Crystal’s ‘Beauty’ of a Negative Remark

An open letter to Billy Crystal:

On Oscar night I was stunned to hear your wisecrack about “half of us know what it’s like to be ripped off by a real estate agent. . . .”

As a director of the Greater Los Angeles/Beverly Hills Assn. of Realtors, I feel it was sadly inappropriate for you to use our industry as the butt of a snide remark.

Many of us with celebrity clientele work very hard to protect their interests and privacy and to educate ourselves in finance, contracts and negotiation so that our clients will be the beneficiaries when they spend millions of dollars on a home.

Annette Bening’s portrayal in the film [“American Beauty”], although exaggerated, in some aspects rang oddly familiar.

There are instances when we sell a celebrity home in which we must make a bed, clean up a kitchen, etc., to make a property presentable before a buyer arrives because our client had a 4 a.m. call at the studio, had no time to clean up and the maid has the “day off.”

Granted, in Los Angeles, it seems that virtually everyone is working on a screenplay and has a real estate license. There are bad scripts; there are bad agents.

Studio personnel read thousands of screenplays to find the right “property.” Many of us in real estate treat the business of finding clients the right “property” with the same respect as the actors treat a great screenplay like “American Beauty.”

The industry responsible for finding you your home does not want to be the negative recipient of the dis heard ‘round the world. We truly believe that at the end of the day, the real American beauty is that there’s no place like home.

CAROLE GILLIE

Prudential John Aaroe & Associates