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Do we have to have an opinion about everything?

Online forums are an incredible thing. The ability to harness to much opinion in one area is a fantastic opportunity to learn and grow. It is this aspect that makes AR so addictive.

question Like many other real estate agents, I peruse other forums on occasion. I was recently on a forum and someone said that CNN was reporting that Salem Oregon was going to appreciate by 7% in 2008. WOW...I want their crystal ball, but I digress...

The comment from the poster was...

Hi, after reading on CNN news, I came to find out that Salem Oregan is one of the cities that is predicted appreciate in value up to 7% in 2008! I need to know which area in Salem is good to live in. Low crime area, peaceful area not near high traffic areas. Thx

The first commenter was a real estate agent who was located in Portland Oregon and his comment was

Hmmmm.... Well just remember Stats are hard to chase. The appreciation rate is base dupon the increases in the median sales price. Salem's market is in trouble and CNN in this Case is wrong. Low Crime, peaceful, and Quiet does not apply to that much of the Salem market.(bolding mine) No disrespect to Salem....it has it's good and bad areas like every where!...

If you are looking to invest and we are looking at this bleak economic picture.....better stay in the A locations and near major employers and find a baragain. They are out there. maybe salem is the right spot . But showing up and buying something in a good area will costs you more and I doubt you will see any gain year over year.

Just my educated opinion.

The just my educated opinion line really irked me. What sent me over the edge was his website. He refers to raise hand himself as the neighborhood expert (for Portland). Wouldn't you think that if you were really a neighborhood expert, you would understand the value of hands on, local knowledge? Isn't that the point of calling yourself the neighborhood expert?

I lived in Portland for about 8 years before moving to Salem. I head up there frequently as I really love the city. I also know that a lot of change has occurred and I would never make comments in a professional format about what the market is or is not doing. I know other AR members have written posts about this very issue, and it begs me to bring it up again...

Do we really need to have an opinion about everything? Sometimes it's like real estate agents are 5th graders lining up to play kickball. The most athletic kids get picked first. Pick Me! Pick Me! Are we so driven and competitive in this industry that we feel the need to establish our prowess at every junction, even at the expense of accurate information?

I'm sure if I had ordered one less shot of espresso in my coffee, I might have conquered the impulse demon. Alas, I did have that extra shot and lost the battle...I commented.

I stated that it was unfortunate that professionals that did not work in the area felt the need to offer opinions. The area the appraiser suggested was actually the highest crime area in Salem, but hey housing is affordable there...

The appraiser felt I attacked him, and I just asked that we stick to what we know. That consumers are counting on us for that. The more I search and look at forums to participate in, the more I find myself repelled away. While I have NO PROBLEMS whatsoever with people expressing their views and opinions of the real estate market, that is after all what we do, is it too much to ask that we stick to areas that we really know?

If you are thinking about relocating to Salem-Keizer Metro area and need more information about what our city is like, please call or email me for more information. If you are considering a purchase or sale of a home, I'd like to discuss your real estate needs with you.

Melina Tomson, MS

call: 503-371-6515

email: melina@tomsonburnham.com

http://www.tomsonburnham.com/

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or Read about the current real estate market statistics

Posted by Melina Tomson, M.S. Salem Oregon Real Estate Specialist on 04/08/2008 12:05 AM

Comments (9)

melina tomson, random thoughts, salem oregon real estate

Post is included in group: Real Estate Consultants

9 Comments on Do we have to have an opinion about everything?

APR

2008

wow, people like that are really doing a dis-service to home buyers.

Everyone likes hearing their voice and sharing how wise they are. Sometimes we get critized if we have NO OPINION. I hear what you are saying though.

Melina, good post, got me thinking, I like Chuck mention have to watch myself, I like to hear myself a little too frequently. Recently I have been saying I really don't know, If I could tell the future like that, I would be laying on a beach someplace with more money than anyone could ever imagine. I say it with a smile and no one gets too upset about my inability to predict the future. Thanks for getting me thinking about this!

Melina,

Why you assume that agents can analyze their local markets? They may know the area, they may know the prices, they can even do CMA but this is not quite the analyses.

We, as an industry are not trained to perform meaningful analyses. Of course, we do pseudo-analyses, some better some worse, depending on a lot of factors, most of which are not part of our training.

Not that I suggest that agents give their uneducated opinions of areas not local for them, no. This is the educational component that is missing for agents. I think there is more to it than just being local, but by no means less.

Melina- I have been on other forums and there were agents from different states that were answering questions on our Illinois real estate contracts and our license law...the information that was given was incorrect. That got me a little frustrated, I responded to one and decided not to go back. I didn't want to keep getting all flustered over something I have no control over. Thanks for the post.

Chuck-I agree that sometimes due to liability we avoid expressing our opinions.

Tony/Darcy- Agents are welcome to have opinions but they have to remember that the internet never dies. So it is possible a buyer would read that REAL ESTATE AGENTS comment and choose not to buy based on a PROFESSIONAL's comments. I wouldn't blog if I didn't want to express my opinion. I just try and refrain from making derogatory comments when I know nothing about something.

Jon-I agree, but the commenter was asking for a specific area to consider in Salem. That is well within the realm of a real estate agents job. I have a master's degree and did the statistics as part of my degree, and I can say that stats can be manipulated so easily. Analysis are only to be used as a jumping off point. There are many subtleties to local streets, etc that just can't be analyzed with statistics.

I would love to see a training class for real estate agents on how to analyze the market, conduct inventories, etc. Many agents don't even know how to calculate an inventory statistic.... CRS does some of that. The local quote from a large national firm is that "real estate prices are fine." Printed in their newspaper ad. Not sure what that analysis means...

Laura-I hear you. Illinois and NY being attorney states are a whole different ball game in real estate law. I agree and that is why I find myself repelled by some forums. Someone on a forum was going off about NYC agents and how bad they were, and some of the commenter's didn't realize that NYC real estate runs very differently from the rest of the US. I felt bad for the agents that work in NYC since the commenter's were perpetuating that they were lazy...

Shame on you, Melina. The guy had himself convinced he was the great and all-powerful OZ and you looked behind the curtain at the weasely little man who's really there. It'll take him years of therapy to recover.

This is why I rarely disagree with someone on a forum, even when I KNOW they're wrong. Many of them are not balanced enough to see that it isn't a personal attack.

Karen-I just decided I need to stop reading things in forums. My impulse control is barely better than my 7 year old sons, and you get some coffee in me, and I lose all control!

What I find especially funny is that Portland has a higher crime rate than Salem does. I guess I should have known that the peaceful, quiet street that I live on in Salem is a rare thing...

FEB

"Are we so driven and competitive in this industry that we feel the need to establish our prowess at every junction, even at the expense of accurate information?"

I don't believe this is specific to the Real Estate industry, or for any industry for that matter. My experience teaching professionals to listen has taught me that most people in leadership positions feel a need to answer more questions than they ask.

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