Home > Blogs > David Farrell > David's Seemingly Random Blog

Is this a joke? Why has not one person written a word about the Markets & their effect on our livelihoods?

By David Farrell

Real Estate Appraiser with David V. Farrell Co.

August 10, 2011 12:28 PM

Wow, I just wrote a couple hundred words about the market sell-off and wondered why nobody is commenting. Then, it got deleted right as I hit publish.

So, I am not going to re-write every word of it, but to summarize, the Stock Market is crumbling and gold is soaring.

The DJIA has lost over 500 points today, 1,000 points in the past 5 business days, and 2,000 points in the past 20 days. The NASDAQ has similar % loses. This amount to over 15% for both market in the past 20 days.

Meanwhile, gold broke through 1,800 an ounce today and continues it exponential rise. It traded around 1,550 one month ago. Gold prices are an indication of fear in the market; the higher the price per ounce, the more fearful investors have generally become.

We are headed for a shipwreck the size of the Titanic, and we are all on board in one way or another. This is something about which a dialog needs to begin. We can't stick our heads in the sand, put on a happy face, and hope for the best. We need to be able to communicate with our clients effectively about what this all means.

To be posting blogs about Highly Motivated Seller, or Disclosing too much information, or a Back to School Contest right now kind of feels as out of place as someone talking on their cell phone at a wake.

Does anyone have any comments about where we are going from here? I have one suggestion, read "The Great Crash, 1929" by John Kenneth Galbraith. It was written in the 1950s but is as informative a book as you''ll ever read.

One thing's for certain, the "New Deal" didn't get us out of the Great Depression anymore than the spending orgy going on in DC right now will get us out of this mess. It was World War II, and I would really not want to get out of this new downturn with another war.

Also, we don't produce anything in this country, other than a few cars and some I-Pads (yes, I am exaggerating). How are we going to climb out of the hole if we don't produce anything anymore? This is especially important for Realtors as we a) don't produce a physical product that is in demand (we're not Johnson & Johnson or McDonald's), and I don't think we can get Unemployment insurance if we simply cannot sell anymore.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? Should you post another blog about a short sale or how to start a loan, or offer/look for meaningful ideas about what is going on in today's economy? Thanks for any insight. And, if anyone knows if they can get Unemployment as an Independent Contractor, let us know.

Re-Blog

Comments(14)

Comment

Show All Comments

Sort:

Mimi Foster

Falcon Property Company - Colorado Springs, CO

Voted Colorado Springs Best Realtor

Wow - fabulous post. My personal feeling of why we aren't talking about it is because no one knows what to do about it. I posted something similar the other day and people were angry, but the general consensus is, what are we / what can we do about it? I attended a meeting today with a group of Realtors, and for the first time that I can remember, people weren't talking niceties, they were talking about having to make a deal and the desperation of not getting things to the closing table. I'm very busy but not making money. People are afraid. Do you have any suggestions - practical suggestions - on dealing with this? (OH! And I'm SOOO sorry that you lost your work! Will a Control Z not recover it?)

Aug 10, 2011 12:40 PM

David Farrell

David V. Farrell Co. - Garden City, NY

Licensed NY State Real Estate Broker

Mimi- You made a great point there when you said people were actually talking about working together and getting deals done and acting like a group. That's the way it should be all the time, not just when we have trouble.

Thanks for your response.

I didn't get your last sentence about the lost work, or Control Z. I'm still working and kind of busy. I was generalizing as, I believe, about 1/3rd of our local MLS has thrown in the towel in the past few years.

Aug 10, 2011 12:49 PM

Sheri Cambareri

Village Properties of Mineola, LLC - Mineola, NY

It's going to be rough, no? Maybe we need to downsize a bit? Cut costs, keep them down, and make it work until things start looking up. As a single mom, I don't write about it, but I certainly watch it. Maybe I'll rent out a $100,000 per week mansion just before the Quicksilver Party comes to Logn Beach next month!

No matter what, if you are going to be in this business, you still have to keep a positive attitude.

Aug 10, 2011 12:55 PM

Ronald Curtis

Sapphire Associates - West Palm Beach, FL

Negotiating the best price and terms for my Buyers

I am old enough to have lived through the depression years in the 30's, and am a veteran of WWII.

Living a long, productive, and happy life, it is easy to remember what is really important.

Eisenhower developed the interstate road system after he learned how effective the Germans had been in creating their Autobahns.

