Fort Worth Real Estate Online

I wasn't expecting this to happen.  Not at all.  It came out of left field... way out... near the warning track.

I was reading the New York Times online, and there was a story about the New York State Senate's highest-ranking Republican... Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno.   Bruno Won’t Seek Re-Election - NYTimes.com

I am sure those of you who regularly read my blog posts know my political leanings are strongly Democratic, but this has nothing to do with politics.  Nothing at all.

Mr Bruno had just met with his Republican colleagues in the New York State Senate, and informed them that he would not be running for re-election this November.  Mr Bruno, at age 79, said that after 32 years in office, he had decided it was "time to move on" and make room for what he called "new representation."

And then it came... .  Bruno's colleagues expressed their sorrow and disappointment at his leaving.  One state senator said:  Mr Bruno had been under considerable stress in recent months.  He said that Bruno had lost his wife, Bobbie, to whom he had been married for 57 years, this past January.

For some reason... maybe it was because I myself have been noticing my own "advancing age."  Or perhaps it's because I still grieve over my own personal divorce some 26 years ago... my divorce from my childhood sweetheart whom I had loved since I was eleven years old.

But it hit me.  This dear man... whether he really is "dear" or not... this man, Joseph Bruno, had spent the last fifty-seven years of his life with his beloved wife Bobbie.  And then, five months ago, his "bride" passed away.

I just sat there... almost frozen.  Here I have grieved over a personal loss of a 26 year relationship, and this gentleman loses his wife, his help-mate, who must have been such a major part of his life for 57 years.

All of a sudden... his beloved wife is gone.  By comparison, my grief seemed like a mini-series when compared to his life-long-running epic.

How does one handle that ?  How does one recover ?  Does one ever recover ?   What must this man be going through ?

Joseph Bruno... you don't know me... but you are in my thoughts.  Take care...

I just read a post written by Rebecca Levinson entitled  You don't have to bend over backward to pay it forward .  I felt so good about what Rebecca had to say, I wanted to share my comment to her... with you.

Rebecca:  I cannot tell you how great it is to finally read about someone who believes as I do.  There have also been times... not many... but times when I have felt I have received excellent customer or personal service... either on the phone, or in person at a store.

The most recent was about three weeks ago when I stopped at a newly-opened Best Buy store.  I needed three things... a memory stick for my camera, a DVD that I had trouble finding, and a connection cord for my computer.  I am not what you would call a techie, so I needed help. 

Even though this Best Buy had only been open about two weeks, I ended up being helped by three extremely helpful members of their staff.  When I was checking out, I asked the cashier to call the store manager for me.  She did... although the cashier had a very "worried" look on her face.  When the manager came up to the front, I told her all about the great service I had just been given.  I tried to describe the three staff members who waited on me, and then asked the manager if she could call those three people to come to her.

She did, and in front of the manager and each individual staff member of the three who waited on me, I told the manager what great service these three gave me, and then thanked the manager for having each of them "on her team."  What a great feeling... for everyone involved.  One of the three staff members was near tears.  The other two were just beaming.  The manager almost seemed visibly shaken that I would take the time to do that.  Needless to say... it was a very memorable visit.

Yes... taking the time to compliment people in front of their supervisors is extremely important.  Rebecca... thank you for what you did with your laptop person and her boss, and also thank you for sharing it with us.  I just wanted you to know that you were not alone in doing things like this.  Rebecca... just think... together you and I, and others like us, can change the world.  Thanks again for sharing.  Take care.

For some reason, in addition to the national media continuing to paint the entire country with the ultra-negative news that is mostly happening in four states... California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada... too many individual Realtor agents also do not seem to be able to tell the difference between "the sky is falling everywhere" and "all real estate is local."

In a recent post, another Active Rain member was singing the same "paint the bad news with a broad brush" song with his negative mentality.

Below is a quote from that particular post:

Said the author:  "I was either bold or crazy enough to suggest that the overall drop in home prices across the country announced is"Good News"!! "

Many of his readers responded thusly:

I believe what those who attempting to question you were trying to say... myself included... was that your all-encompassing statement was not true. 

What I and the rest were trying to share with you is that there has NOT been an "overall drop in home prices across the country."  There are many, many areas where prices have NOT dropped... and are actually appreciating in value.

What I/we were objecting to is how you were choosing to paint a nationwide picture with a broad brush... that prices have dropped everywhere.  They Have Not !

There was another article put out by CNN/Money Magazine about foreclosures... and how they are rising at a record-setting pace.  It turns out that 89% of the foreclosures were from FOUR states... Arizona, Nevada, California and Florida.  The other 46 states had only 11% of the total foreclosures.

I am sorry the market in Arizona has experienced such a horrid drop in prices... but both of your (the writer's) posts made it sound like prices in the entire country have had a major drop... which they have not.

As a personal note... I have grown so weary of the national news media... as recently as yesterday morning on the Today Show... having so-called "real estate experts" on their programs showing their blatant lack of real estate market knowledge.  It just seems even more bizarre that so many agents inside "the business" continue to show that they don't know what they are talking about, either !

I have seen many Active Rainers write about the high price of gasoline, and or course... complain about it.  Most say they are driving less, and are trying to do the various things they can to keep their mileage to a minimum. 

Now, I know there are many things we can all do to minimize trips to the office... or to be more organized when we're out and about previewing or doing other Realtor or personal errands... but that is not the subject of this post.

I have read time and time again how agents really do not want to "cart" people around from house to house... showing them homes, and wasting gas.

I take a little different view.  I am wondering what the reaction will be from buyers when they call or email agents, and the agents start simply giving them home addresses to "drive by" and then hoping they will call that agent back if they want to see certain particular homes.

I am guessing that with the cost of gasoline being so high... these buyers who call and call... or email us... pestering us on and on... will not want to waste "their" gas... and will be more likely to meet with an agent they perceive as professional... sign a Buyer Representation Agreement... and finally get some good service from an agent who actually believes in giving good customer service.

It may cost me more, and some might see it as being foolish or wasteful on my part... but all I need is to make just one single sale because of it... and I have paid for my gasoline bill for an entire year !

Another doom and gloom report was issued by the Mortgage Bankers Association today, Thursday, June 5, 2008.  As usual, the headlines of this article blare "Home Foreclosures Soar to New Record."

It is just one more blatant example of the media painting the nation's real estate market with a very broad brush.

Jay Brinkman, vice-president of research and economics with the Mortgage Bankers Association, had more nasty news for us.  The following is from the Thursday "quarterly snapshot" of the mortgage market.

"The number one problem is the drop in home prices," Brinkman said. Declining prices, especially in newer built areas, "are hurting people's ability to recover when they run into trouble - a divorce or loss of job," he said. "In other days, you could sell the home. But because home prices have fallen so much, in many of those cases, the homes are going into foreclosure."

Mr Brinkman continues to say the following:

"California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona accounted for 89 percent of the total increase in new home foreclosures, he said. Those are places where prices have fallen sharply and there was a lot of home building, creating too much supply, Brinkmann said."

Why do they do this ?  If you simply subtract the 89% of the current foreclosures in these four states from the total 100% of the foreclosures... the article could have been presented in a much different manner.

What a different picture it would paint if the real truth of Mr Brinkman's study said that "The Great Majority of States... 46 out of 50 states in the United States... had only 11% of the national foreclosures.

There are "two sides" to the current statistics from The Mortgage Bankers Association report.  One side is straight out of hell.  The other side... well, it says that things are nowhere near as bad as the national media portrays the real estate market to be.

Presenting economic news in such a jaded way could be labelled "economic terrorism."  My question is... How Do We Bring Some Accountability to the National News Media ?