Bill at Calculated Risk has been very, very good to me. He has published many of my videos over the last couple of years, causing many people to inquire about, and eventually use my services to buy and sell.
He posted my Sunset Sermon last night, which didn’t set off the flurry of attacks that it could have – but BusinessInsider.com picked it up and is running a link to the video on their front page:
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-real-estate-market-is-abuzz-2011-10
A few of the gems from the comment section:
1. ill take Shiller any day over some greasy realtor talking his book…
2. ABSOLUTE LIE. These realtors are Really Dishonest. The income is not there to support the life style, very few “instant gratification seekers” are trying hard to get back to the old good days. The real estate market in San Diego is Depressed and it is going to take years to be normal, no more SPECULATION.
3. Ah, California…America’s fabled “Land of lost leverage”. Right out of a Hollywood script; when is someone going to do a movie about stupid, corrupt realtors and their fellow parasite classmates?
4. NEVER TRUST A REALTOR. HOW CAN YOU TELL THEY ARE LYING? THEIR LIPS ARE MOVING. THEIR GOAL IS TO MAKE YOU BUY AT THE HIGHEST PRICE IN THE FASTEST TIME POSSIBLE.
5. Agent’s goal is volume of deals, rather than maxing out price on any single deal. While I hate to reference this book, “Freakonomics” has a good explanation of this. Why wait 15 days to accept an offer of $500,000, when you could close a deal and move onto something new after 5 days and $450,000. If agent’s share is 5%, then their share is $25,000 and $22,500. Is that extra $2,500 really worth those 10 extra days worth of work? No.
6. Of course, this is San Diego, specifically North County where Jim operates. It was one of the very first areas to crater (topped around 2004) so it makes sense that investor types are buying there.
7. North San Diego County is NOT Desirable, these realtors are just desperate people rather go to Laguna Beach and Newport Beach to buy in Crystal Cove. Even in the most areas where The 1% lives in Southern California, Foreclosures are killing them.
8. Yep Jim the realtor and all of them have been saying that ever since they finally quit saying you better buy now as prices will only keep going up.
9. More realtor koolaide BS. Until incomes return real estate will continue it’s slide downward. Once on par with incomes, wherever you happen to live, look for a long sideways slide. This vid is such crap!
10. WOW, some random realtor on YouTube has 2-3 highly-priced properties in San Diego with multiple offers….and this means real estate is coming back. If I make a video showing drug gangs just moved into the vacant homes on my street, will you post it on BI saying we’ve now become Iraq?
11. Never listen to a Realtor, they are the slickest shylocks ever.
This is an area where NAR and CAR should be doing some work. If they mounted a campaign to help educate the masses about buying and selling real estate, at least it would counter some of the negativity. Currently these types of commenters are able to run free, and help to influence readers without any counterpoints. It is sad that realtor organizations only stand on the sideline and watch.
LOL…nice one JTR.
Geeze, what woulda happened if those posters caught a reflection of your “salmon” colored “power” tie!
Not sure I understand your point regarding NAR/CAR. That would be like trying to make-over Bagdad Bob. At the end of the day realtors get paid by closing deals-not educating people….CLOSE THE DEAL! Provide whatever minimum information is needed then close the deal!
Sounds lame, but I think the best you can do is lead by example. All the housing blogs know who you are. You call things the way you see them. And you have respect because of that.
But back tracking to the original video, I didn’t really agree with it in general terms- but to the specific clients of JTR, I think it was pretty close to right-on.
I just watched it again and know I can see how it comes across as a bit “rah- rah” to the uninitiated.
It is also what tends to happen on the internet. Negativity and sensationalism frequently go unchallenged, buy if someone makes a positive comment, there is gang tackling on the message boards.
Hey —
Don’t get too bummed out about BI commenters. Any kind of optimism is treated with rampant abuse.
-M
No good deed goes unpunished.
Comment sections in articles like that are beyond useless, don’t take it personally. Just to give you an example of the worst, try yahoo finance forums. Here, a sampling in chronological order of the subject headers for the stock Sprint:
Headfake Pumpers, Suckers rally to Short
I told you ALL !
S Traders Should have ZERO tolerance for Losses
Close @ 2.56 weakening, tomorrow 2.80+
DISH BUYING SPRINT FOR $6.00
NO buyout, here is why:
*Will Sprint Ever Be $4 Again?*
TOO MANY WHORES HERE – I’M GONE!
See for yourself: http://messages.finance.yahoo.com/mb/S
Basically, 99% posts are made by Nostradamus’ long lost clones and collectively have zero actual information in them.
Whereas by contrast blogs like Calculated Risk and Bubbleinfo more often than not have actual comments written by normal human beings.
I only take it personal when those types of comments are left here – thanks for the support.
but to the specific clients of JTR, I think it was pretty close to right-on.
Thanks.
I’m only hoping to reach buyers and sellers interested in homes around here – I’m not trying to save the world. I feel lucky that more of my videos haven’t reached the outside world, only to be criticized by the unwashed who won’t look any deeper.
Nice, Jim.
People forget two very important things regarding doing real-estate down here:
1. The buyer, ultimately, is in control. If they don’t like the deal, they don’t have to buy. People spend more time on due diligence ordering a hamburger than buying a house…go figure.
