I do have to wonder how many buyers are swayed by the media barrage of the National Association of Realtors, which is currently pushing for buyers to 'get off the fence.'

I have to say, if I were currently planning to purchase a home or condo or land or anything else real estate related in the Charlotte NC market-heck, anywhere-that campaign would be off-putting to me.

As Realtors, we have a bad enough reputation in the marketplace already. It gets worse daily, as the liberal media continues to slam everyone involved in the mortgage debacle...yes, there were shady Realtors involved (real estate agents, too), shady lenders, idiotic buyers, you name it. So those of us who have soldiered on, taking great care of buyers and sellers alike (and may I add, not one of the hundreds of homes that I have listed or sold here in Charlotte NC has gone to foreclosure-in fact, I've saved a couple of my sellers from foreclosure but that's another topic altogether), are still being lumped in with the snakes. Do we really have to hurt ourselves even more with crap like this?

Yes, it's a great time to buy in many markets, including Charlotte NC and most of our suburbs *but not all-did you note that i didn't say it's a great time to buy in every corner of this market?*. But I have to admit that it drives me absolutely nuts when the media and even our own trade organization thinks we have to trick people into buying. Facts and statistics are one thing-for many buyers, seeing that we are likely in the trough for pricing is enough to get them to think positively about purchasing. However, to use only emotion just makes me feel a little icky.

I can only imagine how often the liberal news media is going to trumpet that now is a great buying opportunity once there's a new President in office...they will single-handedly try to make the market go up to prove that whichever candidate is elected was responsible for the turnaround (which is plausible since they did a lot to create the drama that's going on now).

Just for the record. Neither I nor many of my like-minded Realtor brethren believe in pushing anyone off of a fence. Yes, we want you to know about changes in financing, the end of down payment assistance, changes in pricing of mortgage insurance, tightening up of list price/sales price ratios. But it's up to YOU to make the decision to buy. If you want to wait until prices have already started to move up, that's your call-not mine. I'll be here whether you buy today or in a year. I'm in this for a long time to come (and you guessed it-that will mean more market cycles-so I'll wager that you will call or email when you need the expert who evaluates market changes and doesn't run from the challenges of a new marketplace).