Never have I seen the media control our Real Estate Industry so MUCH!

I'm up in Atlanta and I talk to quite a few people trying to escape the high housing costs in Florida.  They often complain about the high taxes and the high cost of insurance.  They are also are tired of the hurricanes.  I really don't think most of Florida's problems have much to do with the press. 

I think much does have to do with the press. Notwithstanding our property taxes and insurance costs and the possibility of hurricanes, there are tons of people here thinking of buying - most of them are scared off by what they read in the press, thinking that whatever they pay, the home will be worth much less in a few months.

I am sick and tired of the negative press myself.  Yet we all spend money advertising there.

How about:  THE NEWS REPORTS A BAD MARKET, THE PUBLIC RESPONDS...and we do whatever we can to get the homes sold.  Which involves solving the current puzzle, not by blaming either but by offering services that will be flexible.

Its up to us to educate the public with the facts... not what spin the media chooses to put on things this week....   it is very frustrating to know that they (the media) does fuel our industry.... what can we do??

Mike,

Perhaps you should ask the PB Post if you can do a Press Release of your own (I hear they are actaully in favor of these things).  In the release talk about how the market is showing signs of improvement.  Create your own hype of the current market upswing in S Florida.  Fight the bad news with good news.

Oh, and congrats on your first featured post (gold star)... I am surprised that neither Chris or Marc caught that.

Hi Mike,

Congrats on your feature post!

Like you, I was also the editor of our school (truthfully h.s.) newspaper, "The Californian" at AHS in Ca.  As said by others, newspapers are a business, to sell papers, that's it!  No doubt most newspapers have lost significant circulation/revenues. I also cancelled my subscription a few years ago, yet for different reasons... In my "opinion" and I don't mind saying this online for the first time, the OC Register  (in CA) has absolutely NO INTEGRITY at all. In our r.e. section it's only about who pays ;the most $$$ for ads.  So thanks but NO thanks!

As Realtors and lenders,  we need to be willing to take the good with the bad when it comes to the ups and downs of the market. Yet, if we feel something is not accurate, we need to be willing to step up to the plate to make a difference.  Ler's be an hones positive influcence when we can.

Thanks for sharing!

Mike,

I understand your frustration, but you guys were pretty much riding the gravy train down there for quite a while.  What goes up must come down.  Hopefully far enough down that I'll be able to swoop in and buy a place. :-)SS

Mike,

Your raise a good point.  In my area of the country (the Massachusetts North Shore), reporters are constantly telling us how GOOD the market is doing.  The problem is that they are wrong and I can prove it.  Each month I write a Market Update that I post here at ActiveRain that clearly spells out how many properties came on the market and how many went off (under agreement).  The trick is to use the SAME DATA PARAMETERS every month.  We can all make the numbers go whichever way we want by using only certain data.  If we use the same, consistently, then we get a true and accurate picture of the marker.

Of course, that may not sell newspapers!

Regards...Jay

Have you noticed that the newspapers always have to report an extreme in one way or another? So the market is either great, or it's terrible. Sometimes both... when everything was way up most everywhere, you got headlines about that at the same time that there were other headlines screaming "housing bubble."

It's all about what sells papers!

I also stopped my subscription to the paper. Advertising in print went from 6000.00 to less than 2000 in 2006. What's the point ? The A2 News laid off 400 employees. They still don't get it, charge an arm and a leg for a small small ad and no one comes

Mike: that photo is awesome!!!   As to the bad press: AMEN brothers and sisters. The media is doing the same thing here in CA--Southern, Central and Northern.  Scares the heck out of ALL the buyers I have that are sitting on the doom and gloom fence.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised how newspapers write the news.

In the Cincinnati Enquirer yesterday, splashed over the front page was how bad our market is.

Unbelievable!

No wonder the real estate section of the newspaper is shrinking.  Who wants to advertise in a
medium, where your industry is being slammed.  Yes, the market is softer right now with more
homes for sale, but there are buyers out there purchasing homes as well.

Real estate goes through cycles.  The newspapers should be coming up with ways to help their
advertisers.

Oh well, in the meantime, the internet continues to grow!

I spent several months in Florida a few years ago and I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was something that bothered me about it.....then it dawned on me...no hills!  everywhere was flat!  Once I realized what it was, I was ok with it, but I guess that I'm an ole Missouri Hill Billy at heart!

 

Bob 

I can top that Jim, I was in Sedona, AZ when Wilma hit.  We watched the news terrified, not because of the store, but because we knew we weren't getting the truth. They showed every are in town that holds water or floods during a regular rain.  The standing water had little to do with if it was a hurricane or not.  THEN THE DRAMA.  A news woman, sitting in a canoe with her hair blowing crying the blues about the mayhem and disaster.....all the while not knowing that a man walked behind her in ankle deep water.  The media lies.  That woman should have been jailed for such a stupid attempt to cause panic.

I'm with you on the negative press. It drives me absolutely nuts, but I'm not following your comment about Oklahoma. Clarification please?

I couln't agree more!  It seems to be everywhere!  i don't take the paper and I personally do not take out any extra advertising with my paper either.

HI MIKE,

LOVE YOUR WEB PAGE, AND I DO AGREE WITH YOU 100%.  THEY ARE KILLING FLORIDA WITH THE TALK ABOUT HURRICANES, HOUSING MARKET,JOBS, THEY NEED TO FIND SOME REAL NEWS, STOP TALKING ABOUT HURRICANES IN DECEMBER.  I AM A LIFE LONG FLORIDA RESIDENT AND I WOULD NOT WONT TO LIVE ANY WHERE ELSE I LOVE FLORIDA. THESE NEWS PEOPLE NEED TO BE SHOWING AND TALKING ABOUT HOW GREAT SOUTH FLORIDA IS.....