“So…How’s business?” I hear that question a lot from friends, clients and people I meet that learn that I’m a Realtor. Some ask this question with real concern in their voice…like they feel real empathy for me and anticipate I’m going to answer that business is just awful. I smile usually and say something like “well…business is OK…not terrific like we were all used to in record years a couple years ago…but it’s a decent market.”I’m not sure everyone believes me, but I guess I can understand why. Most get their information about the economy either directly or indirectly from the news media. The media has been pounding everyone non-stop with negative news about the economy for over a year and going on two now. What passes unnoticed usually though is that the news is nationalized…Meaning the stats from other market areas or the whole country are rolled into one. The problem with that is that real estate is sold in local markets only, and what happens in another area of the country doesn’t mean it’s happening here.
There is a predicatable pattern that the news media uses to pick their stories. They look until they find something somewhere that’s gone wrong and report about it. The story always contains some kind of shock factor to attract an audience. It’s also a story that’s picked because it raises concern in a viewer’s mind about their own well being so they want to watch. If people tune in then their ratings go up, and it improves their odds to sell expensive advertising time. Not surprising that news programs are the most profitable of all the network programming.
So I guess what I’m saying is don’t believe everything you read or hear in the media. Consider the source and their motive. Instead, I’d enjoy it if people continue to ask me “How’s business?” I’ll tell them the whole truth and give some real numbers too.
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