At the end of March, I was fortunate to be asked to be a guest on a national radio show called The Takeaway. There is an accompanying blog post here and you can listen to the 8 minute radio interview from there. As fun as it might be to be a part of a radio show, I wouldn’t have done this if not for the basic premise that differed from much of what we hear from the media.

The premise here was that the market is shifting — for the better. The interview came because of another blog post I wrote that was picked up in the research of a national reporter showing something different than what we hear from most “media” sources. Basically, some professional insight backed up with statistics that shows something different than the gloom and doom we hear which is partially fueling the perception problems many of us are seeing in the market today.

What I’m really trying to say is that we are our local experts and when we take the time to articulate the information and experience that we have, we can make a difference and with the mindset of many buyers today, we need all the help we can give to each other! We are the professionals in our market and we need to actively participate in the dialogue lest we spend our time complaining rather than helping the cause.

There are lots of ways us Realtors can do this; post insight to our own blogs, other social media like Facebook where you can link to important statistics, comment on real estate stories in your local paper — not just the big ones either. The small local ones matter too and. Last but not least, emails to our database make a difference.

There is so much negativity that pours from the traditional news sources that if we don’t in some way help to balance the view, we might as well be pouring gasoline on the fire. Don’t blame them, just participate. Be active in some way that can help consumers see that there is light at the end of the tunnel, that there are good reasons to buy houses now and that using a real estate professional is in their best interest. Just don’t try to sound like the NAR or the public might not believe you

People want the truth, but, the general media can’t provide them information that real estate professionals can.

It doesn’t need to be a national platform like this one and it doesn’t need to be some technologically advanced video presentation that looks snazzy with the latest graphics. It just needs to be real information that is helpful to consumers. No cheerleading or rah rah. An honest assessment of where we are, what is good, what is bad and how to best leverage the current market whether that answer is for people to stay put, break out the champagne or somewhere in between because what people want more than anything is the truth provided to them in an easy to understand format. Not spin, and not doom and gloom.