UK estate agent Julian Bending, of The Real Ralph Bending agency, has allegedly had his listings taken down from some of the UK’s biggest portals, including rightmove.co.uk and primelocation.com, and been banned from advertising in local newspapers.
So what’s the fuss about?
His witty writing style.
Bending uses rather humorous, blindingly honest, or unusual sales descriptions in his listings.
For instance, a sales listing says: “Not so grubby now two bedroom terrace house just off the centre of town. Hall, sitting room, cloak room, fitted kitchen, two bedrooms and a bathroom. Outside is a courtyard garden. Tenanted, but not by the tenant responsible for photos.”
One lettings listings says: “Cheap but not particularly cheerful ground floor apartment with sitting room, kitchen, bedroom, shower room, communal garden and parking. Available now.”
While another says: “Sturdy two bedroom second floor apartment with hall, sitting room, bathroom, kitchen and parking. Suit a former inmate. Available mid May.”
The news of his blacklisting has been reported in press as diverse as the Guardian blog and The Rat and Mouse, only garnering more publicity for the Glastonbury based agency. He’s previously appeared in The Telegraph, and has been operating in Glastonbury for almost 10 years.
As the Guardian said in their report, this kind of humorous honesty is not altogether original: “It all recalls the wonderful Roy Brooks, a now sadly late estate agent whose 1960s adverts in the Sunday papers for London properties scandalised his rivals with their honesty and jokes – he was not afraid to call a broom cupboard a broom cupboard rather than a “bijou flat”.”
Bending’s own website is full of his humour. An interactive game asks players to bash the real estate agent on the head to push him back into a hole in the ground, and there’s a live webcam showing his rather uninspiring office, among other gems.
It remains to be seen if Bending’s rather unusual marketing tactics pay off, or not, with prospective tenants and buyers.
Related posts:
Loading ...
I’m a supporter of Julian Bending. I saw the newspaper article some time ago about the humorous descriptions. There is nothing wrong with a little humour - especially if it helps to sell and rent houses.