Sunday, October 01, 2006

Housing Cheerleader Ad in Washington Post

"There is no such thing as a real estate bubble, it's called growth." - Creig Northrop

The full ad can be seen here (pdf). Hattip to the reader who dound the link to the ad.

22 comments:

  1. This guy has the same mentality as our tyrant Mr.Bushito. He's saying to himself -- " If I repeated enough times, it will be the truth " - in his mind he's clicking those heels really hard and saying -- I'm Dorothy, and let's go back to Kansas - click, click....

    But seriously, this dumbass is why we have a seirous problem in this country & are getting our hind whipped in Iraq... Instead of dealing in FACTS, these glorious idiots think & actually believe that P.R. & spin will actually make it happen. Denial, Denial -- no, I mean " the Nile, the Nile"

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  2. second the above. the people in the western world do not want to deal with facts! perception is reality blah, blah blah.

    iraq, afghanistan, peak oil, fiat money, rigged markets, job outsourcing...just keep telling yourself it will be alright....it makes me sick.

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  3. I started reading this rah rah article in the local (The Oklahoman) newspaper and I was like, who is the author of this tripe? Here is an excerpt:

    Get real about real estate 'bubble'

    By Mark Dale

    For most of the last year, the economic pundits have been forecasting gloom and doom for real estate values. The housing bubble is bursting, they predict. Some say with a loud POP! Others say a slow, hissing leak.

    While there are specific areas and circumstances in the country that may see a corrective downturn, we simply do not have this situation in Oklahoma. In fact, new construction, both residential and commercial, continues to be a steady stimulator to our local economies...

    Blah, blah, blah.

    The time to be looking and buying for Oklahomans is right now. Let the national media focus on those markets that overheated with speculators, high-end second homes, and overbuilt condo projects. In Oklahoma we are building real homes for real people with real jobs and real money.

    Translation: It's different here. Yeah, right. Here's the kicker, down at the bottom of the article, in little bitty letters, it says:

    Dale is a second generation Oklahoma City homebuilder and developer (Carriage Homes). He is a lifetime director of the National Association of Home Builders and a past president of the state and local associations.

    So you see, no reason to lie, this guy will give you the straight poop. Buy now, all is well!!

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  4. We need a clearer picture! or maybe a transcription ...

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  5. David - can you give us the date and page number?

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  6. Here's a link to the ad:

    http://www.northropteam.com/documents/BaltimoreSunad091006_000.pdf

    This guy is Maryland's top selling realtor. What a joke.

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  7. David -- I'm not sure if you've seen it, but there's been a hilarious ad for Mica in the Gazette for the past two weeks. It says something like -- "My parents co-signed for me" in big letters, and shows a youngish looking female. Basically it's trying to get kids to encourage their parents to buy overpriced condos for them. Hah!

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  8. lemme just say that once you understand the principle of "OPM" the last 5+ years makes perfect sense.

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  9. Wonder how much money this fella wasted in placing this piece in the Post. Maybe we should consider it a Darwinian-type of reduction in the gene pool, in this case, the fool's financial pool.

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  10. Denial yes, but in the USA today, everything from denial, to propaganda and spin are the ingredients that grease the wheels of this crappy economic reality- where everything is 'fine'.

    The more honest see the war in Iraq as a money drain on the economy, see the phoney war on terror for what is is- a political fear and spear tactic, that has not made us safe. Yes there are rigged markets, job losses and outsourcing and for a large number of Americans diminishing safety nets in an era ahead of changing demographics.

    You need not be a doom and gloomer to see there are significant problems in this 'pretty picture'. Complacency in the end will bring on a deadly storm which will probably make history and change the direction of the country for decades.

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  11. To the two posters above this one. Learn to follow the rules of this blog and perhaps you won't be so angry about the world.

    Here are the two rules that you failed to follow:
    1. Calling someone a dumbass is not acceptable per Dave... be civil.
    2. Stick to housing discussion and go to other places political ranting is more appropriate. There are plenty of places on the net for that.

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  12. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxylHPnoloI&eurl=

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  13. I wouldn't trust anyone who couldn't spell their first name.

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  14. Gentlemen,

    The housing bubble exists for a variety of reasons, but they all have little to do with the war in Iraq. It's quite simply due to cheap credit and the collapse of the tech bubble driving investors and speculators into real estate along with strong sentiments people have about owning their own home.

    That's _all!_

    All the conspiracy talk about GW on this forum reminds me of the good 'ol days when Clinton was president and my ultra-conservative buddies were convinced the UN was going to take over the country and confiscate private firearms.

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  15. We are about to be introduced to something that could be referred to as "Negative Growth"

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  16. The housing bubble is a myth, as noted by Ophra Winfrey the other day. She has a lot of real estate and should know better than most people what is going on. Also, rates are so low that buyers are buying everything up. We just lost 3 homes because there were 4 offers....I fear we're back to the sellers market again.

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  17. PolishKnight - I was in the Giant Supermarket on Route 7 across from Skyline last night. What a mess! That entire neighborhood is headed down; down fast and down hard. Peruvian gang activity, impoverished elderly folks living in those skanky high rises, throngs of women wearing hoods over their heads, traffic congestion, and a pitiful supermarket.

    You still like it there?

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  18. The saddest part is that the real estate agents in most states have lobbied for exemptions from state deceptive trade practices acts, so they can't be held accountable for this sort of sunshine-pumping. In most other industries, those who blatantly deceive consumers can be held legally accountable, especially those who hold themselves out as experts or licensed professionals. Not so for realtors. It's so sleazy. They tell the public--"you must rely on a professional, otherwise you won't know how much the house is really worth." But they won't accept the accountability that comes with being a true professional.

    I HOPE one of the results of this bubble bursting will be to strip real estate agents of their exemptions from consumer protection laws. "Professions" that won't self-regulate often find legislation targeting them.

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  19. Hello Sidv,

    F.C. is actually a pretty large place. We live about a 7 miles drive away from where you described. Putting that into perspective, that's probably about half the distance between some of DC's most and least expensive neighborhoods.

    Ironically, my wife LOVES Peruvian chicken but I agree that it's kind of skanky. But she doesn't care because she loves the fresh broiled chicken.

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  20. "We live about a 7 miles drive away from where you described."

    That puts you outside the beltway travelling due west. Due North, you're on the cusp of being in the Potomac river (or in DC) Due East, and you're in SE DC, and due South, and you're outside the Beltway again. Falls Church proper is inside the Beltway. So you must be less than 7 miles away from what is rapidly becoming one of Virginia's worst neighborhoods. When BRAC takes effect, that area is finished.

    DC isn't much more than 15 miles wide at its widest point, so its most and least expensive neighborhoods (say; Foxhall and Anacostia) are closer than 15 miles apart. 10 miles, at most.

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  21. Ok, I checked: 3.5 miles from our condo to the area you were talking about. (I guess our drive just seems longer in traffic).

    This puts into perspective how much "land" there is out there.

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