Truth, Hype and Advertising

By Clayton Wade

Managing Director

Premier Homes Real Estate Co., Ltd.

clayton@premierinternational.com

Yes, I am at it again….as once I get onto something I like to run it for all its worth, and last edition's 'From Classifieds to Media Madness' just wasn't enough to get all the things I have on my mind out about what Pattaya's real estate marketing scene is going through these days.

Having said that, it was just about five years ago that I shook up the real estate industry with a series of articles addressing (not attacking) Eastern Seaboard advertising ethics; I guess I'm at it again.

All That Glitters Is Not Gold!

To say 'shook up' is a bit of an understatement in that my wife, our business and I were subjected to incredible attacks by email, and in one local magazine we were featured in abusive editorials and in amateurish articles by so-called journalists.

Why was I able to write those articles in the first place? Because my company did a lot of advertising in that particular magazine.

Why were those so-called journalists able to write their opinions? Because their companies did a lot of advertising in that particular magazine.

What amazed me at the time was that at the heart of my articles was the question of how all of 'us' in the industry communicate our services to the public, and yet that issue was completely overlooked by a few in our industry that seemed to feel the need to shoot the messenger.

It made me realize that there was a great concern that regulating our industry with proper rules and regulations was a great threat to some in the real estate business.

During that time I was part of the establishment of the local Real Estate Broker Association, which had but eight charter members and quickly grew to more than 20 real estate broker agencies from around the Pattaya area.

It was a great attempt at identifying real estate professionals in our industry. Through that organization during the first year or so there were great hopes of raising the level of knowledge and professionalism within the business of property sales and rentals here in Pattaya.

That organization offered a great opportunity to safely and reliably monitor companies and individuals, thus distinguishing credible and honest real estate professionals from those that were simply trying to 'slip in' and 'cloak' themselves as honest professionals.

I contributed an incredible amount of time and effort to the organization, as did my wife, who served as the charter president. Ultimately, however, we simply walked away!

Now, several years later, that real estate organization has less than half its original membership, and I look around at the Pattaya real estate scene and clearly see that there is absolutely no reliable monitoring of real estate companies or individuals, and I don't see that happening here in Pattaya any time soon.

In Pattaya, it is becoming more and more difficult to know the credible and honest real estate professionals from those that are 'playing the game', and there are hundreds–and I mean hundreds–of agents that are running all over town selling this and selling that–most with little if any real estate education or experience…not to mention ethical awareness!

Now, ethical awareness is where truth, hype and advertising merge as the 'perfect storm' of self delusion, and developers and real estate agents themselves start believing their own sales pitches, and that's exactly when the fine line between depiction and deception is born.

Is simply advertising in a magazine still all it takes to be a local writer in our area? Are advertorials an honest way to communicate to the public? Is all of this just more hype, leaving the consumer in the dark and incapable of knowing who in our industry to trust? Does Clayton Wade really have the credentials to be writing this article? How does one get the truth about buying and renting real estate here anyway?

These questions will always be a challenge to those coming into a new and developing business environment such as we have here on the Eastern Seaboard of Thailand, but this has been going on for years now and in my opinion is only getting worse.

It was just a few years back that the Thai government communicated through the international media the amendments being made to hold property developers liable by applying fines for making claims and promises in their brochures and published advertisements.

The government even pro-posed fines (from 50,000 to 100,000 baht) payable by developers guilty of false claims and fraudulent advertisements. Although they were very low penalties, it was a good start in the right direction, but what happened? Nothing!

Now, several years later, are real estate agents and developers more accountable for sales and service information when marketing and selling their properties? Not at all. If anything, it is much worse now than it was then.

It's the old Thai adage, 'The cattle have escaped, let's build a fence', all over again!

Now just watch: some time sooner or later this real estate 'super boom' is going to end its cycle and there will be those developers that will get caught with their pants down and their tills empty with consumers chasing them all the way to their second home at the Pattaya City Hall Complaint Department.

Who's to blame for this likely future scenario? We are. Everyone in our industry, as it is completely unregulated and there is almost zero consumer awareness, let alone protection.

Now (February 2013) with the Chinese on one side considering tendering their yuan by backing it with gold and Germany's central bank negotiating to relocate 54,000 solid gold bars worth about $36 billion, from deep beneath the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Banque de France in Paris back and secure within their own soil….something very big is happening with the world economy….very big!

As for Pattaya and its own real estate industry, now more than ever it's time to 'cut the hype' and 'bring on the truth' in our own business community…..and that's no bull!

Our very special thanks to Clayton Wade, managing director of Pattaya's Premier Homes Real Estate Co., Ltd. for preparing this Pattaya Today column.

Clayton Wade has been running Premier Homes Real Estate Co., Ltd., with his wife, Khun Supap, for more than 17 years. He himself has been in the real estate industry going on 27 years, having started his career in the United States where he was licensed and practiced both real estate sales and property management in Seattle, Washington.

Clayton personally was responsible for bringing in the first 53 General Motors executives for the start-up phase of Thailand's General Motors manufacturing facility and had a three-year exclusive with the company. Following that experience, he placed most of the start-up executives for the Eastern Seaboard's BMW manufacturing facility.

Clayton Wade is a Council Member with the Gerson Lehrman Group, the New York based international research and consulting firm, and has been a national panel judge with the Thailand Property Awards for many years.

The American-born entrepreneur is known throughout the Asia-Pacific region for his writing, public speaking and television presentations. His many accomplishments in promoting real estate on Thailand's Eastern Seaboard include having been a guest speaker with several of Thailand's top political and business figures on CNBC's Managing Asia.

Premier Homes is Pattaya's leader in exclusive property sales and rentals, which may be seen by visiting their website at: www.premierinternational.com. Clayton Wade may be contacted at +(66) (81) 634-2915 or at: clayton@premierinternational.com