Really funny email exchange between myself and idiot realtor!

Never underestimate the benefits of a built in stripper pole!

I heard of a guy in college who actually had a portable one. It consisted of a small stage with a small hole in the center that the pole went through. Underneath the stage and supporting the pole was a hydraulic car jack. He would find a sturdy place on the ceiling (like under a joist), and jack up the pole firmly enough to keep in in place. Sadly, I never actually got to see it in action. Seems the "dorm police" got wind of it, and apparently there was some sort of rule against naked girls swinging from poles in the dorms.

 

I used to have it filled out, Darth, but I was getting some unwanted attention around these parts here. My city has 1MM people but there are only 3 or 4 Murcies in town. It made it pretty easy to figure out who had the black one.

I'm happier being a nobody on here.

 

Braggart!

 

After getting to know Glenn for a while now, I would have to agree with him on this subject.

He's been in real estate for many years while doing very well at it, and I would not take his words lightly.

 

Sorry, just to clear up:

When you replied to the Realtor's email asking for more details, were you asking about the property he listed or about the original property? If you were still asking about the original property, I'd say that it would make no sense to get more info of a place that doesn't meet your first criteria.

If you're asking about the property he mentioned in his first email, as I thought you were, then he most definitely acted like an idiot. Either way, from what I'm reading, I assumed you were talking about property he mentioned and think that he should have picked up on that too. Reading it again, it really just sounds like you guys were talking about the wrong properties.

BTW, for anyone putting any stake in Glenn's posts, read his one and only (from what I can tell) comment in John's thread. Someone sounds a little jealous ...

John, for a money-hungry prick, you're actually a pretty nice guy.

 

Don't worry.. it's pretty funny. the word "Gracious" is not in this guy's vocabulary and he's probably lucky (or not) that the only thing he has to answer to is his bank account.

I wish I could dig up some of the email exchanges I had with a German Shepherd adoption agency here in L.A. They actually turned me down because I admitted that I *might* leave the dog alone during the day for more than an hour or two. It got ugly in no time flat.

 

Yep. Considering I've got a large yard (by CA standards) and I've had TWO Shepherd's before (as well as various other breeds) you'd have thought it would've been a slam dunk-- they wanted someone who would basically bungee-cord the dog to their person and feed it bon-bon's all day.

 

How about janitOR?

 

How about StrippOR

John.. Seriously, Dr.Phil would say that this Glenn Character sounds like he is getting worked up over what he actually sees in himself.

I dont know John personally, but from his help on the the invaluable currency thread and his consistant decorum year after year through-out this forum, I can vouch that he is a top noch guy.

He is one of the few online personalites that I can actually reference to in real life. As in, I'd be at a dinner party and say "This gentleman I know, John.. did so and so with the Euro the other day..he made (or lost) a killing." Him, and UroTrash with his Colostomy Hole Sex stories. That story always works the crowd at the dinner table.

 

Now we're starting to judge people over the internet by their posts? Come on, that's ridiculous.

It's the INTERNET, you don't actually know the person and making assumptions is plain wrong.

 

Someone post the "Internet : Serious Business" picture!

 

My 'boy' Glenn? You talk like were mad-core homies (bling-bling!)...Anyway...You started out with calling a Realtor and idiot when others and I believe you shouldn't have, and that's just the point some people here are trying to get across. Instead of insulting him maybe just say "thanks for your time?"

Glenn doesn't ride a 'high horse'. If he did, he wouldn't of even spoken to me, let alone the numerous other things we've done.

 

OK, you know I have no personal animus against you John, but you're hardly blameless here. Going by posted exchange alone, it's apparent to me that you bear a big portion of the responsibility for the way the email exchange went.

Let's take a look at this :

Already beginning to sound like you were baiting him for fun, and that you were never sincere to begin with.

OK. Just a few gripes here. You're using wrong phraseology here : "loudness" pertains to the intensity of a sound signal. "Noise" would be more to the point. So, if your intent was to indicate that you wanted a quiet neighborhood, you should either have said simply that ("we'd like a quiet neighborhood"), or you could've said "we don't much care for a noisy environs".

On the other hand, you mention later "Saying we don't care much for loudness simply implies that we don't get roudy and out of control. This would be a DESIREABLE trait from a tenant, no?".

