Comments for The Realtors are Not Always Honest at http://www.cepr.net , comment 1 to 3 out of 3 comments http://www.cepr.net Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:26:29 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/the-realtors-are-not-always-honest/#comment-1019 Mr Baker, you're doing yeoman's work. Thank you. My point, or "take-away", from this latest correction to the record of yours is that the reckless, feckless laziness of the majority of press outlets allows and even encourages the proliferation of false information that time-and-again proves injurious on a societal scale. In the spirit of their reporting, as I characterize it, these very same gatekeepers of the disinformation distribution system are shocked and insulted when their culpability in creating an atmosphere that corrodes common-sense, self-interest and verity. Frankly, I'm amazed that the basic, legalistic principles of evidentiary "chains-of-custody" are ignored and/or denounced when, as you show Mr Baker, press outlets consume then uncritically regurgitate gossamer lies. I'll spare everyone, myself included, the logical "next-step" connection to "hype" bubbles, contempt for the media and Huxlian aphorisms of Braver Worlds. - William Hurley Wed, 16 Jun 2010 07:53:26 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/the-realtors-are-not-always-honest/#comment-1017 As a Realtor for 35 years I was upset that the National Organization of Realtors went so far to the right. By 2006 everyone knew massive fraud was taking place in addition to loans being funded that should have been tossed in the trash. But organized real estate kept quiet and made sure that members kept quiet as whistleblowers. My early years in real estate were honest largely due to the members who would blackball those with poor ethics. Time to shine a spotlight on not only organized real estate but the money-laundering Chamber of Commerce. - LillithMc Wed, 16 Jun 2010 06:31:21 +0100 http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/the-realtors-are-not-always-honest/#comment-1013 This is a very disturbing attack on realtors. Any economist knows that realtors, like other labor, earn their living from producing real output. They don't just sign up multiple listings and wait for random jackpots like gamblers and bankers with no downside risk. As for fraudulent backdating, this is what happens when the government interferes in a free housing market with a tax credit. If new contracts plunged to free up mortgage worker time for contracts signed in April, that means fewer buyers have been fooled into believing they get a discount off the full price of the house, when all that really happens is the price is raised in the first place enough to offset the discount and shift the gains to the sellers, including the realtors. The tax credit is designed to keep house prices higher than otherwise, not to give buyers a discount lower than otherwise. It's like selling houses with four outside walls. Buy four walls and get the roof for free. Stupid liberals. - izzatzo Wed, 16 Jun 2010 04:03:40 +0100