Balloon market?

If you've been following this blog, you know that our house is for sale (anyone looking for a house in the north suburbs of Chicago? she's a real beaut . . . great garden). And if you've been following this blog, you also know that it was my daughter's birthday last weekend. We threw a party for her and her friends, and, as people will, we put some balloons out front so guests could identify our house; and seeing as the Coldwell Banker "For Sale" sign is the more prominent thing in our front yard at the moment, I tied the balloons to that. What with all the trips we've made to the ER this week, walking out twenty paces to take the balloons down has not been a priority. But there are scads of houses for sale in our area now -- at least two on every street, and many "fizzbee" houses, the real estate lingo for homes For Sale By Owner (FSBY). Today, walking through our neighborhood on our way to a local carnival, I saw two such fizzbees with balloons tied to their For Sale and Open House signs. Do they really think that this is a viable marketing strategy, that they're taking tips from Coldwell Banker?