Most people go directly to their local real estate agent when it’s time to buy their first house or the home they’ve dreamed about all their lives.

That real estate professional can make either case a reality.

Yet Hollywood sees real-estate agents and developers differently. In fact, when it’s time to whip up a big or small screen villain, housing professionals are often called upon to give our hero fits.

“The Money Pit.” “The Goonies.” “It’s a Wonderful Life.” “Poltergeist.” “The Brady Bunch Movie.” “Glengarry Glenn Ross.” “Big Business.” “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” “American Beauty.”

Two new movies are once again using housing professionals as the villain du jour.

On the small screen, the just-wrapped “Sons of Anarchy” series featured a duplicitous real estate deal as a key subplot. The new season of “True Detective” finds a shady real estate project playing a role in the bloodshed. Wilson Fisk, the heavy on Netflix’s “Daredevil,” is looking to reshape Hell’s Kitchen in his own twisted world view. “Modern Family’s” Phil Dunphy gets off easily by comparison. He’s just a lovable doofus who sells homes for a living.

Two new movies are once again using housing professionals as the villain du jour. Adam Sandler’s “The Cobbler,” just released on Netflix after a modest theatrical run, depicts a slumlord with the usual bile. “99 Homes” (out Sept. 25) serves up a real estate shark swimming in the turbulent financial mess circa 2008.

How did real estate agents get such a bad rap? Bob Gordon, a Boulder, Colorado-based Realtor and housing blogger, says the nature of the business is partially to blame. Clients who experience a smooth real estate transaction sometimes wonder why the Realtor earned so much in the process, though his or her work helped make that transition as seamless as possible.

Reality shows like “House Hunters International” showcase real estate agents in a more flattering light.

Should the deal hit a snag, both buyers and sellers sometimes shift the blame to the Realtors, thinking they can make things right financially. Other clients view Realtors as “an uninvited third-party” in the process, Gordon said.

Gordon sees signs of a reversal in how the media portrays his profession. And he has HGTV to thank for it, in part. Reality shows like “House Hunters International” and “Flip This House” showcase real estate agents in a more flattering light. They’re polished, professional and charming, and they get the job done despite the dramas that are boiled down into 30- or 60-minute installments.

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Of course, that sets up a potential backlash. Nothing is ever as easy as it appears on screen.

“Realtors again kinda look like jerks because we cannot do for our clients like the TV show guys do,” he said.

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