Friday, February 27, 2009

Land(ing) in the Sacramento Bee

Today, the Sacramento Bee mentioned this blog for the first time.

[A] prominent real estate blog, Sacramento Land(ing), which has chronicled the housing bust for three years, has announced it is scaling back "due to time constraints."

Some loyal Land(ing) readers are seeing the pullback – and departure of other housing bubble bloggers – as a sign that most of the collapse has happened now and the bottom is approaching. Land(ing)'s author – whose identity is not known – was defiantly a bear when most in the real estate industry were bulls. He recently counseled his audience, "The story is not over yet. The 'landing' is still in progress."
LOL! I guess I should scale back more often ;)

13 comments:

Buying Time said...

"mentioned this blog for the first time"

Seriously? That is rather distressing news....your blog certainly has more credibility than the RE "experts" they quote by name.

I would have to guess it is because they have an anonymous sources policy...apparently a Bee journalist a couple years back made up a lot of stuff, and gave them a huge black eye nationally...so they are very loathe to not have a name associated with content....

But it still seems odd given the fact that you have a longstanding and very influential blog.....

Lander said...

In fairness, the Bee (along with the local NPR station) sought an interview back in 2006, but I declined because of my preference for anonymity.

Buying Time said...

Glad to hear they at least tried....I would hate to think that they are that far behind the curve.

The business model of the MSM is in serious need of repair, but they still play a very important watchdog role when it comes to government and corporations.

And without the Bee, I woudn't have access to DQ data each month.

Giacomo said...

Congrats, Lander, on the MSM press notice; it was overdue.

I have wonder if the "preference for anonymity" itself creates a slant in MSM reporting.

I was approached by a Zillow publicist recently, looking for an informed renter-by-choice to give some sort of testimony on broadcast media segment. But they required real names disclosed, so I declined (I have an interest in not showing my hand to every Realtor and house seller in the county!)

Which gets me wondering: who DID they find for that interview, and what sort of color did that person - someone who WAS willing to publicly disclose their financial plans -- add to the story? Perhaps the citizens we hear from in MSM RE articles are not typical at all, but slant towards the clueless...

PeonInChief said...

Ferhevensake, they're always quoting "unnamed administration sources" and the like. As long as they know you exist, they don't have to name you.

Josh said...

apparently a Bee journalist a couple years back made up a lot of stuff, and gave them a huge black eye nationally...so they are very loathe to not have a name associated with content....

They gave me the same line once, but it's always been the practice of journalists to cover themselves by publishing the full names of the people they interview.

Some of us prefer anonymity for personal reasons, but I stick to it because of who I work for and the lack of liability protection. Corporate journalists have corporate councils to protect them from lawsuits. Private bloggers do not, and even a frivolous lawsuit can bankrupt you. ML-Implode was almost destroyed because of a frivolous suit, and they have VC! OCRenter's fate is another example.

Believe me, I'd love to become a public citizen blogger, but not if I'm risking my family's future by pissing off the wrong moneyed interest.

Rich said...

"Some loyal Land(ing) readers are seeing the pullback – and departure of other housing bubble bloggers – as a sign that most of the collapse has happened now and the bottom is approaching."

WHAT? WHO? That's pure fiction. I don't think I can't recall any regular posters saying the end is near. Even those of us jumping in are doing so knowing we're going to watch our property 'value' continue to decline.

BFB said...

Hey Lander,

Just a thank you for all you've done from a sometimes poster but a long time lurker.

This blog and number of others, as well as their collective community, have been far more informative than any of the "mainstream" media.

The mere mention of your blog in the Bee is a sign of where we're at (no, not the bottom).

BFB

PS: BT, you don't need the Bee, just go to the source at dqnews.com

2cents said...

They only mentioned your blog now because they could put a pro-housing spin on it. It's like, look! even the bears are giving up!

The Bee is so biased, it's incredible. I think Wasserman is paid directly by home builders. Even lately, as housing prices continue to plunge, the Bee's story isn't about lower prices, it's all about increased sales. You have to read between the lines to find out that prices are still dropping and most of those sales are foreclosures.

More and more I see that people are scared to death of deflation catching on. Everyone wants price stability and the return of demand, especially in housing.

patient renter said...

You have to read between the lines to find out that prices are still dropping and most of those sales are foreclosures.

Yep. That's not my idea of a bottom.

norcaljeff said...

I think one could derive that the news is so bad, and the articles are coming at such a fast pace, one would need to scale back due to the amount of time it takes to read through all the material and post it. I'd hardly say its a bottom. The guy who was doing the Pacific Beach RE blog stopped 2 years ago, and I don't recall real estate in San Diego bottoming 2 years ago. Get a clue Sac Bee!!! You'll be the next paper to go bankrupt due to poor and biased "reporting."

sold2soon said...

I'm sure Wasserman reads this blog & may even post, but that we will never know. His comment, "Some loyal Land(ing) readers are seeing the pullback – and departure of other housing bubble bloggers – as a sign that most of the collapse has happened now and the bottom is approaching" is something that I read here in a post when Lander announced he may be quitting. Who knows if Wasserman read it here or posted it himself. When I first read the comment I was wondering who it was referring to because I haven't noticed a pullback, although I mainly read here & Mr. Mortgage. I wouldn't say MM is calling a bottom anytime soon, unless he gets death threats or something.

Jacob said...

Hey at 60% off peak I would say most of the collapse has happened. I mean there is only at most 40% more to go...

I do remember posts from people thinking the time was getting right to buy since a lot of the blogs were ending and the people running those blogs had started to buy themselves. But that doesn't mean we are at the bottom, just that it is starting to make more sense for people to start buying than it did a few years ago.

Cost of owning vs renting is working out better. Cost of the home price vs income is getting better etc.

But if we keep shedding 500k jobs a month the bottom will keep moving. It doesn't matter what the homes cost if you dont have a job.