That’s me.  And that’s a bottle of 1998 Dom Perignon.

One of my readers who uses the moniker DaveyTheJ dropped this bottle off at my office last week as payment for a “bet” that we had made on the blog in 2008.

And this explains what my blog is all about…

Honesty, integrity, accountability…

These are three traits that I have always held near and dear.

Remember what it was like making a “bet” with somebody when we were kids?

I recall Grade Eight math class making a bet with a girl named Lexi about the answer to a math question.  We bet $1.00, and I proved to be correct.  We made it double-or-nothing, and I ended the day being owed $2.00.

I asked Lexi for the money the next day, and she said, “Yeah, I’ll get right on that.”

She never paid me, and never had any intention of doing so.

I hate “welchers.”

On Wednesday of last week, a mysterious man showed up at my office and delivered a beautiful bottle of 1998 Dom Perignon champagne.  He left his business card, but I had no clue who he was.

Then I saw a hand written inscription that read, “AKA DaveyTheJ.”

DaveyTheJ is one of my loyal blog readers, supporters, and commenters.

His real name is Baron Von Bloggenslaughter, and he runs a frozen banana stand at the corner of Queen’s Quay and York Street like the one seen below:

That’s DaveyTheJ and his son, George Michael…

In August of 2008, DaveyTheJ posted a comment on my blog reading:

The “crash” (10-20% by the end of 2009) has now begun.
Surely there is not any doubt about that.

I responded a few days later with a blog post called “One Share of Stock, & One Condominium” in which I outlined how the real estate market is inherently different from the stock market, and thus somewhat immune to massive fluctuations in value.

I quoted the above comment by DaveyTheJ in my post, and he responded with a lengthy defence of his position.

He concluded with the following:

Nonetheless, because I am impressed that you wrote an essay in response to my post I give you my word that if I am proven wrong I will come back in 16 months and give you a 750ml bottle of Dom Perignon (if the decrease is not 10%+).

Fast forward sixteen months, and DaveyTheJ has been extremely true to his word.

This man, who is completely unknown to me other than by his blog moniker, dropped off a bottle of booze at reception in my office.

I am speechless.

What incredible integrity must a man have to make a promise like the one above, and then actually follow through by his own accord!

I remain amazed, yet encouraged to keep writing my blog posts and spawn more dialogue and free discussion of ideas and opinions like the debate that ensued from my post in August of 2008.

Last week, I came under serious fire for a post I wrote entitled, “Friday Rant: Realtors & Social Media.”

Industry members and figureheads came down on me for standing up calling out Realtors and their actions, practices, and personas.

I have always maintained that the general public is not exactly in love with Realtors.

But I have also maintained that my company is the cream of the crop.  I work here for a reason, and I believe that our agents are better, smarter, more accountable, and far more honest than the rest.

But I was called out for suggesting that all Realtors are not created equal!

How dare I suggest that some Realtors are better than others?

How dare I say that some Realtors are more technologically advanced that others?

Forgive me if I suggest that most Realtors have the same crappy website as everybody else!

Forgive me if I don’t want to be cast from the same mould as the other 28,000 of us.

I remember attending a conference in 2008, around the same time that DaveyTheJ suggested our market would drop 10-20% by the end of 2009, and I asked my colleagues, “Don’t you think there’s a chance we could be in for a drop in values?”

I was scorned and chastized by my colleagues!

“Don’t say that; don’t ever say that,” they warned.  “If you start thinking like that, your clients will pick up on it!  Negativity is contagious!”

They believed that our market would continue to rise forever and ever.  Or, at least that’s what they said…

What a bunch of crap.

All the world’s a stage, and we are merely players.
And all the markets contain cycles, and we are merely along for the ride.

I was ostracized for suggesting that the real estate market has in the past, and could in the future (gulp!) fluctuate in value!

As a salesman, I should continue to placate the masses!

“Nothing to see here, folks!  Keep moving!  Get yer real estate, here!  Get it while it’s hot!”

By the same accord, I have been taking heat for my post last week where I suggested that some Realtors are different that others.  We have good Realtors and bad Realtors; we have short Realtors and tall Realtors!

We have old Realtors and young Realtors!

And we certainly have tech-savvy Realtors and those who have no clue what a blog truly is.

My blog is my opinion, and nothing more.

Flattered as I am that people take my opinions as fact, this causes me nothing but grief.

I apologized to those that were offended, but it was more of an, “I’m sorry you were offended” apology, and less of an “I’m sorry for what I wrote” apology, because I was pretty sure I used a disclaimer with “WARNING” written in caps and I explicitly stated that the post would be “arrogant” and “sarcastic” in hopes that readers would view the post in the satirical nature in which it was intended.

Those closest to me might recognize that outside the office, I can be modest and mild-mannered; caring and thoughtful.  But arrogance and bravado make for an interesting read, and unfortunately I’m in an industry that greases the squeaky wheel.

My loyal readers and commenters are what makes this blog worth writing.

We agree, disagree, and often agree to disagree.

We debate, we articulate, and we exchange our educated opinions in an open forum.  We learn from eachother and encourage eachother.

There is no “right” or “wrong,” just a bunch of different views and ideas.

Am I a renegade Realtor?

No.

I just “get it,” when it comes to this wonderful blogosphere, and some others (gulp!) might not.

The fact that DaveyTheJ brought me that bottle of Dom Perignon the day after the you-know-what hit the fan, I felt completely justified in what I wrote about “Realtors & Social Media.”

So let’s keep blogging, folks!

I always welcome your comments, opinions, thoughts, feelings, and hate mail.

Just remember that when you are burning me in effigy, there is only one “m” in Fleming…