Is it just me or has the troll quotient ratcheted up recently?

[JWM in SD]

I’m noticing a lot troll and pseudo troll posting going on here recently. Is this a sign that they are getting desperate and starting to realize how truly screwed they are? Maybe they got fired up after Chamberheads little event last week.

[no_such_reality]

It’s on all the bearish housing blogs. I think they’ve realized that psychology is the only thing that was holding the market together.

It’s going to get worse and much uglier. Get ready to be blame for their misfortunes.

[JWM in SD]

Yes, I’ve noticed it on the Ben Jone’s Blog as well as the SCREB blog too. Maybe it’s the REIC launching a counter attack on the bearish blogs since we seem to be raining on their parade.

[4plexowner]

Just last week one of my friends blamed the weak housing market on the housing bears – according to her the market would still be fine if we weren’t expressing our opinions in the media

~

Any psychologists out there?

Is anger and lashing out part of the process of accepting something bad?

For example, does a cancer patient get angry and lash out at the medical staff because somehow it is their fault?

~

I’ve also noticed the increased troll count this week

I’ve been chuckling all day about DesperateSeller’s post – what planet does that person live on? – this is the biggest credit/housing bubble in the history of the world but DesparateSeller feels a need to deny it

And then there is Raybyrnes who thinks that single guys with room-mates, gays / lesbians and retired military are enough to support the local housing market

I also noticed DontPanic’s post denying that WMC is going under – my immediate thought was “here’s someone who is affiliated with WMC trying to do damage control” – I tried to check how long DontPanic has been a poster but Rich doesn’t provide info about us (some sites would show how long a poster has been around) – DontPanic posted the first denial at 9am and then came back and did another denial around 5pm – was the 2nd denial to reassure us or to reassure DontPanic? (as an aside, I did a quick Google search and didn’t find anything about WMC going under except for Rich’s site – of course, if there isn’t anything in the media how does DontPanic know that WMC isn’t going under?)

[hipmatt]

I’ve noticed it too. It even seems to me that the media is trying to get well educated and level headed “fund managers and economists” to come out promoting housing and they are all “calling the bottom” and saying that the market is gonna pick back up soon. Its like they are trying to “will us” into buying a home at any measure cause everything else has failed. They need to face up to the fact that there are just too many homes out there that need occupants, and incomes aren’t going up to justify these ridiculous prices. Rates aren’t going down either, and sub prime is vanishing. They seem to be grasping at straws, and have resorted to trolling on our sites.

[Anonymous]

Since psychology drove the market up, it follows that the real estate industrial complex will ignore the fundamentals and instead try to influence market psychology by writing false and misleading articles, paying for positive spin ads that are meant to look like actual articles in papers like the UT, and by paying people to post on sites like this. Psy ops is an important part of our effort to reign in the insurgants in Iraq, and it appears that it is the only weapon that the REIC has at their disposal! IMO the chances of a recovery in the housing market this year are about as likely as a victory in Iraq, zero.

[kewp]

I’m no psychologist, but I think this phenomenon is called the ‘death rattle’.

Is that even psychology?

I see the same thing on some of the science-related boards (and here!) from the climate-change deniers. The more the evidence is piled on, the more desperate the denial becomes. The bleating can be almost be deafening at times!

[Anonymous]

Characterized by fits of mania combined with attempts to maintain control over a loved one (the housing market) over which they have no control. As the loved one descends deeper into the abyss, they are pulled down along with them and we begin to see symptoms such as job loss, irrational thinking and panic. Upon ‘hitting bottom’ the patient begins a slow recovery and the cycle continues.

This condition has defied classification for some time due to the fact that it contains elements of nearly every mental disorder known to man. The noted psychologist kewp outlined the theory on piggington.com in 2007 and properly coined the condition the DEATH RATTLE!

[no_such_reality]

It’s the five stages of death/grief/change

1. Denial – The initial stage.: “It can’t be happening.”
2. Anger .: “How dare you do this to me?!” (either referring to God, the bank, or in our case, ‘evil bloggers’)
3. Bargaining .: “Just let me sell the house at breakeven.”
4. Depression .: “God please don’t take the house away”
5. Acceptance

I believe we should be celebrating. We’re heading into Stage 2…

[kewp]

I think #5 should read “foreclosure”

[gn]

Actually, I think there are 3 stages in a correction:

1. Disbelief – Impossible. Everyone needs a roof over his head. Real estate is different from stocks. One can live in a house. One cannot live in a stock.

2. Acceptance – Yeah, prices have been down. But, we are near the bottom.

3. Despair – House are terrible investments …

In San Diego, I think most people are in stage 2. There are a few in stage 1 (these people haven’t pull their heads out of the sands).

[Anonymous]

The current psychological phase, and mentality of the typical seller, can be summerized by the following:

“I thought it would keep climbing up and up, but last year the market leveled and went down a little in some areas, but it is spring now and things are picking up. There’s been alot of bad press and that probably caused some panic, but overall they aren’t building any more land here and everyone wants to live in San Diego. It’s a good thing that we are at or near the bottom now and I’m sure prices will head right back up this year.”

Issues:
-Denial
-Uninformed
-Placing false blame
-False optimism

The fact that we have seen a slight decline cannot be used as a reason why prices will now go up! EG: John is a little depressed, therefore he will get better since he has already been a little depressed.

[(former)FormerSanDiegan]

I think it’s funny how many people incorrectly blamed the press for creating the bubble. Others will be equally wrong when the “new press” in the blogosphere is blamed for the correction.

[Anonymous]

I have been lurking here for a while and I have noticed the angry troll bulls on this and other housing bubble sites.

I feel sad for them, it must be really hard to buy into something like that real estate only goes up, So Cal real estate will never go down because of the weather, buy now or be priced out forever, etc, etc and then watch your money go down the drain.

It’s worse than losing money on the stock market because it’s not just an “investment” it’s where you live and also a lot of people’s sense of self worth and pride is tied up in their house or condo. So now they are starting to realize that the thing they have been bragging about is just going to make them look pitiful, and that has got to be hard to take.

I’m hoping that soon homes will be viewed mostly as places where people live and not this giant investment/vanity thing.

[Cow_tipping]

Beware the wrath of the hungry, unemployed, unlaid, broke troll. Cows everywhere are shaking in their hooves … cos they are entertainment and food …
Cool.
Cow_tipping.

[Author]

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