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Mr. Potato Head

By
Real Estate Agent with Preferred Properties Key West

One of the very best Christmas gifts I ever received was given to me by my big sister back in the early 1950's - it was a Mr. Potato Head. Unlike the Mr. Potato Heads today, you needed a real potato to make this toy work. Today's version is made out of plastic and to me that is just 'wrong'.

The thing I liked about Mr. Potato Head was that I could make him become whoever I wanted him to be. He could look happy, for sure. But I could put his ears or nose in a funny place or move his eyebrows or smile to an odd location and create my own chameleon of sorts. The 1950's was much different from 2012. I was easily amused.

I was talking to another local real estate agent a couple of weeks ago about an experience he had at an open house a few days earlier. I want to relate that episode to my readers because it is a bit instructive about how real estate is sometimes marketed and sold in Key West.

Here is the set-up and the cast of characters. The names and places have been changed to provide a bit of amusement. Location a lovely old Conch House on a nice street in Old Town Key West. An OPEN HOUSE sign invites passers-by to enter to see the house that is for sale. The Asking Price is over a million bucks (isn't everything in Key West?). Inside is Mr. Green Jeans, an affable real estate agent seeking a buyer for his listing. Mr. Potato Head is another local real estate agent at a different real estate company. Mr. and Mrs. Offput are customers of Mr. Potato Head.

The house itself has many of the attributes first and second home buyers want in a place in Key West: three bedrooms, three baths, a pool, and a great location. The place is old but very well cared for. There are no major issues affecting the value of the house other than it is probably priced too high.

The OPEN HOUSE was advertised in the Key West Citizen, our local newspaper. Mr. Green Jeans placed an Open House sign on the street as well. Dozens of tourists entered the house to see what they might possibly buy were they in the market. Several actual real estate buyers showed up to see the house. The potential real buyers seemed excited about the property which pleased Mr. Green Jeans. As is often the case, some neighbors also stopped by to see what their fellow neighbors house looks like and how much it might cost. A favorite past time of many Key Westers is to go house shopping on Sunday afternoons even though they have absolutely no intention of buying anything.

Mr. Green Jeans allowed lookers to move about the house and offered information to anyone who had questions. One couple announced that they had recently purchased another house on the same block. They just wanted to see this particular house because they had not done so when they were looking. The couple moved from room to room. They went out to the pool and talked to each other about various features. Then they went upstairs where they were alone, whereupon Mr. Green Jeans overheard the following exchange:

Mrs. Offput said "Why didn't' we see this when we were looking?"

Mr. Offput replied "Mr. Potato Head said it wasn't what we were looking for".

Mrs. Offput countered "We could have bought this house for a hundred thousand dollars more than we paid for that piece of sh*t house we bought across the street!"

"Mr. Potato Head said it wasn't what we wanted," Mr. Offput said in defense.

Mrs. Offput cried "We could have had this house that is so much larger and so much nicer than the one we bought. If only you hadn't put me on that damned budget!"

Mr. Offput lamented "I'm sorry. I didn't know."

When Mr. Green Jeans related the story of the dueling duo I reminded him that Mr. Potato Head had actually listed the same house a couple of years earlier for a couple of hundred thousand dollars more than the current asking price. I searched the old mls records and looked up the words Mr. Potato Head used to describe the same house. Mr. Potato Head only used glowing terms in his listing. He made it sound like anyone would fall in love with the place.

Mr. Green Jeans then told me that Mr. Potato Head had listed and sold the house that the Offputs purchased. Everything fell into place.

The Key West Association of Realtors mls website is open for all potential buyers to view active listings. Buyers tend to shop online by price, location, and somewhat by photos.  The Offputs are responsible for not insisting on at least looking at the house they later regretted not buying.  You can't really blame any agent for wanting to sell his or her own listing.

If you are looking for a place in Key West and are not working with a Realtor, please consider working with me, Gary Thomas, 305-766-2642. I am a buyers agent and a full time Realtor at Preferred Properties Coastal Realty, Inc. I am no potato head.

 

Comments (3)

Karen Hawkins, MBA - Langley & Surrey, BC
Royal Pro Real Estate Network - Langley, BC

Wow, quite the tale, Gary - love the Mr Potato Head and Mr Green Jeans associations - it paints a vibrant picture of the agents... :-)

Mar 06, 2012 02:07 AM
Katharine Hilliard
Liberty Title - Birmingham, MI

I love the story and the picture.

It is unfortunate, but there are potato heads here in Michigan too. 

Thanks,
Kat

Mar 06, 2012 02:26 AM
Carl Winters
Canyon Lake, TX

Thanks for story-time and good luck with the sale of the property.

Mar 06, 2012 08:39 AM