A couple of days ago, we were emailed by Chris Gallagher. He told us that his 86 year old grandmother and real estate broker, Mary Kay Gallagher, was receiving scathing and untrue comments about her character and business on the popular real estate blog Brownstoner. He asked us to look at all the comments, including the anonymous ones, many of which contained the personal attacks. We obliged.
Later that day, we emailed Chris back and told him we were interested in speaking with Mary Kay. We wanted to understand what she felt about the comments and determine if there was a story here. After a little game of phone tag, we connected.
Initially, we were really intrigued that an 86 year old real estate broker stood up to defend her character and business reputation on a real estate blog. After speaking with Mary Kay, we were blown away by her knowledge, passion, dedication and love for real estate, especially the unique Victorian Brownstones in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn. She is known as the Queen of Victorians.
We asked Mary Kay to tell us her story.
She thought the anonymous comments were terrible. Initially, she liked Brownstoner because he posted her open house listings on his blog which gave her and her business more exposure. But when anonymous people started making personal attacks against her character, she wasn’t too happy. She said that the posts Brownstoner put up were to discuss the houses, not brokers. Nobody likes to be verbally attacked, it doesn’t matter who you are. She asked, “Who are these anonymous people? What do they know?” She would like it if there was some way to identify these anonymous people. “Anyone can hide behind an anonymous remark”, said Mark Kay. We asked if she had spoken to Brownstoner and she said “Yes, a couple of times.” We asked if he was sympathetic to her situation and she said yes. Mary Kay told us that he did moderate some of the anonymous negative comments on previous posts.
What got Mary Kay really mad was “The remarks weren’t true. That’s what bothered me. Criticism is one thing, but when they put up untruths, it’s another thing.” Sometimes she just tunes it out. What’s really difficult to measure is how much business she has lost from these anonymous commentors’ untruths, if any. Someone’s first impression of you may come from something negative they read on a blog, which may taint their opinion of you. The opposite holds true as well. Thus far, she hasn’t come accross anybody who has mentioned it. It was really great to read the comments by real people who supported Mary Kay. Those that know her, know the truth.
Mary Kay even considered asking Brownstoner to remove her listings from his blog. When we asked if these anonymous comments could have been made by a direct competitor, Mary Kay said, “I am Sure. I’m almost positive. Unhappy buyers aren’t going to go to that rate to knock the heck out of me, do you think so?” We said they would have to be really unhappy. Mary Kay laughed. She just wonders why they do it.
After our telephone interview with Mary Kay, we emailed Brownstoner for his thoughts on the issue. He wrote us back saying he had been planning a response on his blog to address the vicious anonymous comments containing personal attacks of Mary Kay. Later that day, he posted it as A Note to Readers.
Mary Kay Gallagher Real Estate is a small independant family business in Brooklyn, New York. Her daughter, Joeanne Gallagher, grandaughter, Alexandra Reddish, her son-in-law, Jorin Reddish and her grandson, Chris Gallagher all work for her. Mary Kay has been in the real estate business since 1970. Her credentials speak for themselves. She is an honest and friendly person. She says, “I don’t sell houses, I show them.” She is a wonderful advocate for Victorian homes. She loves the details and the quality craftmanship. She refers to herself as a friendly neighborhood person. She loves dealing with people. When we asked if she’d consider retiring anytime soon she said, “I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. I like helping people. New buyers need help.” When we asked what her clients like about her, she said,” Openness, Honesty and Communication.”
We thank Mary Kay for the opportunity to speak with her. It was our pleasure.
Update:
Please visit Mary Kay’s blog at Living in Victorian Flatbush.
