Most sellers have an agent. And, just as many think that they have a “great realtor.” Perhaps its someone they’ve known for a long time, or a referral from someone they really trust. Most sellers believe that one of the reasons that they have an agent is because the agent will be honest with them and give them to the truth, and are their allay. At a certain point, you can consider you realtor will be your enemy.

The thing is, your agent has an incentive so sell the house too; so you think, because they want to sell it for commission, you don’t quite realize that the amount of the commission isn’t always necessarily as important to them as selling the house at all costs. Read on: Trust in Your Real Estate Broker Is the Foundation Of Home-buying and Selling.

Everything is always wonderful in the beginning. When a house buyer first signs up with an agent, things are great. They really like each other, the buyer is glad to have found a person they communicate well with. They feel at ease because the agent has promised the person that they can find the house for them for a price they can afford and it will all be merry. Both of you would like to find a reasonably priced house, and finish the process quickly.

During the search: not so much best friends anymore. Agents know that they need to spend a fair bit of time with a buyer, especially ones who want to look at a lot of houses. After a while, the agent gets irritated when they haven’t chosen a house yet, and the agent decides it’s not worth dedicating quite as much time to as it was before. Their contract is about to run out, and they have deemed continuing the search to be a waste of their time. See: What Can I Do If I Don’t Trust my Realtor?

Don’t trust them at this point altogether: This is time when a buyer really looks to their agent for help, a
nd honesty. Usually, it is the first-time buyers that look to the agents for advice. This is a horrible idea. The agent gets paid if and only if the house is sold. The number one thing agents hate is when their clients negotiate firmly. This is because the only way to negotiate property in a deal is to be able to walk away if you could not get the house for the price you wanted. If you don’t buy the house, they’ve got to do what they’ve been doing for months all over again.

Here are some things you should absolutely ignore that your agent says when putting in an offer:

Sometimes they will tell you to not bid too low, or else the seller will be insulted. This is absolutely in
sane. Sellers expect to receive lowball offers. Don’t be afraid to start with a low number, and negotiate from there.Know the market yourself if you can, so that you don’t have to look to your agent for these things. For further reading: Top Ten Myths About Real Estate Agents.

Other times they’ll tell you to put your offer in right away if you don’t want to lose the house.  The agent is trying to create fear in you quickly so that you put in an offer, fast, that is likely over your budget. Of course, sometimes you really do not to move quickly, and if you are positive there is another seller offering more, you may need to increase your budget upfront. But when the house has been on the market for a long time, and hasn’t been moving—there is no need for immediate action.

They may tell you someone “just looked at the house” and wants it immediately. This lie is told by the selling agent. Smart buying agents are more willing to play along because it increases the chances of their buyer putting an offer in right away. Again, this is why you need to be willing to walk away. This is also done with rental properties too.

 

1 Comment

  1. Charles Lee

    Another reason you shouldn’t hire a friend as your realtor is that if your home is too high or your offer on a property is too low, it’s your agent’s responsibility to give you the honest truth and serve as an objective outsider. The competition can be so fierce depending on where you are, that you’re having to waive all contingencies and go way above list price. Having to advise a friend to do that could jeopardize a friendship.

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