne and Nate to blog about all their fun.  Maybe in another couple of months.

In the meantime, hold on to your camels and giraffes.  Really.  They don't seem to work.

Posted by

© 2012, Catarina Bannier 

www.BannierHomes.com

www.DCHouseCat.com

www.DCHouseSmarts.com

     

Vickie McCartney
Maverick Realty - Owensboro, KY
Broker, Real Estate Agent Owensboro KY

Hi Catarina~  Well you made me look!  I had to go and dig to see what you were referring to as Angela the shark!  It definitely would make you remember the listing and clever enough marketing to make one take a look : )

Jan 19, 2011 10:36 AM
Catarina Bannier
Compass - Chevy Chase, DC
DC Real Estate The Smart And Fun Way

Hi Vickie--thanks!  (And there wasn't even a post then!  Now there is :-) )

Jan 19, 2011 03:16 PM
Alexsandra Stewart
Remax equity group - Portland, OR
Broker - Portland Oregon Real Estate

Clever, clever!  I had to go and read the other post too.  Hope Nate does join AR -- think he might be clever and funny to read too! Wonder if a Steelhead, or a Dungeness crab would be intriguing for here!  Like your 'throwaway' line -- nice ending!

Jan 19, 2011 03:22 PM
Patricia Kennedy
RLAH@properties - Washington, DC
Home in the Capital

Cati, I think Nate's shark is totally brilliant.  I really wish I'd thought of it myself!  And yes, we need him on Active Rain.  He is so clever.

Jan 19, 2011 03:30 PM
Catarina Bannier
Compass - Chevy Chase, DC
DC Real Estate The Smart And Fun Way

Alexsandra--thank you!! And I guess, the shark is to DC what the crab is to Oregon...

In any case, you must send us a picture if you try it!

Jan 19, 2011 03:32 PM
Catarina Bannier
Compass - Chevy Chase, DC
DC Real Estate The Smart And Fun Way

Pat--let's keep working on it... 

And what's with that fruit??!  Where?

Jan 19, 2011 04:01 PM
Marcie Sandalow
Marcie Sandalow, Compass 301.758.4894 - Bethesda, MD
Bethesda Chevy Chase DC real estate

I LOVE the shark theme.  I'm with Pat... wish I had thought of it first. 

Jan 20, 2011 10:48 AM
Holly Weatherwax
Associate Broker, Momentum Realty - Reston, VA
A Great Real Estate Experience

Too cute! Whatever gets them to remember your property is the idea that works.

Jan 23, 2011 11:38 AM
Linda K. Mayer
License # 01767321 - La Verne, CA
Realtor, SRES, SoCAL, A REALTOR YOU CAN TRUST

How cute! Seems like I need to invest in a shark!

Jan 23, 2011 01:23 PM
Gary Coles (International Referrals)
Venture Realty International - Las Vegas, NV
Latin America Real Estate

Catarina, That is what I call very creative marketing.  And it looks like it is effective, too.

Jan 23, 2011 05:07 PM
Catarina Bannier
Compass - Chevy Chase, DC
DC Real Estate The Smart And Fun Way

Marcie, Holly, Linda, Gary,

My apologies for not answering earlier, and thanks to all of you for visiting!  Last week I didn't check in here because we were hit by just another nasty show of poor performance by the electric utility company here, PEPCO.  After the second night of being without power--just like almost 200,000 other people in the DC area-- it was 40 degrees in most parts of my house! (I vented excessively about this in my blog last summer, so I'll shut up now...)

Feb 02, 2011 02:42 AM
Susan Mangigian
RE/MAX Preferred - West Chester, PA
Chester & Delaware County Homes, Delaware and Ches

His reply was very nice!  I love when people are creative and share their work.  

Feb 24, 2011 10:02 AM