Broadcaster, House Hunters, RTE Television :

Liz O'Kane very good at promoting and selling herself. She has been the resident property "expert" for numerous tv shows, a newspaper, written articles for magazines, appeared on radio shows etc.

She started a business helping people sell their house, even though her own house has been on the market for years and has failed to sell.

Her latest venture is for buyers, helping them to find a house (I guess there must be a shortage).

Despite questionable credentials Liz knocks out a steady living with media appearances where she dispenses her words of wisdom.

In a 2007 web chat, Liz told us the government couldn't afford to let the property market crash.

Mary: Do you think that the property market could crash?

Liz: No... I don't think any government can afford to let that happen. A levelling off is what we are seeing.

Liz didn't grasp the real truth, that with a bubble the size of Ireland's, No government could afford to prevent a crash. The 10's of billions they've spent trying is proof of that.

She also didn't agree with Morgan Kelly.

Sean: Morgan Kelly is a professor of economics at UCD, who has studied international housing price cycles. He believes that the market is overvalued by up to 50% Do you agree?

Liz: Gosh, difficult question. I find it amusing that the Irish could be paying well over the odds for property for the last ten years.

She was amused at the thought that the Irish could have been overpaying for property. That was her level of knowledge. The bricks that the houses are built with knew more about how overvalued property was.

In November 2008, when her own house had been for sale for a considerable period of time, Liz appeared on RTE's The Afternoon Show. Among the people she advised was a young couple from Cavan who had been trying to sell their home for two years with little interest.

One wonders if Liz bothered to tell the young couple that she was about as successful at selling her house as they were.

Some of her advice:

If your home has been on the market for a long period of time i.e. over six months - take it off the market, in other words make it disappear for a while

The longer a property has been on the market/has 'for sale' signs up - it is only attracting negativity i.e.'there must be something wrong with it'. This is simply the way people think.

Change the colour of the front door and give your home a name - changing the address slightly

Liz of course has done these things with her own house, right down to the subtle change of address. It hasn't worked.

For an expert she has failed to grasp the most basic rule of selling. So, Liz, for your benefit....

If it isn't selling, it's too expensive.

In 2009, Liz appeared on Derek Mooney's radio show and said that even though we've had a 15% reduction in 2007, and another 15% reduction in 2008, the reduction would be much more modest in 2009, her personal opinion was 5% to 7%.

She was, as usual, wrong.

She also claimed on that radio show that she wouldn't "call the bottom, even though some accused her of doing so"

Perhaps those making that accusation had read her article from December 2007 where she said

I'm not an economist but I firmly believe that the market has levelled off and that we'll not see any more price drops in 2008

Or had seen her October 2008 appearance on The Afternoon Show

There's never been a better time to buy [...] The bottom of the market is very very close. [...] I would think there's great value out there now.

As of this writing, it's 2010, and Liz still hasn't managed to sell her house.

Liz O'Kane is excellent at what she does, which is self promotion. She is not and never was an expert on property, however she is excellent and getting people to pay her for bad advice on property, and more power to her.

She is a personification of the Celtic Tiger, where people paid more for less house, where people elected politicians for worse government, where businesses charged more for less service.

Give her credit for the skills she has. But, for your own sake, don't listen to anything she has to say, unless it's with a view to warning others.