Real Estate Agents And Cheese Pizzas (Commentary)

Last Sunday (3.11) I saw a real estate open house directional that really bothered me. It didn't bother me because it was being used...it bothered me because it was in the Main Street and Keystone Parkway roundabout. IN THE ROUNDABOUT.  This week another sign appeared in almost the same place advertising Papa John's cheese pizzas for $6.99.  Both of them annoyed the heck out me and I hope the city of Carmel will crack down on this early pattern of using the roundabouts as advertising billboards.  In the interest of full disclosure I'm a real estate broker and use open house signs every weekend in east Carmel.  What I DON'T do is place them on Friday morning so far away from a property that it's silly and can't possibly help the sale of the home.  This real estate open house sign not only was in the Main Street roundabout but was six tenths of a mile from the home for sale around three other turns and placed on Friday morning.  In other words its location was just plain ridiculous and not going to help sell the home or benefit property values in the area.  It was the agent's gratuitous effort to say to the owner of the home for sale 'look how hard I'm working with all of these signs I have up.'  Frankly it disrespects our profession and our community.  One other thing....the above open house sign was STILL up on Monday morning at which point I took it and dropped it in front of the agent's office. They didn't even bother to pick it up. 

As for the Papa John's sign, I get it that some local manager probably put this up. While it's clearly not a company wide pattern, it's still just plain annoying and if anything makes me LESS likely to buy from my local Papa John's.  Placing trash like that up IN THE ROUNDABOUT should be dealt with harshly as it happens again.  Far too much money was spent building those things.  They are a traffic portals and not newly created billboards for insensitive business people to use in some shallow attempt to make themselves look better.  The sooner this is discouraged....the better.  OK....I feel better now.  Your thoughts are always welcome in the comments section below! 
Greg Cooper, Main Street Keystone Parkway roundabout Carmel Indiana homes for sale, real estate blog Papa John's