The Problem: Consumers have no decent source for learning what is actually going on in their local real estate markets. And without quality information, many are making poor market decisions that are costing them lots of money.
The Solution: We can bring real estate experts from around the world together, under one roof, where ideas can be shared and debated and consumers can really understand all of the forces that are driving their local markets.
For most of us, our homes are our biggest investments and our biggest liabilities. A home is also an emotional investment and somewhere we live for a long time, which, has huge impact on the trajectory of the rest of our lives. Yet – for some crazy reason – we as a public accept a patchwork of mostly platitudes and industry-spin as the reliable “facts” upon which we base our decisions.
How can this be?
Why has the public tolerated this? And why haven’t the more industry professionals stepped up to the plate?
Over the last decade, the real estate bubble and bust has not only ravaged our economy, but caused enormous pain to countless families.
The great shame is that it was completely preventable.
There was a small army of bloggers, civilians, and even industry professionals who saw what was happening and screamed from their mountain-tops. But their voices were drowned out by the shameless spin and pandering that we got not only from industry associations, but also from the talking heads on the news.
These are the people we should have been listening to. And these are the people – the true experts who deserve our attention and our business – who we should be listening to now.
Housingstorm.com is a place where consumers can find the best housing market news, data, and perspective – both the macro/global perspective and what’s happening in your neighborhood. We bring together content from the top real estate and economics bloggers (the ones who have been right all along) as well as content shared by local residents and real estate pros.
We are a marketplace of real estate ideas. Want to find a local agent or mortgage broker to work with? Hire them for their expertise, the advice the give, and what they actually say – not because of their cheesy slogan or glamour shot. Have questions about your town or neighborhood? Ask them and see who can give you a quality answer.
Argue, debate, question, demand competence… it’s your money!
You deserve more from a real estate professional.
I remember the exact day I decided to start housingstorm.com. I had just hung up the phone with a woman who had recently taken her $850,000 listing off of the market. It was in the fall of 2007. She had already moved into her new home. Her real estate agent had advised her to take it off the market and rent it for a year so she could get a better price next year.
I pleaded with this woman to reconsider. I begged her to look at the charts on my blog. “Just 10 minutes,” I said, to show her what a huge mistake she was making. But, she didn’t want to hear it.
By the next year, of course, that house had lost another $200,000 in value. And it was SO OBVIOUS! I was ashamed of my industry and sickened by the fact that a real estate agent was giving advice about something which they clearly had no clue. They had done no research. They were simply regurgitating the party line: that home prices are about to start going up again real soon.
If real estate agents were simply transactional, it wouldn’t matter. But we’re not. People ask us “market” questions all the time. Should I buy now? Should I sell? Should I invest? Should I consider a short sale or walking away? Should I take this offer? Is now the time to take action?
Housing is enormous – much bigger for most of us than our stocks or retirement accounts. And the public listens to the advice we give, even if it is crap. We have a huge responsibility to actually be real estate experts, but few of us even bother to learn about the economic forces that are driving home prices.
I’ve literally talked with hundreds and hundreds of people who have been burned by the real estate market, in part, because they got terrible advice from their agent.
And it’s not like the information was hard to find! By 2006, the “bubble bloggers” were getting pretty popular. Patrick, Mish, CR, Ben Jones, Larry Roberts, Eric Janszen, myself, and many others were getting big website traffic. Heck, by 2007 even the mainstream press was full of bearish-housing articles. But the industry snickered at us.
Back then, I was called “doom and gloom” by my peers. Fact is, they would rather be ignorant, ruin someone’s life, and collect a paycheck, than take even a few hours to learn what was actually happening in their industry.
Change the Culture. Change the World.
I’ll come out and say it: NAR and the other industry associations failed us. They failed the public with their continual positive spin and failed their members by stripping us of credibility.
I challenge all of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, escrow officers, home inspectors and other industry professionals our there: become a part of the solution.
The public needs integrity and honesty. They need sound advice from people who actually know what they are talking about. The market is volatile and will be for a long time to come. Consumers need actual experts to help them get through it.
Prove you are worth hiring. Prove your expertise. Prove you know what’s happening in your local community. Prove you actually care about your clients. Blog, share, debate, engage, argue…this is where learning happens. You are the expert – help your communities!
That’s the point of housingstorm.com.
I want an information revolution. The public is bleeding for it. And, frankly, we owe it to them.
Are you ready to be a part of the solution? Join me.