CURRENT NEWS AND ISSUES
A BI-MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
BY D.J. WELSH, Ed.D Issue # 2
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Its all about sensationalism. Sensationalism sells. That was the focus of a recent one hour program broadcasted by ABC about real estate. What a waste of time for any consumer that wanted to learn more about the real estate industry. The important issues in the industry were ignored while an extreme event of staging a home, with 50 people involved, to ready it for the market was played out.
Another extreme was the purchasing of investment properties by a few big risk takers making property investments through a practice known as “floating.” These two segments of the program were so far removed from reality for the majority of the viewers that viewers must have wondered why they wasted an hour of their time.
Well it is all about the money. Yes the money. Rather than researching the real issues in the real estate industry , which takes time and money, ABC choose to create scenes and video tape sensationalism. Do journalist not know what has been going on in the real estate industry? There are some real stories that could expose the power of the National Association of Realtors, state legislators, mega real estate brokerages and agents. Are there no journalist that have the courage and freedom to research these power groups to expose how the real estate industry is controlled by those with the money? Yes it is all about the money. There is a media void when dealing with most any issue which involves the profit of major corporations. You might ask: Where is your government agency? Are they not protecting you? The truth is, its all about the money. The corporations and associations with the money control what government agencies are charged with enforcing.
The real issue is how do consumers learn when the media presents only biased stories created by those with the money, those who don’t want you to know what you need to know to be a wise consumer?
Lets’ go back to the ABC program and staging a home for the market. Skilled listing agents often stage a home for the market before they put a for sale sign in the yard. They do this for one reason knowing that most buyers get emotional when they see this great staged home. The agent also knows that many of the home defects can be camouflaged by this staging. What most of you don’t know is that if you took the time to hire an exclusive buyer agent, one who never works for the seller, that agent would ask you to undress the home. That is to view it as if it were empty of furniture and all accessories used in the staging. These agents will even help you look for the defects because they will not be trying to sell you the home because they work for you not the seller.
The National Association of Realtors and the major real estate brokers (power brokers) don’t want you to learn about exclusive buyer agents because it affects the brokers potential to collect both sides (listing and selling) of the transaction commission. Be aware that most real estate information you will be exposed to nationally and locally will have been initiated (bought) by these power brokers. To learn the truth about what is happening in the real estate industry make regular visits to this NHBA site where its not about the money. It is about providing information that you need to know to be a good home buying consumer.
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