Commitments Made on Facts

We make decisions every day based on fact, fiction, and/or hope. The choices which culminate in  follow through are commitments. I can make a decision without facts but rarely if ever am I committed.

A change I am seeing in the first quarter is "letting go of hope" and embracing commitments made with attention to facts. The real estate market movement last year was powered by hope and the hopefuls were those least well equipped to process facts. People buying their first home were enticed by a credit carrot--one which was dangled, removed, and then re-dangled. All participants in the enticement pocketed a share of the profits at a cost to the hopeful.

Those who are letting go of hope and making wise choices are the people who must sell at less than peak prices. When they held out for a return to Glory Days the market peaked at price points dangerously low. Hope kept those owners on the sidelines last year and the interconnected real estate industries suffered.

Facts and commitments go hand in hand. Hope with disregard for facts is a sail boat without wind.

Grateful for not having participated in the last great enticement.