I know a lot of folks in real estate are happy to see 2010 behind us… but viewing 2011 with a rather skeptical eye. Me, I’ve been surprised to find that somewhere along the way, I’ve become an optimist.
I’m looking at 2011 with the belief that it will be a better year than 2010 was, because as tough as 2010 was for the real estate market in our local community, statistically, it was still far better than 2009 when this market seemed to hit absolute rock bottom. So to me, from an analytical point of view, it can only get better.
A few weeks ago, I was installed as president of the Golden Isles Association of REALTORS® for 2011, so perhaps my optimism is tainted by the position where I feel I have to put a positive face forward… perhaps I am. In all honesty, however, I think that’s what all of us in real estate should be doing. We need to send out the unified message to the public that we still have faith in home ownership, that we still believe in the American dream despite the beating it’s taken over the last few years, that we are in this profession because we are dedicated to helping people and improving our communities.
There is nothing worse than hearing a REALTOR® rattle off their litany of woes in public. People hear it. People believe it. It perpetuates the fear and doubt in the public psyche. It does no one any good.
Just like a smile, optimism breeds optimism. You know what I mean… you see a stranger and you smile. 99.9% of the time, that stranger will smile back. So try it with optimism and see what happens.
Happy Optimistic 2011 Everyone!!!
That's me getting installed as 2011 President by John A. Kaufmann, a member emeritus for our Association. Special thanks to Amy Mooney for this photo!
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Watching the Atlanta local news and there was a story that caught my attention. But before I get to that… a little background: Recently, an agent told me that a home her company manages for rental showed up on Craigslist for rent at a really low price. Their own contract with the owner required them to ask much higher. She asked me if this could possibly be a scam.
Well, in Atlanta, they’ve just arrested a woman who had posted a home on Craigslist she didn’t own for rent and took deposits for this home from all the callers who were interested. The tenants showed up at the house thinking they were going to move in and found instead a bunch of other ‘suckers’ (for lack of a better word) standing around thinking they were moving in as well. As you can imagine, mayhem ensued.
Craigslist has been under a lot of scrutiny lately regarding ‘other’ types of listings, but in their defense here for real estate, they actually do have a large link at the top of their Rental Page on ‘Avoiding Scams’ and it clearly tells you never to hand money over to someone you have not met, among other common sense things.