General George C. Marshall, the leader of all of our troops in World War II, became the Secretary of State at the end of the war, and created the Marshall Plan that rebuilt Europe.

Both of these heroic projects were paid for by American taxpayers, and the investment was returned in more ways than could have been imagined at the time.

Our government is not our enemy. As long as specific areas, and individual politicians benefit, they are happy to receive the largess that comes their way in terms of public funds.

It takes money to make money. If you don't accept this simple premise, then take me to the planet that you inhabit.

Bottom line........

Cutting jobs won't restore fiscal sanity. It is the public employees that make our country what it has always been. Our teachers, firefighters,policemen, and now the people who work in the court system are being denigrated to be second class citizens. If you want to get into the courts, expect a wait of a few years, due to the reduction ot the number of people who are needed to make it all happen.

If you really want to make something to happen, say, a plague on both of your houses.

VOTE!!!!!!!!!!!

Aug 10, 2011 01:17 PM

Dick Greenberg

New Paradigm Partners LLC - Fort Collins, CO

Northern Colorado Residential Real Estate

David -

I share your frustration. The system is badly broken, and I think the majority of people are still looking for the wrong kind of leadership - someone to come up with an easy answer. There aren't any at this point. And no one in our political system has the guts to tell it like it is, trapped in a 2-year election cycle.

And we're still too big to push around and force into the hard choices that many countries in Europe are having to face. So we'll keep putting band-aids on the corpse, until it gets too ripe to stand anymore.

What really bothers me is that we are better than this - we've faced tough challenges before and made it through. My hope is that we're going though a process that will lead us to acceptance of the inevitable and the will to do something serious about it.

J. Philip Faranda left a quote in a comment to one of my posts last week that I'll pass on - "There's nothing wrong with America that can't be fixed by what is right about America" - Bill Clinton. Ignore the source if you must - it's the sentiment that's important.

Aug 10, 2011 01:33 PM

Fred Griffin Florida Real Estate

Fred Griffin Real Estate - Tallahassee, FL

Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker

Government of The People, by The People, and for the People.

We must take our Nation back from the Career Politicians and the Lifelong Incumbents. We do not need Elitists, nor Aristocrats.

2012 may be America's Last Chance.

Aug 10, 2011 02:23 PM

David Spencer

Keller Williams Northland - Kansas City, MO

Show Me real estate in Kansas City

Time cures all evils and this too shall pass. I think I read that somewhere.

Aug 10, 2011 02:37 PM

Mimi Foster

Falcon Property Company - Colorado Springs, CO

Voted Colorado Springs Best Realtor

You said that you had lost your work just as you published it . . . I wondered if you could hit a Control Z to try to get it back. Not sure what happened to it, but I have salvaged a lot of "lost things" with Control Z . . . sorry that happened to you.

And these comments (except for Dick and Fred) are pretty insensitive.

Aug 10, 2011 05:25 PM

TERI LINDSAY

Reno, NV

STAGELIGHT HOME STAGING CO.

Reformist.......grass roots movement to form a new political party. Would you join a new party if it really represented the working class people and not corporate interests, lobbyists, and foreign countries hell-bent on our ruin ( China)? Starting right here and now, using social media networks only, start a political party and seek candidates with integrity and honesty for Congress and the Presidential Adminsitration. First delegation: Realtors for Reform..... we are seeking answers and solutions to the problems of our federal government, the economy, the currency, the housing crisis, the IRS, the military, education, healthcare, veterans administration, welfare system, war on drugs, the geographic border & ports of entry, social security, food & drug adminstration, etc......

Open for suggestions. Let's organize and reform....

Aug 10, 2011 06:23 PM

Chris Ann Cleland

Long and Foster Real Estate - Gainesville, VA

Associate Broker, Bristow, VA

First of all, blogging for business is what we all need to do. I don't see that as negative. I have blogged about this topic as well. We have HUGE problems. Part of the solution for me is working on my household. We've paid off our debt and are building a nice savings account. As for the national view, I don't know that there is any one candidate for President that can right this ship. The entire system of government is broken. Corporations run the government. Incumbents make a living off of the lobbyists. Time for fresh blood on Capitol Hill. Business people. Not more attorneys. All walks of life should be represented in our representatives.

Aug 11, 2011 02:34 AM

Lyn Sims

Schaumburg, IL

Real Estate Broker Retired

You little doom & gloomer you! I don't see it as a front row seat on the Titanic. I guess it is all in our own personal perspective right?

