Reading things that I didn't write...

edited September 2007 in Seattle Real Estate
Tim--I appreciate the fact that you are willing to mix it up. That's what you were invited to do, after all. Too bad you can't seem to do it in a constructive way, or you might actually find people would be willing to listen to what you have to say.

We get somewhere around 9,000 visitors a month. We're not promoting a particularly controversial agenda here, thus, fewer readers. People love a controversy and it is the oldest tactic there is for getting lots of readers to come to a blog. The more wild-eyed ones' assertions, the more popular a site tends to become in the blogosphere. Plus, people love to villainize someone else when their own lives aren't measuring up to expecations. You seem to have quite a bit of that going on over on your site. That hate-filled, us-against-them mentality tends to make a site pretty popular too.

I had thought once of taking one of your anti-realtor posts and substituting the word "realtor" for something else--some other group that has historically been despised. It would be interesting. You level a lot of claims against us in the industry, some of which might be fair criticism. But as with all arguments that contain generalizations and stereotypes, the overall level of discussion says more about the person writing than it does about the subject.

In other words, there is a point at which a belief becomes an "ism" and your website would indicate that you are beyond that point. All isms, whether it's capitalism, socialism or bubbleism, start with the seed of a belief that may be valuable but it's the inability to tolerate opposing viewpoints that make it dangerous.

Not that I find you particularly dangerous per se. Just intolerant.
Does anyone have any clue what this lady is talking about? Seriously, it's like she's reading Housing Panic, but thinks she's reading Seattle Bubble or something. I don't get it.

P.S. (This isn't a call to go leave antagonistic comments on that post. I'm just honestly confused by Ms. Kaduce's sentiment, and wondered if anyone had any ideas where it came from.)

Comments

  • I think Realtors(tm) are starting to feel they are under siege.

    Their livelihood is at stake, and they are quick to take offense at even the mildest criticism.
  • Well, how about a psychological explanation? Although I am by no means a psychologist, it does sound like the interplay has a bit of Kleinian projective identification mixed in.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Projective_identification

    She's accusing you of doing what she actually does. Example: Tim promotes realtor hate talk. Yet in the comment thread, she engages in bubble hate talk.
  • Sorry, I went and posted there. Sandy is so clueless and belligerent I just couldn't help but comment on a few things.

    As to the reason she's so snappy, I agree with biliruben. When she joined on the blog she was probably dreading you and the other "bubbleheads" coming over and refuting her with actual data and common sense. She may have even seen the mayhem over on some posts at RCG, where housing permabulls and realtors are routinely put in their place and was trembling in fear. So she readied up a bunch of statements she thought she would use on you and when the inevitable came she pulled the trigger too fast and too many times than was warranted in the situation. Overcompensation.
  • Bah. Conversations like that tick me off. What's the use in trying to be rational and explain yourself to someone, when they're only interested in seeing you as the vile enemy? I hope for her sake that she never raises the ire of Keith over at Housing Panic. Yikes.

    I've said all I'm going to say to her in that thread, but I do want to comment here on her reply to my request. I love how out of the five assertions I pointed out that she directed specifically at me ("too bad you can't seem to do it in a constructive way"), she was only able to come up with two posts as examples, and pretty flimsy examples at that.
    • "hate-filled, us-against-them mentality" - She admits that I don't exhibit this at all, but pins it on the commenters.
    • "anti-realtor posts" - You'll notice that there was a distinct lack of commentary in the "Suzanne pt. 2" post, because I chose to let the source material speak for itself. I definitely didn't say anything specific about realtors. If she feels that reality is "anti-realtor" then I can't do much about that. In the "anxiety" post, I simply opined on what I perceived real estate professionals and news writers to be feeling, as evidenced by what they wrote. Don't really see how that was "anti-realtor" either.
    • "generalizations and stereotypes" - Brings up the used car salesman analogy and Glengarry Glen Ross, neither of which have I ever used.
    • "inability to tolerate opposing viewpoints" - again pins it on the commenters.
    • "wild-eyed assertions" - Down 2 to 5% per year for 7 to 15 years is "wild-eyed"?!? Wow. Just wow. Clearly we have very different paradigms.
    people love to villainize someone else when their own lives aren't measuring up to expecations
  • I think Jillayne nailed it. That has to be the absolute worst (best?) example of critisizing someone for what you do yourself that I have ever seen. It's almost like she went systematically down the list of everything she accused you of doing and explicitly did them herself. It would be hilarious if it weren't so sad.

    Chalk up another realtor I'd never do business with. I wonder if they realize there are potential clients reading their personal attacks?
  • For the record, I regret making the comment about the number of hits SB gets, and asking how many SREP gets. She said she was trying to be funny, so I thought we were engaging in good-natured ribbing at that point. Given her impassioned response, it would seem that "good-natured" was not the actual direction of the conversation. I should have just let it drop. Oh well.
  • If I were a realtor I'd be a little angry and frustrated too. Although they've been able to live in denial for a little while now, the numbers will soon obliterate that denial.

    It was reported today that sales in LA dropped 50% YOY. 50%! Imagine if your business experienced that kind of drop, you'd be spiteful too.

    http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laland/
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