You know what really ticks this old bird off? (Of course you don't, so that's why I'm asking you!)
I get ticked off when the media just blurts out some figure that is erroneous or has nothing to do with the cost of tea in China!
Remember when they interview that fellow from Redfin? I mean, the interview was filled with a bunch of nothingness which just left anyone with a brain- scratching their heads from disbelief, and the only question you can think of is "What the heck was the purpose of that gibberish being televised?"
Much of the news media is totally irrelevant, they're a bit like the SEAGULLS that fly in from the ocean somewhere, only to drop a load of (You know what) and then head back out to sea as if there was no actual purpose for the flight at all...other than to diddle on my patio furniture!
That's sort of what the media does with so many news items...they drop headlines loaded with crap on the public...then before you know it, they're gone and its on to a commercial or the weather...disappearing back out to sea...just like the seagulls!
Recently a client called me to confirm new and alarming information regarding what she has just heard on some national television morning show. Property down 60 percent! Wow, where the heck were they talking about...Siberia?
What the irresponsible news reporter didn't bother to explain was the difference between number of sales reported verses the sales prices, nor exactly where these prices were down. The difference...HUGE!
But the media doesn't bother with explaining that difference! I often wonder what the heck happened o responsible journalism. Instead of the children's computer game "Where's Waldo" how about Where's Walter? (As in Cronkite) we need some responsible news reporting!
(FYI: Attention all Realtors under the age of 12, click on link) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Cronkite
In my community, sales prices are down about 30 percent in some areas of town. Yet, in other areas of town, prices are down only about 5 percent, still in some areas the prices are up 5 percent. How confusing is that for people to understand. However, sales volume (NOT PRICES!) are down about 35 percent in our area. That being said, sales volume in some of our neighborhoods are record high this month, including a few sales taking place only hours after the property is listed, and garnering multiple offers and prices over asking price...go figure? Where's that news reporter with those particular figures? Those flipping seagulls lurking in dark corners where you least expect them to be...don't even ask about the dad-burn Pelicans and the mess they leave!
You can imagine my client being alarmed by the news reporter announcing that property sales were down 60 percent...when she thought she knew the truth about our local marketplace.
So many folks watch the national news programs, and rarely do any reporters distinguish the difference in these not-so-subtle aspects of the real estate market. Firstly being that all real estate is not the same. Homes in Missouri are not ever going to be equal to homes in California, as typical homes in California are never going to be equal to the penthouse at Trump Towers in New York City...there are way too many variables. Having Donald for a neighbor being only one of them! (He can't get enough of Granny's blog by the way!) Another link for any 12 year old Realtors out there. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_trump
I think that the national news folks need to make clear what they are talking about when they make their seagull type proclamations on air. Especially since real estate is still all about the condition of a specific property, as well as all real estate being about location, and all locations NOT being equal.
They also need to differentiate what they mean by sales being down (Or up!) because as we all know, sales volume has to do with the number of properties that have closed escrow, and sales prices has to to with the PRICE paid for a property.
That is when the buyers and sellers of the world get confused...they need to be educated as to the differences...and that they should only listen to more localized news reports when it comes to their real estate comparables, breaking it down by county, city, neighborhood and finally comprables withing their own tract of homes and their identical model of home.
Anyway...THATs the type of irresponsible reporting that this old gal gets ticked off about, all those...blanket comments made by mainstream media...blankets that don't cover the whole country and blankets that don't exactly reach both sides of the bed.
That's the kind of stuff that grinds my dentures!
Carol...aka...Granny
I think there is a BIG surprise awaiting folks when it comes to rising property values...and it s right around the corner!
Property values and appreciation are going to escalate again...just like they used to!
Really...I'm not kidding, I'm serious as a heart attack.
If you are a real estate speculator looking for a quick red hot investment...this might be a bit disappointing.
But...if you are a home buyer, from planet earth, this is good news that brings a bit of stability back into the world of home ownership...stability AND sound, reliable property appreciation!
Remember what it was like when you could buy a home, and then it was valued at $50,000 (Or more) than you paid for it six months earlier?
Those were the days...right?
I have good news for the real estate industry. We'll never see that type of artificial property appreciation again...because it truly was artificial.
So...why would I say that very soon property values will rise again like they used to?
Because THAT is exactly what we are going to see in the tomorrows that follow these current, yet extremely volatile, real estate market conditions.
Real estate appreciation will begin to appreciate the way it did a few decades ago, back in the 1960's and 1970's, when life was more realistic and when folks bought a home to live in, not a home strictly as an investment tool. I often wonder exactly when it was when our homes morphed into investments tools, rather than simply being a home.
