People who drink wine recycle more often than non-drinkers....

Here, as I sit sipping a glass of Cabernet, I make such a bold statement. Perhaps the title was concocted as I put the bottle(empty) in the recycling bin.

Actually, the truth is...

Suppose I was walking my dog Diesel, in my fictional neighborhood, on the afternoon before recycling bins get picked up. Suppose my idle mind notices that many of the bins contain wine bottles - empty, of course!

Suppose I then, based on my small sampling of recycling bins, conclude that wine drinkers recycle more than others.

That is a totally ridiculous conclusion.

But it is no different than sellers who base their list price on the few "fair market listings" in their neighborhood while ignoring the "short sale" or "foreclosure" listings around the corner.

In order to make a valid conclusion, one must consider a representative sampling of the population. I did learn some statistics during my seven years of college -[thanks, The George Washington University and Troy State University ]. You can not just cherry pick your competitor listings!

In this market, foreclosures and short sales are the pricing competitors. Do not make the mistake of mis-identifying your real competition!

And, by the way, the title was an attention getter...not a fact!

Gary Waters, Florida licensed real estate agent, Century 21 Baytree Realty, serving buyers and sellers in the Viera, Suntree and Rockledge areas of Florida's Space Coast.