This positivity stuff is not for the faint of heart. But I am starting to see some great strides as bloggers and columnists prove that all is not gloom and doom.
Bernice Ross just posted a terrific piece over at Inman. She says, "I am sick and tired of the negative media "Bernice says all the positive news is buried deep in the paper. Or as I listed in my last post, the good real estate news is even buried in the same article when the headline said it was bad.
Happy News she says is being missed by the mass media:
35% of the homes in the U.S. do not have a mortgage,94.88% of the loans ARE performing, defaults are really a story taking place in just 7 states, defaults are really from overbuilding and 25% are from speculation, foreclosures have actually dropped in 43 states!
She is asking NAR and us bloggers to take this issue head on.
I am glad that this movement is growing. As you will recall, I made public on Nov. 8th a new Positivity on Real Estate initiative that I am launching. If you would like to join in please let me know.Comment or email us. We are putting the resources together to change the tone.
As unfortunate as it is, the negative media spin actually helps motivate a different demographic to get back into the game (investors and people looking for deals). The way we put it to a lot of our clients; there's always going to be a market for realtors because whether the markets are down or up, there are still going to be transactions. Of course the sheer number of highly profitable transactions is going to be higher in a boom market, but the bust market can also sustain a business if you know how to market aggressively AND smart. We have some clients in Florida who are doing just fine because they know what level of commitment it takes to succeed in the difficult markets there right now.
So the bottom line: no reason to really be down about the way the media spins things. They've been twisting stories since they existed, and as with anything you've gotta just roll with the punches if you wanna stay in the business through the "hard times."
Posted by: John Clinebell | November 17, 2007 at 10:27 AM
I'm an investor in Northern California and although I agree that the media likes to tell the gloom and doom story, it is pretty rough here. San Francisco is the only area holding it's value. The East Bay, has terrible foreclosure numbers and they are growing. In some areas NOD's (notices of default) are up 50% from last year.
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Posted by: Jeff Fenigstein | November 18, 2007 at 07:45 AM