Would You Buy a House from this Man?

The CEO of the nation's #1 builder, D.R. Horton's Donald Tomnitz, told Wall Street analysts, according to The Associated Press: "I don't want to be too sophisticated here, but '07 is going to suck, all 12 months of the calendar year."

You have to love this kind of candor from a CEO. Let's face it, the guy has the balls to call it like he sees it, damn the torpedoes. Him, I like. But, more importantly, I find myself thinking that I could TRUST him.

Unlike most in the RE industry at this point, he's not trying to sell me some BS, pie-in-the-sky rhetoric about why I should buy a home now so he can land a couple of transaction. He's looking at the longer term, recognizing the fact that what he says today will be remembered tomorrow. He KNOWS that his reputation and credibility are on the line and he's behaving like a professional and telling like it is. There is one huge lesson here for everyone in the RE industry.

There's a saying in the Sales profession:

You buy from people you trust. You trust the people you like.

When I buy my home, you can be it bet it will be from parties I trust. Case in point, if I decided to buy new, my first stop is going to be at a D R Horton development. They have earned to right to try and win my business. These other developers? Not so much.

The same logic applies when you are buying an existing home. Why buy a home from a realtor where they're trying BS you about the market? If they're not being honest about the market, what else aren't they telling you? When a realtor tries to pump up the market, he is acting in HIS interest not YOUR interests. This ought to be a HUGE red-flag for you and you ought to really consider heading for the door.

Realtors have got to realize that every sales transaction requires TWO parties, both a seller AND a buyer. No buyer, no transaction: it's that simple. Yet, all the propaganda is coming out of the NAR is all bullish and pure bullshit. No self-respecting well-informed buyer is believes this nonsense and it is killing their credibility. Many agents aren't any better. Take these two yahoos as examples:

"Here we go again! For those of you who speculated a drastic decrease in residential property sales and prices... think again! Prices are increasing as I type this "opinion" and will once again result in a mad scramble for anything in Orange County with four walls and a roof. It likely won't be as ridiculous as it was last year however, but it will be similar. Buyers should buy now before summer prices escalate. Sellers should list their property around the beginning of April." As Quoted in Realty Times.

For buyers who have been waiting "for the bubble to burst," it's not looking very hopeful," says Realtor Vicki Lloyd. "For the beginning of the year, it is starting to look a lot like last year, but with higher prices. County-wide, our inventory levels have fallen back to less than two months supply, and well-priced homes are again selling within days of coming on the market." As Quoted in Realty Times.

Do I even need to point out how severely these two are wrong? I won't bother. But I will ask you this question: "Would you buy a house from either of these people?" I wouldn't and I won't. If they can spread BS around like this, how could possibly consider involving them in a transaction of several hundred thousand dollars? They have NO credibility and I, for one, do not trust them.

We may be bears, but we have memories like elephants. We are going to remember who tried to manipulate the market and who was honest. If you're a realtor and you ever want a chance to earn our business you'd better start shooting straight.

Vivo los Osos!