Have We All Stopped Thinking For Ourselves? 
I get angry these days when I read the paper or listen to the news. Really, truly mad. In the last 30 days, the New York Times published the following headlines:
“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 why my blood pressure rises---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 too close to home. Close to your home, close to my home and way too close to my livelihood. The result is that the Greenwich homebuyer is naively buying the lie and hesitating to buy that home they need or want.
Another problem I have is that perhaps even a few Realtors have been reading and watching those headlines, and they've bought into the hype themselves.
Why? Because, like me and 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, OMG, it's gotta be true. Pundits know that if they repeat anything long enough, people believe it.
Well, here are a few surprising facts that were shared in a speech given by Utah Lieutenant Governor Gary Herbert. He worked years ago to establish the Utah Chapter of the Council of Residential Specialists. Here's what he recently shared:
“Bank Closures at an All Time High in 2008”. Nonsense!
“Foreclosure Rates Show No Sign of Slowing”. Oh, really?
- During the Great Depression Foreclosure Rates were 50%
- Nationally today our Foreclosure Rates are 3% (1.4% in Utah)
“States Unemployment Funds Run Low”. Ridiculous!
- During the Great Depression Unemployment ran at 25%
- Nationally today our Unemployment is 7.2%
Together we need to challenge the main stream media. Spread this information among your friends, family and colleagues. It's the real truth. It's not hype.
I say let’s fight back and take back the one thing that is at the heart of the American Dream -- home ownership-- and bring this whole mess, this nation and the world back from chaos. The one best weapon that you have at your disposal is the truth!
Are times right now bad? Yes. Do we have a shakey market? Yes. But FDR's famous statement applies: "The only thing we need to fear is fear itself." 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 we are selling homes to people who can afford them.
We are the grass roots of the economy, and we can make a difference. We can take it back. All we Realtors need to do is to tell local buyers and sellers 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. What's really changed here is how many more news outlets are competing for advertising dollars, and because of this, American journalism has entered into the "age of yellow journalism" that's been such a butt of jokes in England and around the world for years.
Journalism used to be a noble profession. Remember "Just the facts, ma'am"? We can't rely on our news sources for a reality check, so don't rely on them for your realty details, either! .
Our message should be: "Greenwich continues to be a world class community and a wonderful place to raise a family. Our property taxes are some of the lowest in Connecticut and our public schools are reknown."