Most prospective house hunters or sellers think they have a “good” agent. Either it’s someone who they previously worked with or perhaps a referral from a friend or a co-worker. One of the big reasons for having confidence in their agent is a belief that the agent is “on their side” and “honest” etc etc. I would suggest however that by a certain point in the process, your agent is your enemy and you are negotiating against them more than the other party. This post deals with the buy side of the house buying game. The next post will deal with the sell side.
In the beginning: happy friends
When a house buyer first signs up with an agent, things are usually pretty rosy, the agent assures the person that they can find an appropriate house for a price you can afford and everything will be great. The agent has “lots” of experience and knows the area inside out. At this stage of the game, you and your agent are mostly on the same page. You want to buy a house and they want you to buy a house. Your agent will most certainly want to get the process over with sooner rather than later, but that’s usually the case with the buyer as well.
During the search: uneasy allies
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 however it’s not worth it for an agent to continue a long search especially if their contract is running out. This is the time when the agent will start trying to convince the buyer to lower their standards and raise their prices. Sometimes this is educational if the buyer has unrealistic expectation, but mainly this is to speed up the process so the agent can get paid. I should point out however that real agents are normally quite useful during the search since they often know more than you do about the general real estate and can get you access to private showings. The other big benefit is their access to sale price information for similar houses.
Related – How to win a house bidding war
Thinking about putting in an offer? Trust no one!
The point when the buyer submits a offer on a house is a time when a lot of house buyers, particularly first timers feel out of their element and defer to their agent for advice. This is the worst thing you can do. Your agent gets paid when the deal gets done and only when it gets done.
This is a time when knowledge of the real estate market should be a big help in determining how much negotiation should be done. As well, if the buyer is not in a hurry to buy then that sets up a great negotiation opportunity. However if there is one thing that real estate agents don’t like it’s clients who negotiate hard – why? Because the only way to negotiate properly in a deal is to be able to walk away if the price you want isn’t met. The way an agent sees this type of situation is that if a deal falls through, they have to spend a lot more time looking at houses with you before they get paid.
Things that your agent might say (and you should ignore) when you are about to put in a bid are:
- “Don’t bid too low or you will offend the sellers”. This is garbage – if the sellers can’t handle a low ball bid then they are unrealistic. And what exactly is a bid that is “too low”? I’m not saying put in an unrealistic bid, but don’t be afraid to start low and work your way up. It’s important to know the market so that you don’t have to rely on the asking price or your agent to tell you the proper market value of the house.
- “Don’t bid too low or you might offend the selling agent and might I have to work with them in the future”. This stunning example of gall and self-interest was actually told to Mr. Cheap. I don’t think this one needs any further comments. 🙂
- “You should get a bid in quickly before someone else puts a bid in”. This is a favourite of my agent – create a sense of false urgency, get the deal in motion and get it done ASAP. Sometimes this is good advice, but other times – such as when the house has been sitting on the market for a month or longer then it’s just not appropriate.
- “Someone else is looking at the house later today and they are really interested”. This lie usually originates with the selling agent, but smart buying agents are usually more than willing to play along because it will increase the chances of their buyer putting in an offer in that day.
Negotiation – don’t listen to a word your agent has to say.
At this point you are potentially pretty close to buying a house. You want to buy the house at the lowest price, the seller wants to sell the house to you at the highest price and your agent wants you to buy the house and doesn’t care at all what price you pay because they just want the deal done right now. Since paying a higher price will get the deal done quicker, a lot of agents will encourage you to bid higher which basically means that you are negotiating against them as well as the seller.
Things that your agent might say (and you should ignore) when you are negotiating are:
- “Meet them halfway or in the middle”. This sounds quite reasonable at first- if the asking price of a house is $500,000 and you bid $460,000 and they come back with $490,000 then isn’t splitting the difference at $475,000 quite reasonable? Not if you can get the house for $470,000 or $465k,000 The fact is that the asking price of the house and your first bid are very arbitrary numbers and splitting the difference between the two might end up in a price that is not market value.
- “Are you willing to lose this house for $2,000?” (or $5,000, $8,000) This is a tough one – on the one hand it seems silly to not buy a house and be only a half of a percent away from a deal, but on the other hand shouldn’t your agent be asking this question to the seller? Ie – “We are going to walk, do you really want to lose this deal for $2,000?”
