Please, CNBC - leave the announcement to Realtors - to those out in our markets every day. Let's bring people to the table, not encourage (discourage) them away.

On the Today Show, recently, during a segment covering the national real estate market, CNBC's Jim Kramer  stated with strength, "Now is the absolute worst time to buy!"

Homeowners, buyers, Real Estate Professionals - everyone - should be concerned that remarks like these from  "experts" might be pushing potential buyers and sellers to the sidelines. In effect, it might have a self-fulfilling prophesy and help stall the market - which drives SO MANY related markets. Just the oppposite of "Build it, and they will come:" "Tear it down and they will leave."

Gary Keller, co-founder and chairman of Keller Williams Realty had this to say about waiting out the current market:

"First, residential real estate is not a national market product - it is a local one. To say from a national position that this is either a good time or a bad time to buy real estate is like saying the national forecast for the U.S. today is 92 degrees - it is a useless and irrelevant perspective. What is happening in your local market is all that matters.

Second, trying to predict when it is a good time to buy, or not, means you're trying to time the market. Staying on the sidelines is the surest way for most people to never time anything correctly.

Last, and maybe most important - there are always two markets in every market. There is the market of properties that are good buys and there is the market of properties that are not good buys. Interestingly enough, this is true in either buyer or seller markets. To categorically say that this is the time to buy or not is absolutely ignoring the fact that every market really has two markets inside it."

Let's keep a broad perspective while maintianing a close look at our individual markets. If you are a consumer, have your Realtor run numbers for your area. A great realtor will be adept at laying out the look of the market for you. Realtors, let's be prepared to give honest and thorough assessments of especially our individual markets.  Realtors, what do you do that is especially helpful for your clients?

Ken

Ken Courtade, Yes I Ken!, Keller Williams Realty, Arlington