Monday, February 14, 2011

Jumping the Shark, Video Moments in Housing Bubbles

Market peaks all need a video moment to mark their transition from bull to bear.

In the U.S. it was "The Debate" or the "Suzanne Research This" Ad from Century 21.

This is a beautiful piece of work in that it encapsulates everything that is disturbing and wrong about a bad real estate decision. The high pressure. The emotion. The vindictive game the agent is helping play out between the couple.

When the husband says "That's not the point." and the wife says "What???!" the viewer has a Rocky Horror moment during the silent gap where he or she yearns to yell at the screen: "The point is it's a terrible financial decision, you idiots!" Top that off with the ad appearing just at the teetering point of market collapse, toss in the pile of sexist baggage the ad perpetrates, slide in the sleaze of the agent listening in and injecting herself into the conversation and you have a winner, just all around. A stunning time capsule that screams, real estate industry, you are manipulative bastards, preying on house shoppers who have no idea how to do their own due diligence. Suzanne Researched This, indeed.

The following piece of work is being proposed as Vancouver's seminal video.
Chinese Buyers Flock to White Rock
In case the producers pull it, it has been summarized here at VREAA.

It covers some of the bases, the larger than life Chinese buyer, the take-no-prisoners excesses of the helicopter ride, the unabashed staging of it all, the power of scenery in the Vancouver market. I'm not sure it captures everything. But maybe the low direct emotional involvement, the above-it-all feeling of it, is more appropriate for Vancouver.

Downunder, we now have a candidate video, and I must say, the Aussies sure know how to jump the shark with style.


Six bedrooms? Are you keeping a harem?

Not Safe For Work, indeed.

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