WLWT’s Irresponsible Reporting on the Cincinnati Real Estate Market

Here is my letter to Richard Dyer GM of WLWT Channel 5 Cincinnati. The hypocrisy of this news station to advise people to not use Realtors is irresponsible. Please voice your opinions on this to him.

Mr. Dyer:

I just saw a teaser for a story that you plan to run on Monday, June 8 about how people no longer need real estate agents to sell their home. As a Cincinnati realtor and real estate blogger, I am disappointed that you would encourage the public to stop using realtors for many reasons. There are many situations when people engage in business and hire professionals to mitigate their personal and financial risk. We rely on  lawyers, and even dentists to perform their jobs and keep us safe. It is entirely conceivable that anyone could pull a tooth, or even represent themselves in court without the counsel of these professionals. It is my belief that you would see it as egregiously irresponsible to run a story on how to represent yourself in court using resources you can find online, or how to excise an abscessed tooth using tools you in your garage.

In this economy, when Channel 5 you are promoting job fairs and unemployment reports I feel it is disturbing that you are encouraging people to not patronize the real estate professionals that deliver documented value to their customers. There is genuine peril in real estate transactions that could lead people to financial loss, losing their homes, and risking exposure to lawsuits. It is disingenuous to tell people to put themselves in a risky situation without professional assistance when the research proves that they will make more money and have less risk when they use a licensed professional real estate agent even with commissions. For once, the news should present the facts backed up by research instead of what shortcuts people can take that they perceive will save them money, when in reality it does the opposite.

Essentially your station is encouraging people to buy or sell the largest investment that they can make in their lives without getting professional representation. I think you should present the facts to the public, and the facts are that houses sold by realtors are on the market for shorter periods of time and net higher sale prices than homes that are sold by owner even with commissions. There is a lot more to selling a home than just posting photos on the web and getting a check in the mail. The process of buying and selling a home involves legally required disclosures, strategic market placement, contracts, negotiations, inspections, and in today’s market a lot of navigating the red tape of the financial system which many lay people do not understand. I hope that you will reconsider how you present the story on Monday. If you need research to support my claim please email me as I would be happy to email you articles or direct you to the sources of much of the real estate research: The Cincinnati Board of Realtors, The National Association of Realtors have a lot of data to support these facts.

Regards,

Alison Moss