‘Human Directionals’ Show Prospective Home Buyers the Way to Go

You’ve seen them hanging around suburban street corners, grinning incessantly and looking like part of some real estate pep squad.

In Southern California’s intensely scrappy home sales market, these “human directionals” have become a hot gimmick.

Standing in the sun for hours as a smiley-face shill, swinging a cumbersome sign as the cars flash by, demands the energy of Richard Simmons, the patience of Job and the disposition of Kathy Lee Gifford.

And people like that don’t come cheap: up to $18 an hour for the “stars” of the fledgling field, some of whom go on to teach others the tricks of their unusual trade.

“These people are professionals,” said Joanne Williams of Costain Homes, which uses human directionals to help sell houses. “They always smile, they give off enthusiasm and they have a whole arsenal of moves.”

Eventz Extraordinaire, an Irvine-based company, claims to have invented the gimmick seven years ago. Regarded by developers as one of the classier providers of human directionals, Eventz Extraordinaire is also the biggest, with hundreds of workers in the field.

Its competition is rising, however.

Randy Rock is one of those looking for a bigger slice of the action with his human directional company, Streetside Motion.

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A thespian and modern dancer with years of experience in Orange County, Rock said he brought a quirky new element to human directionals--out-of-work actors and performers--after starting his business two years ago.

“We take the theater to the roadside,” Rock said. “We know how to play to a crowd, and that in and of itself may not sell a home. But it will get people to take a look, and the salespeople can take over from there.”

In Rock’s case, that means Russian splits, ballet moves, jazz dance--even some techniques he copped from Martha Graham.

“When the traffic light’s red, and all eyes are fixed on you--that’s what it’s all about,” he said. “That’s when you’ve got to hit them with your best move.”