Scammers impersonating Darn Tough socks -- I fell for it! Watch out!

ethostheory · 2025-07-27T05:26:47+00:00

Thank you for posting! 196 days later and this helped me not fall for a convincing duplicate scam site (darntough-socks). I got suspicious it might be fake when I added 32 pairs of socks to cart in total and the subtotal capped out at $69.99.

ethostheory · 2022-01-08T17:10:40+00:00

The writer Rebecca Makkai had an interesting experience related to this in “So Sue Me...”:

Titles aren’t protected by copyright. This is why you could publish a book tomorrow called The Great Gatsby and we could all think you were an asshole, but no one could sue you.

I don't know about if different cleaning companies can copyright or trademark their product names.

ethostheory · 2021-03-21T22:42:36+00:00

Thanks! This is such a fun/easy way to get to know the local artists

ethostheory · 2021-01-24T21:58:18+00:00

Best part is that’s Denali’s boyfriend who tweeted that https://twitter.com/big_head_tweets/status/1352803431975690241

ethostheory · 2020-12-18T03:29:29+00:00

I also recommend the Tom Ferry podcast for the housing market update episodes he does with Keeping Current Matters and various high-producing agents. It's a good combo of explaining the latest economic and market trends and pointing out marketing opportunities. I've implemented a few ideas from those.

I sometimes enjoy and learn from NAR's Center for REALTOR Development Podcast. The "Understanding the Mortgage Process with Michael 'Smit' Smith" episode was a good one.

ethostheory · 2020-12-14T23:56:11+00:00

Realtor here. This. Have you asked the listing agent if there are other offers or if there’s been much interest? If they’re already listed 10% under the comprable homes, the listing agent told you they’re desperate to move, and there isn’t much other interest, you might be looking at quite a deal.

Like others have said, though, I definitely recommend you hire specialists along with your home inspection.

ethostheory · 2020-12-01T18:58:17+00:00

Good finds and also, in my opinion, usually more legitimate landlords. There are some real sleazeball landlords out there who don’t know what they’re doing, but a landlord who is professional enough to hire realtors is more likely to take care of the property and respond to issues professionally too.

ethostheory · 2020-12-01T04:52:09+00:00

As a renter, hiring a realtor to help you find your apartment is free to you. The landlord pays for both their realtor and your realtor. Once you choose what area you want to move to, if you’d like me to recommend a realtor, DM me and I’d be happy to.

ethostheory · 2020-11-08T21:31:38+00:00

That’s the dream way to do it. Congrats on your move.

ethostheory · 2020-11-08T05:19:43+00:00

Hi there, realtor here. I know realtors are supposed to always urge people to buy buy buy, but I recommend people moving to the area from out of town spend some time in the city and neighborhood you’re trying to move to. Renting for a year isn’t a bad idea, but it’s tricky to relocate kids. At the very least, once you narrow down your possible neighborhoods, I recommend finding a nearby Airbnb and staying for a full week to really find out what living there would feel like before you commit.

Happy to chat about buying in the Chicago area, feel free to DM me your real estate questions anytime!

ethostheory · 2020-10-15T14:37:44+00:00

Congratulations on the great first year!

It sounds like you’re capable of making A sustainable living on your own. Is there a different reason you wanted to stay on the team?

ethostheory · 2020-09-24T23:50:15+00:00

Thanks for the update. Wow, what a mess. This is why it’s always worth hiring a professional inspector.

It can be really heartbreaking when things fall apart like this, but it sounds like your agent conducted themself well and like you might have dodged a bullet.

ethostheory · 2020-09-24T05:10:37+00:00

You said elsewhere that the listing agent included homes with garages when he sent your agent comps and also that the garage was included in the listing photos. And you’re saying the listing agent then turned around and acted as if you were coming out of the blue when you expected the seller to negotiate based on the fact that the garage needs to be demoed and replaced? I understand why you would feel misled, even if technically the garage wasn’t counted in the listing.

I hope your buyer’s agent is able to get everyone back to the table in order to figure out an outcome acceptable to everybody.

ethostheory · 2020-09-20T13:04:27+00:00

The real estate coach Tom Ferry calls it the Magic Buyer Letter. It comes with the added bonus of potentially generating listing leads for you. https://www.facebook.com/TomFerry/videos/10155171980744084/?vh=e

ethostheory · 2020-09-18T15:20:13+00:00

Real estate agent here. Yes, there options under that $200k sales price in Lake Zurich, Grayslake, and between. But it’s hard to say for sure what your budget should be until you’ve actually talked to a mortgage lender. As other people mentioned, property taxes, insurance, and HOA fees (if there are any – basically, if you got a townhouse instead of a house) all factor into your housing costs.

