The frenzy I see at the looming expiration of the $8,000 1st time Buyers' Tax Credit has me revisiting some thoughts I have had for a few years.

While the Cary/Raleigh area has fared better than many other market areas, we are not immune to the forces affecting the real estate industry.

As a real estate broker, what is my role in the scheme of things?  Should I toil away creating demand for housing among those who barely can afford to buy?  Should I work to convince folks to climb out on a limb, to risk everything to stretch to buy a home so I can be paid?  Should I roboticly inform everyone within earshot "It's a great time to buy a house!" before I have a clue if they have any means or desire to buy a house?  Can I logically hold forth like that and function objectively as their fiduciary?

Do we function for Buyers when we strive relentlessly to "Make" the Market?

I see the "Market" as the intangible venue where folks go about the trading of their interests in properties in return for negotiable consideration. 

I do not see myself as a Market Maker. I prefer to say I serve those who visit the real estate marketplace ready, willing, and able to buy or sell real property, and then choose to engage me for my skills. 

Yes, I help folks get ready, which often leads to willing.  And I try to get buyers in front of the best lenders who I know can offer good programs, great terms, and reliable execution so they are able to be successful.

Recently I spoke with a man who thought I must be suffering with lower commissions due to soft or falling home prices.  Price trends are hardly factors to me in terms of considering my compensation. It is imperative I know price trends when speaking with others, prospective clients, clients, agents.  But, in terms of my compensation, price trends are not as interesting as knowing whether trades can be made at all, or how to get the transaction closed. As a broker, I am mostly hopeful for a marketplace with efficiency and clarity.

As a REALTOR®, an agent representing clients as a fiduciary, I am interested in securing the best deal with the best representation I can offer, under the current conditions, as they venture into the marketplace.

When it comes to tax and financial advice, legal advice and estate planning, I MUST inform people that these areas are outside my expertise.  How can I then press on people that it is a "Great Time to Buy!" while patently disclaiming regarding my ability to advise?