This seems weird and not in keeping with what a normal reader would interpret "we don't care much for loudness" to mean. Are you trying to imply that you *want* quiet (from others) or that you're promising to be quiet *yourselves* ? Your later elucidation (of sorts) seems to imply the latter, but this is NOT how a normal reader would interpret it !

To put it simply, you did not succeed in communicating your intent with your use of language. In fact, your command of the language seems rather awkward and stilted, if you don't mind my saying so. It's OK to admit a lack of adeptness with written English, what isn't OK is blaming misunderstandings caused by your lack of clarity, on others.

Moving on,

Here, I feel the realtor is jumping the gun a little. A better course of action would've been to provide the info you requested in the initial email and then bring up the negative - the noise. I don't think there's anything wrong with him having offered you an alternative, in fact, that's very thoughtful and professional of him.

And here, you should have been more clear about which apartment you're enquiring about. Remember there are now two potential residences under consideration, and your failure to reference them separately is bound to confuse any reader.

The realtor is being a little terse here for my liking, but if it had been me on the other end, I would've overlooked it. Consider this : even though he initially said he presumed the details for the first apartment were irrelevant, he actually did answer the question by stating that the setups for all apartments of this type (presumably including both the initially discussed apartment as well as the one later proferred) were broadly similar. It would've been better for him to have gone into the details you initially requested, like floor space, carpeting, finishing, etc. This is a bad oversight on the realtor's part, and here I agree with you.

And this, I think, is the point where the exchange descends from relative civility into an angry verbal brawl. And the fault for this sudden deterioration is completely yours, IMO.

In the first place, you have misinterpreted (wilfully ?) his comment about the irrelevancy of the setup of the first apartment. You seem to be insinuating that he doesn't want to divulge any information about any of his residences while expecting his tenants to fork out the rent nonetheless. Same goes for the other stuff about likening the apartment to a dorm and so forth. These are needless accusations, these are in fact straw man arguments of a sort.

Why have you suddenly decided to take umbrage, and show it in such an uncouth fashion ? In addition to making needless facetious comments, you've gone and cast aspersions on his entire business. This is completely uncalled for. COMPLETELY !

Seems like a feeble and ultimately futile sop after the previous paragraphs, to be honest.

As a businessman, I suppose one gets all sorts of customers. Some come off as utterly abrasive, as you did. I guess the mark of a good businessman is to be able to absorb these barbs with good humor and not lash back. In that respect, this realtor, in replying in an obviously angry tone in full caps, is not playing the part of a good businessman. But frankly, after the way you baited him, I don't entirely blame him.

Adding insult to injury here.

As I remarked earlier, no normal reader would've interpreted what you wrote in your original email to mean this. Clearly your command of written English leaves a lot to be desired.

More blustering that means nothing at all. Yes, noise is simply one factor. While the realtor was wrong in dismissing your initial query on the basis of that one factor, I believe he did enough in the later replies to answer your question about the setup. But I think you're wilfully choosing not to acknowledge his reply, so you can wallow in your self-righteous outrage.

While I feel the realtor could've handled himself and you a little better, you did not conduct this email exchange in a professional and civil fashion. You really have no business calling this realtor an "idiot", it seems like six of one and half a dozen of the other from where I'm sitting.

If you're in the mood for some constructive criticism, I'd like to tell you this : please improve your written English to better and more unequivocally express your intent. And don't be too quick to jump all over others - consider that the problem may have been of your making all along.

 

Hoo, boy.

Above presumption is where some respondees on this thread put the cart before the horse, and in so doing, put "loudness" at top of their list.

Summary:
John: Sincere request
Realtor: Half-ass reply
John: Sincere request
Realtor: Half-ass reply
John: Screw it. This guy's a half-ass.
Realtor: Screw it. I'm a half-ass.
John: Screw it. This guy's a half-ass.
Realtor: Screw it. I'm a half-ass.

 

Oh god i'm not picking apart all these posts. I have better things to do. John, see you in the currency thread.

 

A far more balanced summary from my perspective would be :


Summary:

John: Sincere request (I'm not disputing this), possibly in nonstandard English

Realtor: Incomplete reply to the original request, and offer of another consideration.

John: Unclear and nonspecific request, probably sincere

Realtor: Somewhat presumptuous reply.

John: Screw it. Let's bait this guy with straw man arguments and in nonstandard English for the heck of it.

Realtor: SCREW IT. REPEAT OF PREVIOUS REPLY IN UPPER CASE.

John: Screw it. Let's add some more bluster and bombast.

(And there it ended).