Luxury Real Estate

By Robert Lockard

A helpful warning to bloggers: “Be prepared.” It’s the Boy Scout motto and it’s also good advice for people in all walks of life. It appears that many bloggers, myself included, are a little unprepared for the possibility of close scrutiny of blogging. What if we were told that we had used too much of someone else’s news article in our blog entry or that we got our facts wrong and are guilty of negligence or even defamation? It’s a scary thought, but that’s the risk we take in offering our work in a public environment.

Have you noticed that, as bloggers, our responsibilities and rules seem to be a little hazy and hard to define? It sometimes does to me. Luckily, in college I studied media law, fair-use doctrine and other libel laws, so I have a pretty good understanding of what is allowed and forbidden when writing content.

The rules can get pretty complex, but they boil down to the fact that writers need to respect others’ rights by not stealing their work, spreading lies about them or being unfairly critical of people we disagree with. I don’t believe I’ve witnessed any of that in the discussions I have seen on ActiveRain and the LuxuryRealEstate.com Blog, but it’s still important to keep in mind. Kindness and honesty are generally essential for free speech and democracy to thrive. I have no desire to defame anyone because my goal is to uplift by exercising the Golden Rule as much as possible.

When you use a news story or another person’s blog in your work, make sure to give credit to the person you borrow from. I always strive to do that when I write a blog entry, since much of my inspiration for writing about specific topics comes from news sources and other bloggers. Actually, this blog was inspired by two news articles: a Seattle Times article by Brier Dudley entitled “Battle of the day: AP vs. blogs,” and Marcie Geffner’s article in Inman News entitled “Is your blog a lawsuit magnet?” I highly recommend reading them both so you can make sure you’re aware of some potential pitfalls.

The one thing I don’t know too much about is the fair use of photos in blogs. I almost always provide a link to the source of the photos I use, and I try to include the photographer/artist when it’s available. Maybe someone can help me out on this aspect of fair use because I’m unsure what the rule is there. Is it okay as long as we give credit to the person responsible for the work or do we need to obtain written permission? Speaking of which, the photo above is from www.flickr.com/photos/katiegail/1344714672, and it is the copyright of rakastajatar on Flickr. I got the idea to check Flickr for a safer photo to use because of Ms. Geffner's comment in my ActiveRain Blog.

In closing, I strongly advise you to pay close attention to Ms. Geffner’s 17 questions in her Inman News article. I won’t reprint them here because I wouldn’t want to use too much of her work or remove the incentive to visit her site. As I read them, I went over in my mind the times when I had encountered these different situations or at least considered them. I hope this helps you be a little better-prepared in case anything like this might come up as you blog.

Happy blogging!


Editor’s Note:
Robert Lockard is the Public Relations & Media Specialist with LuxuryRealEstate.com. I am Robert. I create all of Luxury Real Estate’s newsletters, write the editorials in LuxuryRealEstate.com Magazine and much more. I hope this helps. Feel free to contact me with your suggestions about the photo issue I mentioned.

By Robert Lockard

I’ve been talking a lot about the media lately, but my thoughts just keep dwelling on this topic. When I see headlines talking about how many people believe we might be in a recession, I start to wonder if that is simply reflecting the fact that everyone hears and reads predictions of future downturns and problems in the news. However, sometimes we can find small morsels of hope buried under all of the sour gloom.

For example, I recently spotted a short but wonderful article, entitled “’07 home prices not so bad after all,” in The Seattle Times. It’s just a few short paragraphs long, but at least it shows another side of the real-estate industry in the Pacific Northwest, at least. Local newspapers and other media sources should do more of this kind of reporting in their areas. Even if national statistics don’t look particularly strong, I’m sure that many local real-estate markets are doing just fine. I would like to hear more about local trends, rather than national trends.

I would have liked to see more discussion in the Seattle Times article of possible reasons why prices still increased in the Puget Sound, despite increases in inventory. Perhaps luxury real estate markets helped maintain home values in the region or maybe some other factor contributed in a way that I haven’t considered, yet. I shouldn’t complain too much about the shortness of this article; it’s nice just to hear some good news mentioned. Speaking of which, I have more good news that I’d like to share soon. I’ll hopefully be able to write more on Monday.


Editor’s Note:
Robert Lockard is the Public Relations & Media Specialist with LuxuryRealEstate.com. Actually, I’m Robert, so I don’t really have anything to add to my own story. However, I do want you to know that just because I’m working hard to edit everyone else’s blog entries, that doesn’t mean that I intend to shirk my responsibility to include great content of my own on the LuxuryRealEstate.com Blog.

By Robert Lockard

“The drop in house prices is a good thing.” So says a recent editorial, entitled “Relief for home buyers,” in The Seattle Times. Exactly. Thank you, Seattle Times editors, for succinctly stating a fact that cuts to the heart of this matter. If prices are always rising, then that is certainly not a good thing for buyers, who have to pay more for the same home. Trends that are good for sellers will not be so good for buyers, and vice versa. Prices have been reaching all-time highs in the past few years, so the price dip that is occurring in several markets is by no means a catastrophe. In fact, it is probably a good thing since it will allow buyers, seeking first homes or luxury homes, to receive more property for their money.

This editorial reminds us of an important fact that is sometimes lost in these endless debates of dollars and deals. The truth is that the housing market primarily exists to provide houses to individuals and families, not to give them money. Certainly, there are numerous advantages to homeownership, including the personal equity and stability they can offer over the long term. But that is not what houses are designed to do. Prices have historically always risen on properties across the United States, but that doesn’t mean that they can never fall in the short term. If people would think of their homes as where they live first, and an investment second, a lot of unforeseen troubles probably would have been averted.


Editor’s Note:
Robert Lockard is the Public Relations & Media Specialist with LuxuryRealEstate.com. I am Robert. I create all of Luxury Real Estate’s newsletters, write the editorials in LuxuryRealEstate.com Magazine and much more. Let me know your thoughts on this topic.