#1 Lie Real Estate Agents Tell in 2015

LiarWe are in what is known as a Seller’s Market today in most parts of the U.S.  Put simply, the economics of supply and demand are strongly favoring the Seller right now, meaning there are very few homes for sale (Supply) and lots of qualified buyers (Demand).

For every market, real estate agents have to come up with tactics to distinguish themselves since very few of them will distinguish themselves on something like the price of their services.  So what’s the best whopper that agents tell to get Buyers in 2015?

2015 biggest lie

 

Buyers love this one.  In a market where they either can’t find the house they like and are waiting for the right house to come on the market, or where every house they like gets multiple offers and they keep losing the bidding war, this is what Buyers believe they need.

The idea that you can get into a house and have an opportunity to buy it before the public even knows it’s for sale is very alluring, so agents like to claim that they can do this for their buyers.  They’ll say that they list more homes in the area than any other agent, so they usually know in advance when an owner is considering selling.

Here’s the kicker…it almost never happens.  Here’s why: In a strong seller’s market it does not behoove a Seller to keep the home off of the market.  If there is that much demand, that the first person who knows the house is for sale will buy it for what you are asking, it’s a far better move to put it on the auction block (aka the MLS) and let everyone who’s interested know that your house is for sale and available to the highest bidder.

You don’t need to tell this to Sellers, they already know, which is why they contacted an agent in the first place.  Any agent who is truly advocating for their seller would not recommend this unless they knew there was something about the house that would make it hard to sell and they knew of someone who would buy it anyway.  (Think of a house that just needs to be knocked down and you know an investor who is in the market for that type of transaction.)

So don’t make the mistake of selecting a Buyers agent or a Listing Agent based on a lie like this.  There are far better ways to qualify the professional you will be working with.