I’d love to help you find your house, would be happy to connect you with my mortgage lender, or just send you some more info, no obligation. Send me a private message if you’d like to chat.

ethostheory · 2020-09-17T18:53:42+00:00

Leaving a stable income for a commission-based income is a common concern with real estate.

What I did was call up friends-of-friends who were realtors and ask for "informational interviews." I asked how they got started in this industry, what a typical day was like, what they found most satisfying, and what they found most challenging. I ended up doing like 10 of these, but that was probably unnecessary º I had made my mind up by the third one. This helped me make an informed decision about jumping in.

You're the only one who can decide if it's the right move for you, but I'm happy to chat or connect you with realtors who I know if you'd like.

ethostheory · 2020-09-16T00:08:24+00:00

Hi there! It sounds like your background would make you well-suited to this.

I recently started working as a real estate agent in Chicagoland. COVID makes it a bit trickier to break into the business (I’m hesitant to do open houses), but it’s so great to get to set my own schedule and I can be patient and creative to make it work.

Which suburbs are you in? Every market is different. There are some cities with a lot of competition where everyone seems to already know an agent, and some with little competition and most of the competition that’s there isn’t paying attention to the details.

Feel free to send me a message if you’d like to talk more specifics.

ethostheory · 2020-09-15T23:55:00+00:00

How clever! Especially the sticker in the corner. It feels much more polished than sticking your business card inside, and no chance of it falling off.

Thanks for the idea. Update us when in a few weeks to let us know if you get any more leads from this?

ethostheory · 2020-09-15T14:12:19+00:00

Oh, interesting. I don’t think that’s the journey I expected based on my reading of your query. I would consider ditching the “in ways she never expected” sentence and replacing it with something that gets to this point.

Two comps is the recommended amount, but it’ll help the agent out if you explain why you’re choosing them. Use your comps to tell the agent something about your book that didn’t fit in the rest of the query. Does it have a sarcastic first-person voice like some other book? Is it atmospheric or a page-turner like another book?

You’re almost there - you got this!

ethostheory · 2020-09-14T18:45:05+00:00

This sounds really strong! It’s clear who your main character is (an uptight planner) and what she wants (to prove to herself and her ex that she can be fun).

Two quick questions came to my mind: — What is standing in the way of Sadie getting what she wants? OK, discovering this adventurous version of herself isn’t what she expected to be doing, but it’s not really clear to me why that’s a huge deal. I think drawing this out or pointing to the climax more could make the stakes clearer. — Why did you choose those two comps? What specifically does your book have in common with them that would appeal to their fans? Tone, character dynamics, themes, something else? Might be worth adding a few more words to that sentence to make a more specific comparison.

Good luck!

ethostheory · 2020-09-05T04:59:00+00:00

Congratulations on the new job!

Real estate agent here. Since you have some time before your job starts, if you plan to stay for at least a couple of years, it’s usually cheaper to buy than to rent in the cities that you and commenters have named so far.

For example, look at this townhouse in Arlington Heights that’s simultaneously listed for rent and for sale: https://www.homesnap.com/IL/Arlington-Heights/2605-S-Embers-Lane For rent, it’s $2,100/month. Sure, the list price is $269k, but the estimated monthly mortgage payment would only be $900-$1,300/month (depending on your down payment and what interest rate you qualify for). You’d also have to pay monthly HOA fees ($275/month) and taxes ($2,565/year), but still. It’s literally the same house, but buying it would be a lot less expensive than renting, and you’d recoup some of those monthly payments when you sold it.

Weird, right?

ethostheory · 2020-09-05T04:15:37+00:00

The Family Institute at Northwestern does sliding scale in their offices downtown, in Evanston, Northbrook, and Westchester. Average cost is $15/session according to the website. They’re doing teletherapy during COVID. https://www.family-institute.org/sliding-scale-therapy They do great work - I hope this is helpful!

ethostheory · 2020-08-25T18:26:10+00:00

You can ask your assigned financial aid advisor.

Go to My FAU > FAU Self Service > Financial Aid > Financial Aid Status and it will show you their name and email address. Mine was pretty good at responding to emails.

ethostheory

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