Friday Flashback: “We’re going fight the media”

Posted on by The Tim

Here’s a gem in a KOMO article from July 2008: "Open House" — sign of the times in Snohomish County

Real estate agents in Snohomish County are now resorting to a “shock treatment” for slouching home sales in their area.

Chris LamoreauxRealtors advertised more than 400 open houses over the weekend. Agents say they hope playing the numbers game adds-up to more home sales.
…
Chris Lamoreaux says the housing market story is more than just numbers.

“We’re going fight the media (sic) that’s been negative about the housing market,” he said. “The real estate market in Snohomish County and the Puget Sound is excellent.”

At this point Seattle-area home prices were already down 8% from their peak a year earlier. They proceeded to drop another 27% before bottoming out nearly four years later.

If only that darn media hadn’t been so negative.

If you like, you can read my 2008 comments on this article here.

The purpose of our Friday Flashback series is to remind people why it’s never a good idea to base your home purchase decisions on the word of someone with a vested financial interest in selling as many homes as possible for as much as possible, no matter what. If you’ve got a good example of local home salespeople or other industry shills on record making fools of themselves in the years before the bubble burst, shoot me an email.