Back in the 1960's, you could buy an average home for about $18,000. You might live in it for ten years, paint and carpet it, plant a few trees and add some wallpaper in the bathroom for an added decorator touch...and then, by the time the 1970's rolled around and your family had outgrown your original home, you might be VERY LUCKY to sell it for $20,000! An appreciation of a whopping $2,000 after all those years of mortgage payments, taxes and improvements. That was approximately a 1% per year property value increase over a ten year period of time...it seemed like a LOT of money back then...in fact, it very nearly felt morally wrong to sell your home for more than you'd paid for it ten years earlier.
AND...you couldn't wait to get that $2,000 check cashed...all the while wondering what sort of dummy would pay $20,000 for a house that you paid just $18,000 for just a decade earlier. You couldn't get old fashioned sayings to quit running through your mind over and over...stuff like..."Boy, there's a sucker born every minute" along with this feeling like you'd just taken advantage of someone, so in between moments of counting all those dollar bills (TWO THOUSAND OF THEM!) you also felt a little bit like you'd done something wrong by selling your home for more than you'd paid for it a decade earlier.
Of course, you moved to a new $26,000 home (Very upscale, almost twice the size) and the seller of your new home probably felt the same way about getting the $26,000 out of you! From zero to sixty you discover you have gone from suckOR to suckER...in they eyes of the sellers of your new home...AND they can't wait to get your check cashed because they think YOU are the real dummy since they'd only paid $24,000 for the house a couple years earlier!
Fast forward ten more years and those young folks that bought your first home for a ridiculously expensive $20,000 (Suckers!) - they just sold the house and moved on...but they sold it for $139,000, and again, that same house sells twenty-five years after that for a whopping $649,000! (You can't help but wonder who THAT sucker must have been?)
Then, last year while visiting friends in the old neighborhood, you drive by the old house to see if it's still the prettiest on the street, it's been added on to and remodeled over the years, but it had this fantastic view of the surrounding community and a pool and the most lovely manicured lawns, you want to drive by it because you feel sort of nostalgic about the "Old" place you'd paid $18,000 for that cozy home back when what now seems to be a million years ago. As you ascend up the hill towards the house, you see a real estate sign in front of the house and your heart begins to race as you pull up to the front of the house to grab a flier from the "Take One" little plastic box. You marvel at the photographs of the remodeled and expanded kitchen (It used to be so small!) and then at the bottom of the page, you see the sad words. BANK OWNED FORECLOSURE!
You can't help but wonder if YOU are the cause of the whole messy thing...all because you'd sold that house for two thousand more than you paid for it. Could it all be my fault?
Friends tell me that the old place finally sold in foreclosure at $404,000...they're still talking about what a good deal the most recent buyers got on purchasing that foreclosed property...the one with the fabulous view, pool AND the newly remodeled and expanded kitchen that didn't even exist back in the 1960's.
We were talking about this the other evening and I'm sure you are all thinking the same thing as I was..."I wonder if I could have held out and got $21,000 for the old place?" Oh...isn't that exactly what you were thinking?
And yet...I digress!
The truth is that we are headed back into the days of property values increasing they way that they used to increase. Slowly and cautiously. We'll never again see the recipe that created this current real estate mess...and that's a good thing. The days of 20-30 percent home appreciation are over, at least in my lifetime...and in your lifetime too! Once the real estate economy has recovered to a point of stability, we'll again see the appropriate property value increases of 1-3 percent per year. That's what is realistic in the real world...it was a GOOD thing back in the 1960's and 1970's, nobody was complaining...including those who made the whopping $2,000 after owning a home for ten years...it was a windfall I tell you!
Property values WILL rise again...JUST like they used to!
Carol...still...wondering...what if I had held out for $21,000?
DO YOU KNOW ANY AGENTS LIKE THIS ONE?
It's amazing to me that the general public seems to have pegged all REALTORS in the category as this fellow. Click on link below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2xblcNxCng&feature=PlayList&p=59CB0633BC0C7C12&index=0
How can we get a campaign going that will finally eradicate the current opinion the public has with regards to REALTORS?
We've tried ethics rules...only some abide!
We've tired reporting violations...they pay the fines and settle back into their lackadaisical old ways.
What can we do...Seriously...anyone with good ideas?
Carol
Greetings Brother and Sister REALTORS!
This is sort of important...it will help you look and sound MUCH better when out among the public...and perhaps when you are around your coworkers...maybe even your broker!
Today...the old lady (Me) wants to help you with a tiny issue that the majority of Realtors miss...and it makes you look and sound sort of...well...stupid!
I'm sure you don't want that!
They say that image is everything, and let me tell you, no matter how smartly you are dressed or how impeccably groomed, irregardless of how much you paid for that designer handbag or brief case...if you SAY SOMETHING STUPID...suddenly you'll be considered...less than bright.
Sadly, this mistake is made by most real estate agents when they speak.
You don't have to feel bad, much of the public makes the same mistake!
Still...a good number of folks do know how to pronounce a word...and this is where Realtors, as a group, slip down that slippery slope of sounding less than brilliant.
