PictureHerman Chan Check Please Bay Area KQED PBS Neiman Marcus
Host Leslie Sbrocco & I cheers to San Francisco dining institution The Rotunda at Neiman Marcus
Ever the San Francisco fixture, I appear on KQED's TV Show "Check Please" to review restos in SF, Oakland & Santa Rosa. As Leslie Sbrocco says, I am not one to hold back!  What do you think of these restaurants? 
 
 
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US News & World Report interviews me about real estate reality TV. Some peeps question the veracity of these shows, but  speaking as someone who is a viewer and participant, I say "This is HGTV, not PBS!" Die-hard fans of reality TV scour the internet, post on fan forums, read the blogs, we all know these shows are "produced." There is nothing wrong with that! People tune in to be entertained. Reality TV has been around for over a decade. We know no one buys a house in 25 minutes, just like we know Rachel Ray can't bake a souffle in a 5 min segment!  Everyone knows how these shows are "made for TV".  So what? You take the viewers on a journey and at the end they learn a bit about real estate....and that, folks, is why the question of reality TV being fact or fiction is besides the point! Read the full article here

 "The good thing is that you see the pros and cons of the house that they end up buying," Chan says. "They film them talking about the trade-offs. Those are very real conversations that people have. Usually by the end of the show, someone makes a compromise because there's no perfect house."
 
 
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My question starts around 20 minutes into segment
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The Million Dollar Listing NY boys are doing a bunch of press on the eve of their new season debut. I was invited by Huffington Post Live to pose a question directly to them! Of course I ask the hard question: Are we in a bubble? Watch what they say! Do you (dis)agree?
 
 
Latest episode "Career Day" of Modern Family parodied realtors (again!)...So funny! But it ain't that far from the truth! I know colleagues just like that.  For realz.  "Everything I Touch Turns to SOLD" "Real estate's about putting the right person into the right house. I put a spanish couple into a spanish house" LOL! 

 
 
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New York Times exposes the dirty little secrets of producing a "reality" tv show by staging scenarios with fame-whore brokers! Below is an exerpt. The full story here
Michael Lorber, a broker at Elliman and the son of its chairman, Howard Lorber, said he decided to quit the show after the first season because it did little for his business. It is filled with scenes recreated for the cameras, he said. Scenes of the brokers waking up in the morning, for instance, were often filmed in the afternoon. One time the producers asked him to dress in winter clothing in the summer to walk into a building, for a shot that would be added to a show that had been taped long before. “It was so stupid,” he said.
 
 
 
 
I got my fabulous buyers a free renovation on a new HGTV show called Power Brokers. It stars Mike Aubrey (Real Estate Intervention) & Juan Barbieri (The Bachelorette). I have a small appearance too in the pilot, so stay tuned for more details! 
 
 
No budget for staging? No prob. Just raid your closet! Fantabulous segment on Good Day Sacramento! I show TV host Julissa Ortiz how to make a darling pillow case from a knit mini-skirt! Upcycling is the hottest design trend! All you need is 1 yard of sticky back velcro, a pillow insert & any old miniskirt (or poncho , for you  hefty girls).  (Thank you to my designer BFF Rosalia for her help. Check out her new design site Rosaliart.net
 
 
With the market sizzling, CBS has me on this morning to talk real estate in San Francisco Hermanity-style. Enjoy! 
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I shoulda wore a blue tie to pop the background
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news anchor Anne Makovec was so nice!
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"I didnt cause the housing crash, I swear!"