It was common knowledge as I grew up in Colorado that folks from Wyoming were just a bit different than we were. We thought they were a little more backward, rougher, certainly nowhere near as sophisticated as we were to the south of them. I once went to a college football game in Laramie and while in a local watering hole after the game I caused a bit of a stir by ordering a Corona with a lime in it. It was one of those moments where I knew instantly that I had made a serious social faux pax...silence ensued there at the bar. I was told that, no, they didn't serve Corona there...they had Bud, Coors and Miller and if I didn't like it I could take my sorry butt back to Denver where I belonged!
You can laugh, but that same kind of thinking exists...in spades, right here in the Bay Area. Agents from San Francisco look down their noses at agents from...anywhere else. Agents from the West Bay tend to look down their noses at the East Bay. It's actually more localized too. Agents from the Mid Peninsula look down their noses at Daly City, Pacifica, San Bruno...etc and agents from Palo Alto and Menlo Park look down their noses at agents from the Mid Peninsula! It's freaking hilarious! An agent in my office teased me about a sale I had in Pacifica...he asked if I needed a passport to go over there.
Another funny aspect is the snobbishness about offices. Yesterday in my office I heard some complaining about an agent from a Century-21 office with some disparagement directed at that brand name. I often find it amusing that, in spite of the fact that my Re/Max office has been the top office in San Mateo county for the last 20 years, anytime I stray into Santa Clara county agents respond to me like I haven't bathed in a couple of weeks. Come to think of it, sort of like my co-worker responded to the C-21 office! Honestly, it really is hilarious...the sense of disgust is almost palpable at times. Particularly in Palo Alto! Last week I called an agent to see if I could get some more information about her townhouse listing and the mood changed significantly after I identified myself as being with Re/Max. She wasn't particularly friendly...actually she acted like I was trying to sell her canned vomit or something. I asked if she could let me have a link to the disclosures on the property in question, she told me she would only give me that link if I promised that my clients were going to write an offer.
"Umm...I'm thinking that part of their decision making process about writing an offer could very well include their inspection of the disclosure package". I replied. I felt like I had just asked her if she had Prince Albert in cans and her silence was because she was certain that if she said yes I would blurt out..."well, let him out!" She relented and sent me an e-mail in which she agreed to give me the disclosure link...if I gave her my:
Full name, contact info, DRE# and Real Estate Company name prior to giving out the password.
All this scrutiny for a disclosure link? I think it must be because I'm with Re/Max? Either that or somebody informed her of my eating habits? Just to be a smart aleck I also gave her my CA drivers license number, my kids birthdays and my shoe size. I eventually got the link...but my clients decided they didn't want the place after all. Whew!
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