Imagine physicians referring to themselves as a PhysiciaR...or PhysiciaM.
We'd all laugh at them becaue they'd sound sort of stupid...right? Not to mention that if a Physican doesen't know how to pronounce their own occupation, it does less than promote a feeling of confidence...instead it leaves you scratching your head in bewilderment...and praying that they won't end up as your surgeon!
Well...it's time to spread the word with my brother and sister REALTORS that the proper pronunciation of the word REALTOR is just as it is spelled...now sound it out loud to yourself...
R E A L T O R
try that again....REAL...just pronounce that part of the word...real...real as in authentic...or the REAL deal!
Easy...right?
Here's the part that becomes a bit sketchy though.
Say Real (Say it out loud) and then add the remaining letters to that...TOR!
REAL+TOR
There is NO letter "I" in the word REALTOR, and yet many, many of you pronounce the word REALTOR as it if was spelled REALITOR! There is no "I" in the word...and no, there is no secret, hidden "I" it's never been pronounced or spelled with an "I" in the word...if you say REALiTOR, you are sounding a bit odd to anyone who knows how to spell or read. Unless, by some change you happen to be from Texias, Oklahomia, or perhaps Coloradi...heck folks, even people from up in Canidia know how to pronounce REALTOR!
Real sounds just like it is spelled, REAL and the TOR happens to rhyme with the words MORE or even DOOR...Real Tor.
No "I" anywhere in the word ...I promise.
Now wouldn't it be nice if you could properly pronounce your own occupation appropriately?
It's hard to think why anyone would want to buy or sell real estate through someone who can't even pronounce their own professional designation and membership!
It's just a thought, but it might even help the way the public perceives us when they take notice that suddenly, REALTORS know how to pronounce the word REALTOR!
Trust me...you'll sound a lot smarter too!
I want you to be your best, experience the greatest success...and to sound fairly bright along the way!
Carol
PS: by the way, no letter "I" in Realty either, just in case you work at a real estate office that contains that particular word...REAL-TY. The ability to pronounce the word should be an prerequisite to joining the National Association of Realtors...unless you are actually joining the National Association of REALiTORS which I have never heard of!
I'm a pretty optimistic person; in fact, you could say that I am quite optimistic and positive to the tune that it bothers a lot of naysayers. I, on the other hand, say to heck with naysayers anyway!
Locally I have seen quite a change in our real estate economy with homes selling in multiple offers again, and I am not talking about foreclosed or short sale properties, I am referring to median priced homes that had been taking 5-6 months to sell...just this week I was involved with one that had multiple offers within four hours of being listed, including some over asking price! Good solid properties priced right are flying into escrow here in some Southern California communities. That is a fairly reliable sign that our local marketplace is recovering and on the mend. A positive indicator indeed!
I stopped watching the news programs that preached doom and gloom and began spreading positive reinforcement that we will recover and be back on our feet again, we are Americans, and getting up on our feet is what we do...we've a history of pulling our nation up by the bootstraps...we can do it again.
I think about how horrible the GREAT DEPRESSION was, with the stock market crash, all the homeless and unemployed folks back then, only to be followed by the great dust-bowl drought when so many folks left their farms and migrated to populated areas where they begged for jobs, stood in lines that were miles long...just for a bite to eat, while leaving everything they had behind, lost farms, lost personal property and even some lost family members...but the one thing they didn't lose was HOPE for a better day.
It must have been horrible for those folks to find themselves broke, jobless, homeless, and virtually foreigners in their own land. But they did what Americans have always done, they pulled themselves up by the bootstraps (Bootstraps sometimes being the ONLY thing they had left) and they started over again.
I remember reading stories of bread lines and soup kitchens all over the nation, feeding the impoverished, as well as stories of neighbors looking out for each other, caring for one another. If anything, I hope that we all learn to be more compassionate and considerate to those who, unlike many during the great depression, find themselves in a similar predicament today.
It may sound like rhetoric, but we really are only as strong as our weakest link, and the time has arrived that we extend a hand to our hurting neighbor, and perhaps learn a lesson or two from those who came before us and survived hard times, those who experienced hard times and not only survived, but eventually thrived as they recovered and stood proudly on their own two feet, bootstraps pulled tightly!
That's what makes us responsible citizens and it is the authentic American way.
I know who we are, I have hope...and a little evidence...that we will rise again, and perhaps, with a lesson or two learned about how to prioritize and differentiate true priorities and being able to distinguish between wants and needs (BIG PROBLEM) while possessing a new and enthusiastic desire to get back to some of the basics that made this the country so highly desirable to the millions of souls who have immigrated to America during the past 200+ years.
We're Americans, we can...and we will recuperate and be even stronger; it's a part of who we are!
Click on the link below to view the CNN Money Magazine's Optimistic Economic Poll.
http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/29/news/economy/obama_economy_100days/index.htm?postversion=2009042911
Carol...the eternal optomist!
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