Jill P. Capuzzo over at The New York Times writes about the challenges that arise when realtors share too much over social media. (NYT)
But mixing politics and real estate can be explosive, and oversharing, especially on social media, has become problematic. The Texas agent and two other real estate agents were arrested in the aftermath of the Capitol attacks, and the National Association of Realtors has rewritten its code of ethics, clamping down on their members’ personal and professional communication in response to a flurry of partisan, sometimes racist, messaging following George Floyd’s death last summer.
Early this week, The Wall Street Journal reported that there were more agents than houses for sale. Michael Jordan once famously said, “Republicans, buy shoes too.” While most people in business would agree that taking a stand on hot-button issues will alienate you to potential clients. Some, like Nancy Kowalik, completely disagree with that sentiment.
Ms. Kowalik, 57, said she’s not worried about losing business by being upfront about her politics…“I’ve had so many people ask me ‘Why do you do this? You may be cutting off half your clientele.’ Some don’t agree with me, but others say they love that I put it out there. In my opinion, it hasn’t hurt,” said Ms. Kowalik, noting that her agency’s 2020 business was up by 40 percent over 2019.
A lot of people think we have reached peak saturation for politics. A lot of my friends and family have said they stopped watching the news all day and I know they are not alone. A recent analysis by The Washington Post showed news channels and websites have seen their audiences plummet since Donald Trump left office. If this trend continues the debate over politics and housing will probably just fade away. Then again, if we have learned anything over these last few decades is you never know what is going to happen in the political world.