As I read and view the "Defy the Trends" presentations, I am struck by a couple of observations. The segments are extremely well done and very much to the point in debunking the numbers and stats being spewed out from the national media. I understand that this is what is needed, but I don't want us to lose sight of the real world picture. It's easy to get caught up in the numbers, and we know that people can manipulate statistics to say what they want. For that reason we need to help people focus on the housing situation as it relates to their everyday lives.
Take a family with two breadwinners (or just one) who enjoy solid employment, steady, predictable income. They have the need for a new home, perhaps with more room, better configuration for their family's lifestyle, better efficiency, preferred location and/or updated technology.
They can afford it and they want it. Why should they be swayed or discouraged by some national housing figures? They need it, they want, they can afford it and it's there, yet they hear a talking head in a New York newsroom tell them it's a bad idea, and amazingly, THEY LISTEN!
Hopefully our campaign will put them back on track to live their lives as they can and should. Why should they sit back? What is the logic? Do they have some alternative investment that is going to alleviate their housing needs? Is their existing home a better investment?
Probably not, and it certainly doesn't cure the enhanced housing need that they have and can afford. Putting these people on the right track is what this is all about, not just refuting the statistics that are out there.
I also took some amusement from a couple of the people that have responded to the campaign. One in particular stated that there must be a problem or else why would we be going to all this trouble to rebut. Well there is a problem...it is one of PERCEPTION. We are not trying to disguise the situation, just explain it like it really is. Thank you for helping us make our point.
Another respondent questioned why so many new home ads talked about price reductions and "sales". Well, this is nothing more than clever marketing. Have you ever know an automobile dealer not to take advantage of a hail storm to have a sale? Or a model change? Or a new location? Or a Holiday? That's just contemporary marketing, using the hot topic to catch attention.
Mark Dale is a builder and owner of Carriage Homes. He is a past President of the Oklahoma State Home Builders Association, was COHBA President in 1990, and currently serves as the Vice President/Treasurer of COHBA. He will serve his second term as President in 2010, and appears in the Validation video for the Defy The Trends Campaign..