No you can't collect unemployment, I've already tried!

Aug 11, 2011 04:16 AM

David Farrell

David V. Farrell Co. - Garden City, NY

Licensed NY State Real Estate Broker

Working backwards -

Lyn - I like your tongue-in-cheek response - and your college try at the Unemployment office!

Chriss Ann - I agree 100%. I think we should pass an amendment to the constitution - and I don't take amending the constitution lightly. It should require two things of anyone running for a US Federal Office. It wouldn't enact term limits, but would require the following: anyone running for office must declare not only their political affiliation, but the number of terms, at most, for which they will seek to hold their job. So, for example, if we have two people running for congress from my disrict and one says they will stay for a maximum of 2 terms, and another says they would stay for up to 10 terms, I'd vote for person #1, almost without regard to their policies. I think it takes a little bit more than one, but fewer than two terms in congress for our politiians to completely sell out our nation. The same would go for the senate. In tht case, I'd hesitate to vote for anyone stating they'd want to stay for more than one term!

Teri - I would join almost any new political party - so long as it met one criteria - it was not named after one cause or motivation. For example, I would never chose to be a member of the 'Right to Life" party regardless of my personal beliefs on abortion. It is just that a politician will maybe spend 1/10th of 1% of their time on that subject. What will they do with the rest of their time. Or, if they plan to spend 100% of their time on the "Right-to-Life" issue, I don't want them to represent me. The same goes for the "Green" parties, and ther same would go, 100%, to a Realtor Party. Living in New York and on Long Island, I don't know which group has a lower approval rating, congress or Realtors. When we have the head of the NAR permitting ads to run for a decade straight saying, "Now is a Great Time to Buy," it makes our entire industry look like a bunch of liars willing to say anything to sell a house. That ad campaign is so bad it makes us look like, well, politicians. I would like join the "America First Centrist Party" and work with only those putting forward an agenda that followed the constitution 100%. I would be serious about this to the extent I would remove all tax on employment, which was banned, and return to some form of a gold and silver standard, also in the consitution.

MIMI - OH - I THOUGHT WHAT I HAD WRITTEN MADE YOU THINK I LOST MY JOB! I am the broker and a total computer nerd and I've never tried control Z. I presume it is "Undo" and I've always wondered why browsers are one of the only sets of programs without UNDO buttons. THANKS FOR THE TIP.

More to folllow . . .

Aug 11, 2011 09:56 AM

David Farrell

David V. Farrell Co. - Garden City, NY

Licensed NY State Real Estate Broker

David Spencer - I'm not sure about time curing all ills or evils. I know it will eventually kill all of us. In addition, it seems to have killed every currrency and civilization up to those that exist today!

Fred - I agree that 2012 might be the last chance to get the ship in the right direction. Even with it pointed in the right direction, we have a journey of several decades to get our nation back to prominence and to its potential. It seems, in a weird way, that we peaked too soon.

Dick - I like you quote so much, I'm going to quote it again - "There's nothing wrong with America that can't be fixed by what is right about America" - Bill Clinton c/o Dick Greenberg c/o J. Philip Faranda - American Patriots!

RONALD - Thank GOD we have people like you. You are what has been right with our country for so long. I think we all should have to meet with you or someone like you on a weekly basis to remind us of what is important in life, as you just did. Like my dad, you lived through the depression, so you realize it's better to have a few dollars under a mattresss than a BMW in the driveway. You have also fought to protect our country and, it might sound trite, but all I can do is to offer you thanks on behalf of a grateful nation. You are a patriot, an optomist and a therapist. Thank you.

Sheri - Well, I work with you, so I've already told you to get back to work!

Thank you everyone for the comments. It seems like today was a better day on the DOW and NASDAQ, but the roller-coaster ride is continuing. Look out below!!!

Aug 11, 2011 10:05 AM

Mary Douglas

United Country Ponderosa Realty, Red Feather Lakes, Colorado - Red Feather Lakes, CO

REALTOR, Red Feather Lakes, Colorado

Hi David, It was a better day today - I agree with Mimi, no one knows really what to do about it, it will be a roller coaster for awhile. I can't let it polarize my thinking - don't know enough about it to write an entire blog about it either, so I'll carry on with Localism posts and listings and take care of business. Thanks for visiting my blog today, sorry that you lost your post- that's very frustrating!

Aug 11, 2011 03:05 PM