- “Are you willing to lose this house for $12 a month?” This is part two of the previous point which is applied if you don’t bite on the first attempt. It’s also a more useful gambit if the “separation” is a bit greater. If you and the seller are $12,000 apart, that sounds pretty significant, but what if you are only $75 a month apart (for 25 years) or even better what if you are only $63/month apart (over 40 years). That doesn’t sound like much (even if it is).
Conclusion
The more you educate yourself about the real estate market you are looking in and how real estate agents operate, the better off you will be when buying a house. Real estate agents are quite useful because they can get you access to houses for sale and will often drive you around to look at them plus they have access to the sale price of other houses. Whatever you do, never forget that they get paid when the deal gets done and only then. They don’t get paid for showing you more houses or walking away from close deals.
Tune in tomorrow when we take a look at the trustworthiness of real estate agents when selling a house.
Take a look at another perspective on real estate agents that Mr. Cheap wrote.
Do you have any good “lines” that you were told when buying a house?
588 replies on “Why You Can’t Trust Real Estate Agents When Buying A House”
My realtor has told me almost everything being said here so it is real
Wow! A lot of people beat up on this guy for writing what he felt was simple advice for people to watch out for–nothing more. If it happens occasionally, it is worth writing about and warning people to be wary of these points. Why so defensive?
I have seen exactly this kind of behavior and witnessed real estate reps get all bound up when I refuse their “advice”, which was obviously in the other party’s favor. They were not acting as fiduciaries–just greedy sales people. They also get very defensive if I give them a critical review rather than use my feedback to improve their service. That is a great indicator to steer clear of those types of reps.
In Rich’s much earlier post, he states that there is no agency agreement without money changing hands. That sounds reasonable but, in a real estate transaction, no money changes hands until the deal is done. That is probably true for the buyer and real estate rep. In that case, this article at least lets you know what to use a buying “agent” for and sets realistic expectations.
But does that mean that the “fiduciary duty” language in the seller’s contract is invalid and is there only to appease the client? That seems a question worth asking. If that is the case, it is inherently deceptive. If the language is valid then I would argue that the misalignment of incentives between the client and agent encourage unethical behavior on the part of the agent, who would have a fiduciary duty to work for the best interests of his or her client. But that is why we have fiduciary rules in the first place–to encourage agents to operate on behalf of their clients’ best interests. Still, not all of them do and it is worthwhile to write about, and be aware of these pitfalls, whether they are true for you or not. These issues do occur and are therefore worth noting.
It seems like everyone is getting defensive and ignoring the fact that the buyer’s agent incentive (paycheck) is completely tied up in the price of the house and faster sale. And while good agents ignore the short term gain, knowing that sales, and better paychecks, will come with a job done well, far too many agents are just human and looking out for the immediate payout. There needs to be a way to distance the buyer’s agent from the incentive of a higher price and faster sale. I don’t know if it is the solution, but Flat-Fee agents are an option.
if you want to laugh your rear ends off check this out have you ever been out bided by the same agent who showed you a property.i have I found a house in my neaborhood got with a agent told them to put a bid in for me asking price was 16.500 I bid 15000 when I lost and the people moved in they got a running there mouth in my area keep in mind I know everyone in that neaborhood they went bragging how there sister helped them out bid this sucker being me lol and her sister worked for guess who same agency. so now I’m like the hell with them agents now I know why we now have bandit signs we buy houses on every corner id rather buy a house from one of them which I have and everything went awesome then a shady real-estate agent any day of the week. ever sense that happened to me I been looking at all houses them agencies be buying you will notice they be picking up houses nice ones for under 10.000 well buyers like me are left fighting for the scraps they post on sites like Zillow etc I wish there were some kind of law preventing them from owning the market
I have had nothing but horrible experiences with realtors,and feel that this article is spot on.
So true, all real estate agents are annoying.
Clearly, the ones with long comments, and against the article are involved in real estate. I am trying to buy a house, and I experience exactly these constant lies from my agent. Whenever I use my judgment, I can feel his pressure on my so-called lack of experience in the business, and his insistence to explain to him why I do not like the houses I see. I am determined and I set the rules of the game.
I have a philosophy: You have the money, you set the rules no matter what others tell you what to do. If not, no problem. There are other houses as well.
