Late June back in 2005 the real estate market was overheated , The Big Short was in it's infant stage and a New York Times reporter made his way to Frederick Maryland looking for information on the local market. One of the staff members at the Frederick County Association of REALTORS® steered David Leonhardt in my direction. I spent a couple of hours discussing the current housing market and introduced him to our top new homes salesperson, Betsy Cain. The conversation evolved into the rapid achievements of a young agent in the office who was doing very well. David was enamored by Betsy's success story about Mike Murren , so we found him in the office and he joined the conversation.
We discussed the many young agents entering the business and how the real estate and building industries were the main cog in the economy with links to many job sectors.
David then asked me what if the market were to take a sudden down turn? I replied; many of the young agents who recently entered the real estate world do not know the meaning of a price reduction and have never had to ask for one. If we were to go back to a market like we had in 1989 it would be a cold slap in the face to those agents.
A couple of weeks went by and I received an email from my cousin from New York City on the morning of July 9th saying you made the front page of the Times ! I was surprised to find the article also made The Drudge Report , and numerous people began calling me. As I read the article the one quote attributed to me was the very last sentence that was taken out of context to fit the story line. It later dawned on me , this is the article that started the housing bubble narrative. CBS morning news called me to see if they could interview me for a segment they would be doing. After talking with the production manager I received notice I was too positive about the market and did not follow their story line so the segment was nixed.
Bottom line is; I learned when speaking with a savvy and seasoned reporter be careful what you say, they are looking for a good quote to fit their point of view.
