trinacriabob

This was 1990 when my parents and I were handed the MLS book.

On the sell side, I agree. Doing a FSBO is tough. I tried once, in Seattle, and gave it the listing to a realtor. The house is a given...you just need to sell it.On the buy side, I'm not so sure I agree. Matching your needs (both spatially and aesthetically) is something that might be tough for them to do. One quick story (disgusting): When my parents moved up to Portland OR from LA, they approached a house they liked and then didn't buy it, but the listing agent was going to show them some more listings. I was there to help them. She also gave them an MLS book to glance at. On the cover, she wrote "California buyers" instead of "Mr. and Mrs. xxx." On top of that, she turned to me and said "I'm glad you're here, I would almost need a translator." (They speak English with a heavy accent, they're from Italy). She was Tonya Harding white trash extraordinaire. Unbelievable. We then found a house with another agent. It was new and nicer than anything the others had shown them. This agent was also bad news, but given they house they got and for the price they got, they didn't care.

hole

Wow...maybe I should go to court and change my name to Trina. :AH-HA_wink: About the open house thing...you are right and I would never go with her. That's how they TRY to pick up some clients. I wouldn't want her representing me, anyway just because I stumbled onto her open house. About the buyer's agent, well, even if I did tell them what I want and in what neighborhood, they still might now find the house or townhouse I like. The layout could be weird. There could be styling oddities on the outside I don't like. I drew up house plans for a handful of years, so I'm hard to please and it will waste their time. So far, buying someone's listing (2x) has worked fine. About a male agent...male agents tend to do it to support themselves, so it really is their line of work. Many women agents do it as a side job because they have a husband that brings home the bacon. I prefer to line the coffers of someone who does it as a full-time job. I would never work with someone I consider unprofessional.

donkey

I like the way WMJ thinks. Right on....as I keep on driving my very high mileage 3800 Regal, completely flustered as to what I should replace it with. Another "coarse" W-body...yeah, that's the ticket!

Pokey Gumby's friend

Look, boys...you've taken my thread which started out intelligently and made it pungent! Cat fight....hissssssssssssssssssss... Ok, I sort of see what The O.C. is saying about 2 directions. You've got a segment of Cadillac that wants to fight the imports head-on and you've got this segment of the brand that is the unmistakable, and slightly spongy, boulevardier. Well, maybe the challenge is for the DTS to aim at the big Benz and the big Bimmer without losing sight of what it is, a Cadillac, though one that is more svelte and up-to-date than what they have dished out and done at a price point that is compelling.

Ben-wa balls hanging from your rear-view mirror. I don't know.

I was on vacation in late May / early June. I will be relocating in 1 year. I walked into an open house for a townhome. It was a very nice townhome. I told the lady I wasn't interested, but she got my cell and PO Box....I'm quite a ways from her geographically, anyway. Learning that her husband is a physician made me less concerned about how much time she has expended and will continue to waste. It was a three day weekend for me and I get a call on third day (fortunately, the phone was off) if I wanted to go look at houses. First, it's my last day of vacation, bitch. Second, I am not going to swoop into town and buy a house on such short notice because it suits you. I've bought twice, once in Atlanta (house) and once in Seattle (townhome). Each time, I moved to the place, rented for 4 to 6 months, and bought a house that I saw based on driving around neighborhoods. In short, I figured out where I wanted to live and then just waited for a house to come up. I thus bought from the listing agent both times. If they don't sell me that particular listing, I don't want to work with them. The reason: I now design commercial type stuff, but I've drawn up plans for houses for about 4 years. I know what I want and they can't get inside my head. They are wasting their time. I can zero in better than they can and it doesn't take long to figure out the neighborhoods of a city or town I like. In short, I would have to say most realtors are supremely irritating. There are effectively no barriers to entry (like a degree in a particular thing) and I don't take well to a condescending housewife. I make it a point to put her in her place real quick and shop for myself. Realtors (some of you may not have had much experience with them, but your parents might have)...what do you think of them?

Damn, you are obviously in another part of the country because you would never see a line up of LaCrosses like you do in the background. Looking at the proportions of the LaCrosse rear-end, it is both understated and rich. They did a nice job with that. Yes, I know that is not your market since you like the epitome of boulevard ride. I appreciate the Lucerne but it would be bigger than anything I've ever owned. Still, it's a giant step forward for Buick and is a wonderful successor to PA/LeSabre.

mare

Oh, you're funny.

Appaloosa

Belgian Devil toy dog

NASCAR

Vanessa Williams

Mabel

your rocker

Who can answer this? The price drop which happened on the GM cars within the last year was taken on the chin largely by the dealers, right? That means the difference between the MSRP and their invoice shrank. Their invoice didn't go down proportionately. How would reducing output change the pricing? These damn things (and they are good cars, mind you) are in company and rental fleets everywhere. It is truly a mass production car and I think diminishing output is stupid, if they can sell them. Yeah, just try ratcheting up the price on the fleet buyers that are accustomed to a certain price point.

face

gambler

Godfather

Madonna is the quintessential "hose monster" (So Cal term). Dropped out of U of M - Ann Arbor and knew how to use "the casting couch" to get where she was going ... and makes no bones about admitting it. She is talented, but nonetheless more trampy than hot. Plus, come on, plastic surgery is the order of the day for many stars once they cross the threshold of 40.

I think this is a nice car. Yes, go the 3.8 V6 route. I just gassed up my Regal today and was talking to a Mexican guy at the gas station with a beautiful 1986 Park Avenue 3800 that had over 250,000 original miles. It was the deep blue with a lighter blue cloth interior. Nice. So, you're looking at a lot of years of service from such a car. Congrats. Oh, and BTW, go buckets and console (no column shift).