2. It’s Southern California. Sure, things aren’t so hot right now but they’re not making any more coastal land. So there is a global demand among those with higher discretionary incomes to purchase into the safest country on this planet. But then, some of the nastier posters are free to choose another planet!
Your appearance excepted, Only proves, once again that your clever national organization, your back-up-team,, the odious NAR currently airing those warm fuzzy primetime TV pieces about realtors (oops, Capital R) “helping” communities and’creating’jobs propaganda are really working to shape public opinion of your profesional colleagues (aka used-house peddlers on commission)…
jtr, too bad for you, being an exception to the time-tested sleazy rule, you, a hard worker who does do good things for people, that your chosen profession and suppporting cast (banks, title co. appraisers, loan people) is full of gyp artists, frauds, congenital liars and common swindlers looking to grift money any way possible from an uneducated, immunerate, basically mental-defective (by-and-large) public.
The next NAR spokesperson should be a postumous nod to P.T. Barnum. Maybe your paragon of virtue and honesty profesional leader Yun knows the oriental version and can provide a referral (for a fee, of course, lets say – umm 6%). This could be a Big Help and add credibility to/with those mysterious ‘foreign buyers’.
Don’t be deluded. The comments you cited must have been filtered. They are probably the most favorable few…
Keep doing what you’re doing, JtR. Hard work and integrity will never go out of style. I have the utmost respect for you…
Stay away from that message board. Resist the temptation to defend JtR’s honor because the inter-toobs is full of da’ crazies.
I wish I could post pictures on this message board. There are some classics pertaining to arguing with people on the internet.
I am a Realtor in Northern California and have been for 10 years. Personally, I don’t know many in my profession I’d hire for any position much less trust them to sell my home.
It’s a sad commentary but people have a right to be pissed at this profession. There are A LOT of sleazballs in this industry, lenders and Realtors, and nothing seems to ever get done about it.
Good info here. Thanks!
The unfortunate issue is that there’s tons of people out in the world that are “average” that got burned by the real estate market. They hate realtors, banks, mortgage brokers, etc. They’re venting their financial frustrations out on anybody but themselves. It goes with the territory. The reality is the top 20% of the population is doing well and can probably continue to pay good money for the quality properties that come on the market in NCC. You’re dealing in a market of haves but are getting comments from the have nots. They’re angry but they don’t really understand what happened.
I wish the “market all a buzz” wasn’t true but as a wannabe buyer with prices nearing my target I’m seeing the same thing (crappy inventory flying off the shelf). I’m not certain this is a long term trend or proves NCC market stabilization but it is what it is. I guess you can only call it like you see it and be prepared for criticism. If I wanted to sell in the near future I would be doing so now with lots of uncertainty (interest rates, unemployment, global economy worries, etc) on the horizon.
Hi Jim – I’ve been a realtor since 1984 and I appreciate and highly respect work and your efforts. However you left yourself wide open for these comments altho I think the writer went a little overboard. The market is NOT all a buzz. With the items above cited by JE being a good part of the problem and econ 1 – supply and demand – staring us in the face – you have to be highly motivated to be a buyer in this market. There are just too many homes underwater and the banks do not have the ability or the manpower to solve the problem. I don’t believe the 4th qtr will be good and I certainly don’t see any stampede next spring without some drastic changes. When I read the CR this morning I thought you may have had your evening cocktail a little early. Keep swinging and I hope you’re correct. But I’d be willing to bet my Giants seats against your Padres tickets!
Keep in mind that the unwashed masses are the perfect contrary indicator. Look back to posts against housing in 2006… exactly the opposite sentiment.
That must mean we are close to a bottom if not there.
BTW, think about what people post about gold and other precious metals… Is that a bubble?
Chuck
keep up the good work Jim!
They’re talking about you again at CR. Some guy named Duke of Con Dao really doesn’t like your videos. Take heart, the guy is a Hollywood idiot with a very inflated ego.
The qestion is where are people going to park their money???
Are people going to keep their money in the stock market? not with the way things are behaving these days.
What about CDs? and earn a nice 0.5% interest rate. That sub-inflation rate pretty much goes for treasury or bonds as well.
meanwhile, you got mortgage rate less than 4%.
so where are people going to park their money?
I think chuck is right, we are looking at the masses as the perfect contrary indicator. San Diego is where things unraveled first, it is also where improvement will start first as well.
Stormin,
My videos pertain to my local market, and directed towards my clients here in SD. I’m not making any general prognostications about “the market”, and while some national publicity is always good publicity, these people are taking it way out of context.
The Duke’s jealousy goes back to the Nightline show when he ripped my voice off a couple of my videos and applied them to his scenes of child violence in Vietnam. Very classy guy.
I wish my videos and what I do would just stand on their own as examples of what one guy can do to educate the marketplace. But I accept that the internet folks would rather tear them down, than take a deeper look.
Jim, Keep doing what you do. Once I started looking more seriously at housing I found your assessments to be spot on nearly every time.
Some of the other House bubble blogs are a Jacobs ladder of nutballs and crazies. I wouldn’t take them too seriously.
JTR keep up the excellent work!
p.s. nice post livinincali.
Rats, I see my warning was too late to keep you away from the BI commentariat.
@Daniel, that Duke guy is very very odd. I’ve seen one or two of his videos and all I can think is “WTF, dude?”. Very creepy dude who thinks he’s some kind of auteur.