I’m not saying this is going to happen but if someone was to place an advert in our daily papers to counter the lies that the VIs are outputting, what would you have in the ad?
Remember it needs to be absolutely simplistic and not too long.
Why not give it a go and post your ad here and we’ll see what happens.
Might be better to get the site the “home fiction” site up and running, then use viral advertising to get it in the media.
To get a reaction you would need an advert along the lines of Future Shock saying something like
“YOUR HOUSE IS WORTH 33% LESS ACCORDING TO THE IMF” and then ask people who they can believe about the value of THEIR property if this is true? below this I would list the property drops in the UK,Spain and the USA. That should put the cat among the pidgeons and the s*** will be flying at all angles from VIs. You could probably accomplish the whole this in about 40 words of BOLD RED LETTERS.
A bit wordy, but this is the gist…
They Lie, You Pay.
If you believed the lie that house prices always rise you may have done one of the following:
Bought a house in a commuter town, a long way from work, in the
hope that it would increase in value and you could move to a house
closer to work within a few years.
Bought a second or third apartment hoping that it would increase in
value, always be rentable, be self financing, and provide you with a
pension.
Moved out of rented accomodation and paid more per month to buy,
believing that the increase in the value of your home would compensate
you for the extra costs.
Borrowed more than you could really afford in the belief that interest
rates would never increase.
If you bought long enough ago things may have worked out ok, but if you believed the lie that house prices always rise then you may have bought more recently and the decision to buy is now costing you money.
The Same people who lied to you about house prices rising are still lying.
They claim it’s still the perfect time to buy.
They claim the turnaround is just around the corner.
They claim that it’s cheaper to buy than rent.
They claim that interest rates are due to come down.
These lies cost YOU money, not them.
Don’t get fooled again.
Why would you bother? The demise of the property market (and economy in tandem with it) will eventually lead people to the obvious conclusion.
Your motives in doing so would be deeply suspect too. You would be labelled as a begrudger who could not afford his or her own house.
Bubbles are based in greed and ignorance, and there is no cure for this. Just let gravity do the work for you.
Well said, there is no point in trying to counter ignorance and greed.
Country Tom musta released some new vinyl then 
I have it from a very reliable source that this site is being worked on.
I hope it stays in parody territory. Very easy to slip in to glee mode and lose all credibility and effect.
Yes, that’s what I said, parody has more credibility than glee.
Actuall Howitzer - Im told it will just be the facts
Agree 100% - still don’t believe there will be a crash but definitely a drop which will hit many people hard - when it happens they’ll realise. Advertising this just won’t change anyones behaviour today
That new site is up
Interesting that no one posted today’s article about it that appeared in the Indo
independent.ie/lifestyle/property-plus/website-highlights-buyers-concerns-1337318.html
I think the first thing is to decide what is the purpose of the ad and who you are hoping to reach. I feel the people who it is most important to get the word to is those who are ready to buy but haven’t yet - for 2 reasons.
All the CIF press releases are focused on convincing these people that now is the time to buy because they are hoping they can kick-start the market. And…
There is not much that can be done to help those who have already bought, what is the point in rubbing their faces in the awful position some find themselves in? But those who haven’t yet bought can still be stopped from making a stupid decision out of fear that the market is soon to start rising again.
Or we could just alter this and email it to everyone.
Even if they get that temporary bounce, the economics are going to affect at some stage…I think that’s the most damaging part - a reason why these things should be more regulated: is it too much to ask not to lie to consumers?
flying dutchman said
It would seem so and has done for years, its the stroke thing in this country when in the past people were elevated in their peer group for having gotten away with a fast one to someone elses expense.
There was lots of discussion about this site a couple of weeks ago. Mostly about the extremely misleading examples of young Irish people who would POTENTIALLY be better of renting. The site covers itself by having a big disclaimer. In other words they do not stand over the weasel words they print.
Their figures don’t stand up, do you want to sleep under a roof they’ve built?
-Rd
just after looking at the ‘Latest Housing News’ section. Refuse to venture further, exactly the sort of website that I’d expect from the IHBA and the CIF
Oh my God! That website says we will be building over 50,000 houses next year!!
Its like a propaganda machine