I often feel like an important part of my role is to provide a broader perspective for my clients and readers. If you read this San Francisco real estate blog and/or have met me, you probably know that I’m not a big fans of “screaming headlines” or “flock of sheep” investing strategies.
There is an expression in journalism: “If it bleeds, it leads.” Recently, one of my mentors said, “You know, good news just doesn’t sell.” At least, it doesn’t sell on the front page!
Plenty of different perspectives and ways of thinking can be found in newspapers around the country. If you look just a little closer, and past page one, you’ll see a deeper explanation of any given headline.
Take the so-called “Mortgage Meltdown.” If you read the Chronicle and only the Chronicle, you might be thinking, “Holy cow, the market tanking! The real estate market, the stock market, the bond market, the private equity market, the international market, all of them!! OMG, I better sell off everything that I’ve got, move into a rental and hide beneath the bed with my cash & kin!”
Yet, if you read just one other paper, say the New York Times, you might think, “Okay, we’re having some trouble. This may impact me in the short-term. I’m not sure where this will lead or when it’s going to end. It’s a cycle though and mostly, a normal correction of the overly lenient markets of this last real estate and stock boom. I’ll just hang tight and see how it plays out. Or (for those of you with some gumption) I’ll take advantage of this hysteria and buy myself some items on sale: stocks, real estate.”
Take a peek at the following articles. See what I mean?
