February 06, 2009

Time to make your own opinion of Cape Cod Real Estate

I just read an article written by Randy Eager in late January 2009. Randy is very involved with Real Estate and Economics in Utah. It was called: ”Have We All Lost The Ability to Think For Ourselves?” Please read on then ask yourself this question again.

Here is how it went. Every time I read the paper or listen to the news, I get mad. Really mad. In the last 30 days, the New York Times published the following headlines:

"Plunging Housing Markets . . . Down Again"
"Home Prices Suffer Record Monthly Drop"
"Bank Closures at All Time High in 2008"
"Credit Crisis Waves Roll On"
"Growing Market in Foreclosures"
"Foreclosure Rates Show No Sign of Slowing"
"States Unemployment Funds Run Low"

And the bad news goes on and on, causing panic and fear until we become our own worst self-fulfilling prophecy. Here’s my beef. It's media hype. No it's worse than media hype. It's a vast media distortion, used to sensationalize and sell the news. It's not the first time the media has done this, but now it has hit close to home. The result is that the American homebuyer is naively buying the lie and hesitating to buy that home they need.

Why? Because, like everyone else who reads the papers, watches it on the TV and hears it on the radio, we think that just because the mainstream media says it, then, it has to be true. Pundits know that if they repeat anything long enough, people believe it.

Well I’ve got a few surprising facts here that were shared in a speech given by Utah Lieutenant Governor Gary Herbert. Here's what he shared with us:

“Bank Closures at an All Time High in 2008.” Hogwash!

In 1989 there were 1,004 bank closures.
In 2008 there were 30 bank closures
On average there are 94 bank closures per year

“Foreclosure Rates Show No Sign of Slowing.” Baloney!

During the Great Depression Foreclosure Rates were 50%
Nationally today our Foreclosure Rates are 3%

“States Unemployment Funds Run Low.” Ridiculous!

During the Great Depression Unemployment ran at 25%
Nationally today our Unemployment is 7.2%

He then went on saying we need to:

“Challenge & confront the main stream media in your own locations. Verify sources before taking something for the truth. (…) let’s fight back and take back the one industry that is at the heart of the American Dream - the Real Estate Industry - (…) The one best weapon that you have at your disposal is the truth! It's time to start looking at our glass as 93% full rather than 7% empty. We need to look at putting 15-20% down payment and say what’s wrong with that? That's been a standard in real estate for years - a safe standard. We need to look at qualifying procedures and make sure that homes are sold to people who can afford them. This is the grass roots of the economy, and we can make a difference. We can take it back. All we need to do is to tell everyone the truth about what is going on and stop the panic. If there is insanity going on it is in the pundits that look for all the bad news to make sensationalism sell their message.

Our message should be: "America is good. America is strong. America is proud!”

Wow! We should all bookmark this and read it at the start of everyday while drinking our coffee. I believe positive thinking brings positive in our lives. Do you?

Now ask yourself again: “Have We All Lost The Ability to Think For Ourselves?”

If you haven’t, then log on to http://www.melaniecauchon.com or call me at 508-776-5378 and let’s find that house you have been thinking of buying on Cape Cod for a while, but have JUST been thinking of because the negative media hype scared you off!

Posted By: Melanie Cauchon