In Tune With Real Estate

For busy Jacques Foti, a member of the multimillion sales club at Fred Sands Realtors in Beverly Hills, a lull in the day will more than likely turn his thoughts to music.

“There’s far more to the business of real estate than meets the ear,” maintains the piano/vocalist entertainer turned realtor. “We’re actually in a most melodious business, and I’m not just referring to the sweet sounds of a well-negotiated deal.

“What other field has so many songwriters doing so many tunes about real estate, intentionally or otherwise?”

Musical references to real estate abound and evoke nostalgic and romantic memories for most of us. The settings may range from little grass shacks to cabins in the sky, to dream houses or honeymoon hotels, Foti said.

“People don’t realize how many well-known American tunes deal with the real estate theme and how many other song titles can be woven into that context,” Foti said, naming a number of classics, like “Home Sweet Home” and “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To.”

Our readers may have their own favorite candidates for our little game of musical real estate. Meanwhile, here are some entries strung together by Foti to get us started:

A romantic bachelor may promise his love “A Stairway to Paradise” and woo her with his “Penthouse Serenade,” but suspecting his motives, she may fend him off with “Come on ‘a My House” believing “This Old House” a far safer site.

Those looking for “A Cottage for Sale,” suggests the realtor, could find one either on the “East Side, West Side” or “East of the Sun, West of the Moon.”

There is always the reluctant home buyer who whines “If I were a Rich Man” as he turns down your offer as too high. In such a case, Foti suggests, you can always show him something more affordable . . . “A Little Grass Shack in Hawaii,” perhaps?

“California Here I Come” may be the tune that lures the well-heeled foreign investor to the Golden State, he adds, but if he can’t find what he wants here, he can always say “I’ll Take Manhattan.” But if none of the proposed acquisitions are to his liking, he can beg off with “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off.”

This columnist’s entry in the real estate song game is obviously tied to that old refrain, “So, Who’s Sorry Now?” . . . alas, a painful reminder, in hindsight, of those many missed chances at the big profits in real estate.