One of the most frustrating things a REALTOR has to put up with in the current market is all of the whining, complaining, and smear campaigns preaching the end of the housing market as we know it. Right now, the media is dead set on the idea that our strong real estate market is crashing down around us. As home buyers and sellers are inundated with this negative publicity, they are slowly beginning to believe real estate is in a downhill spiral. The reality is… well, perception is reality, and whatever consumers believe about real estate is likely to have consequences.Currently, the real estate market is an example of how “perception as reality” drives the real estate market. What is specifically frustrating as a REALTOR is that numbers can be made to say anything – while nationally overall sales are down when compared to the past few years, the local real estate market is still going strong. In fact, if you were to leave out the past 4-5 years (which saw increasing gains in real estate sales) and compare 2007 to every prior year, you would see that homeowners are still receiving a pretty high rate or return on their investments. Unfortunately, no one wants to talk about this fact, since the overwhelming amount of negative publicity has convinced people that there’s nothing good about real estate right now. However, in smaller market (Rolla, Missouri for instance), a shift in market conditions is much more gradual, so the highs and lows of real estate are much less extreme.The concept of “curb appeal” also demonstrates how real estate personifies perception as reality. Multiple times, I have been preparing to show a client a house when they were turned off by the outward appearance. Before we even pulled into the driveway, the client told me not to bother stopping. Despite the many hours and countless dollars the homeowner may have spent remodeling the home, the outdated siding or unkempt shrubbery meant the buyer would never see more than the less-than-perfect exterior. If people are unhappy with a home’s curb appeal, their assumption is that the inside of the house must not be to their liking either.Similarly, buyers perceive a home’s cleanliness as vitally important. If clothes and toys litter the floor and dirty dishes are piled in the sink, the potential buyer is likely to assume there are other “hidden” issues with the home. The assumption is that a homeowner who doesn’t take pride in the daily tasks of keeping a house clean, they are probably neglecting the larger issues as well. Buyers aren’t interested in whether or not you were on vacation until late last night or that your 4-year-old has been sick for a week. Instead, buyers believe that the condition of the home is a reflection of the homeowner. Whether or not that is true, in real estate, perception is reality.Now, you’re likely to continue to hear gloom and doom media coverage regarding the national real estate market, but remember that perception is reality. In the Midwest, the sky is not falling; believe it or not, people are still regularly buying and selling homes. Whether the “state of the economy” is on a downswing or an upswing, there will always be plenty of buyers out looking for their dream home – and willing to purchase one! Yes, there will be ups and downs, but it is never as good or as bad as it seems at any given point. While perception may seem like reality in real estate, your perception is not always fact.