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Clarification of a news story...
Posted Thursday, December 4, 2008, at 11:48 AM<< Previous | Read comments | Respond | Email link | Next >>
I was sitting at home watching channel 4 news last night and it was reported that ERA Pacesetters (real estate firm) in Nashville has closed it's doors. The company was now closed and 250 EMPLOYEES had lost their jobs. I already knew of the office closing so that was not a shock but 250 employees did not lose their job. The news broke to their agents about three weeks ago and within a day or two almost every agent had transferred their license to a new office and continued right along. A real estate agent is an independent contractor not an employee. Every time a realtor does not have a client he or she is unemployed...we all work on commission. No one to sell to means no pay check. Yes, there were a few office employees that lost their job and this is not good, but the story was inaccurate in the numbers reported.
The economy was also blamed for the closing which is the biggest factor I am sure, but is not the only reason. Why bother with this? I just want the news to be accurate and in this case it was not. The numbers reported sounded like a large manufacturer had shut down and these guys lost their job and income. Many of the realtors that worked there are still in the business and are doing fine. They are not unemployed... at least not in the true sense of the word. Comments Showing comments in chronological order [Show most recent comments first] |
Kenneth Parker is a local real estate agent.
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There are way too many realators anyway..I would think only the best survive and a large number sell real estate as a second income.
Good luck to all real estate agents and others who base their income on sales.
I have often wondered how much better the economy would be without the media constantly telling us how bad it is. This is another example of the media and their "chicken little" behaviour. I am not blind to the fact or living in denial about the economy being slow. We have been beat over the head with how bad it is that we are scared to participate in the economy which makes everything worse. Instead of the media stretching the stories to make them seem worse than they are it would be beneficial to report things a little closer to the truth.
Ditto greasemonkey. While some news media may refrain, it seems that if there is any good news, they offset it with a big BUT from the negative side.
This newspaper covers our local news well and for the most part, leaves the national news to the big corporates. There are very hard times coming up for newspaper and I hope ours is able to see it through.
reader_2, There are quite a few realtors in the market and of course when things are good everyone thinks it looks easy and jumps in. Now that things have slowed a bit I am sure we will see a decline in the realtor numbers. In fact NAR is planning for about a 10% decline in 2009.
So... the economy has been in a recession for a full year and we didn't know that until two weeks ago. I do believe the media blows it out of proportion... ALL media that is. One news network/radio station (SuperTalk radio) said three months ago, "Don't listen to that liberal media, there is no recession..." and some even said "The fundamentals of the economy are sound" so yes. I wholeheartedly agree, the media needs to shut up and stop stretching the truth, regardless of which end of the spectrum it falls in.
darrick_04,
I think it was a presidential candidate that said the economy was sound, but I am not for sure. I cant say what is said on Super Talk radio, because I dont listen, but very rarely (they seem to have better coverage of severe weather).
I do believe that the media has played a large part in the recession, by altering peoples perception of the economy and causing people to keep their money in their pockets and not spend or invest. What problems the economy had, were only made worse by ALL media. I have a family member who is a prime example. He refuses to spend a dime on anything except neccesities, because he says "havent you watched the news, we are all gonna be out of job next week." He is not the only one, I hear it over and over and over. I personally havent had to adjust very much, except for when the gas got really high. I have less than excellent credit and I am fixing to close on my first home. I got an awesome deal on a house, and a good rate.
This recession should have just been a normal downturn in a cyclical economy, but with enormous govt interferenece and a "chicken little" media, it has grown into something much more.
darrick_04,
About time you commented, I havent had a person to argue with for a while and was starting to get a little depressed, lol.
Congrats on the house Greasemonkey! That is great. If more people that were in pretty good shape would do like you then we would work out of this thing alot quicker. People are scared to buy anything right now which makes things worse. I have been saying that for a while. I definitely do not think it is as bad as it seems on the news, and I understand being a little more careful with money. If we would all watch ourselves and not over extend in good times or bad then the economy would remain stable.
I believe the economy will work itself out pretty soon and things will pick back up. Its just going to take alot longer, with a govt and media telling you to stay home, get under the bed, and whatever you do, do not go outside. I actually seen a commercial the other day that was a govt funded ad where a pig tells a man not to buy a TV. I mean, that really helps alot. Overlooking the point that its not the govts business whether I buy a TV, how does that help a struggling economy.