This is humorous.
my experience this year with several realtors mirrors your article. your article is spot on with all my experiences. i definitely felt i was also negotiating with my agents. i also caught them more than once lying to me. i found out about conflicts of interest with ppl my realtor would refer me to. i expected to be working with someone on my side, helping me with what to do, highly recommended contacts, and sound advice. that has not been the case with any of them. when it came down to the tough negotiating part, i was on my own. it has been an awful experience and as a result i will no longer ever trust a real estate agent. i highly recommend every buyer or seller heed this advice here in this posted article. i admit an agent is needed, but from now on i will get a separate appraisal. i will find my own independent specialists for everything i need or want to close including financing.
Wow. This was my exact experience today. My agent said ALL of these things as she was trying to pressure me to raise my offer. I feel so stupid!!!
In my experience with dealing with real estate agents the author is spot-on. It can be even worse than this! Remember these are the people who brought you the artificial real estate bubble that ended in the country nearly going into a depression.
Real estate agents tend to be unscrupulous in the extreme. Example: where are certificates of occupancy are required before a purchaser of a property can lawfully live on that promises, real estate agents often remove the certificates of occupancy just so they can get their Commission. This is a very popular practice in Macomb County Michigan where I live. A buyer may spend x amount on a house but then have to put an extra 30 or $40,000 into that house in order to bring it up to all of the Myriad of codes that are required by the city. Many real estate agents will not even help you to find houses if the price of said house is lower than they wish to get in their Commission. That is a common problem in the inner cities no one wants to work on people buying and selling these houses because the percentage just isn’t thick enough for these greedy individuals!
Just remember you’re dealing with people who have their own best interests at heart and they are extremely greedy, all they care about is the money.
Realtors are scumbags. Anyone defending realtors on this post is an actual realtor. I’ve been screwed by realtors when selling property and when searching for property. They are by far one of the most crooked professions that exists.
During the foreclosure period I dealt with numerous agents. The majority I ran into are extremely unethical. Good property they were buying themselves or giving the bids to their friends. In the meantime they would try to trap you on garbage and make you feel guilty. I absolutely despise realtors with a passion.
I hope the market crashes and they get what they deserve.
“Don’t bid too low or you will offend the sellers”. This is garbage – if the sellers can’t handle a low ball bid then they are unrealistic.
It seems that many sellers do not know how to negotiate and yes some of them are insulted by a low offer. We have offered 5% under asking price (based on comps sold nearby, cash, no contingencies) only to be stonewalled. The seller and listing agent can’t even be bothered to counter on paper but they do try to delay us verbally because they think other offers are coming in. And our agent will not fight for us. She texts. We have to insist she get on the phone and call the listing agent. We’re paying her thousands of dollars for this kind of service? The whole process stinks.
Of course the other agents are going to jump down Mr Cheap’s neck. They are agents. My observation is that they value each other more than their clients. No matter what they say, if they are not negociating for you, they are negociating against you. Before putting on a bid take a thorough look at the home. Then go to the county to see what they value the house at. My buyers agent simply would not respond to the fact that the sellers were trying to force a sale price of 150% more than the house was worth. He even told me not to stay at my own inspection. They can be monsters and you have to protect yourself. I cannot speak to every agent, of course, but they got into it for the money, and when the deal closes they are gone. Mine actually disappeared right after the contract was signed. When I asked for disclosures on the house, he falsely told me his father had died and never got them for me. When I told him I was coming to the inspection, he told me I could not stay since he had somewhere else to be. When it came time to negociate fixes he again disappeared with me waiting for the inspection period to end without a cap to the sellers deliberations. And when I capped it he went behind my back and cancelled the transaction. Then he had me sign an unconditional disapproval/termination on one day telling me he would distribute them the next when he considered himself released. So I had to distribute the cancellation paperwork myself to get the sellers signatures and make sure they got to the title company so I could get my earnest money back. And the listing agent who refused to talk to me, relisted the house without submitting the seller signed cancellation paperwork to the title company. I had to tell her she was breaking the law by listing a home that was technically still in my name. That forced her to get the signatures and get the paperwork to the title company so that I would received my earnest money. They have a club and YOU are not a member. Like I said, monsters. If you are not diligent, your ass is going to be in a sling and your buyers agent is not going to care. The online agent reviews have to be falsified, cause this is outrageous behavior. Another agent told me a historic house was not, she told me not to come to the inspection, and never gave me any signed paperwork and continually tried to negociate a price above my loan amount. Another took 3 times to the parking lot to get into her car before she could arrive at the car with her purse in hand, then she told me a house that was in a flood plain when it was not. PROTECT YOURSELF.
I have dealt with 7 agents, including brokers and agents from the other side of the transaction, so far and they all acted inethically, every last one of them. But if one is terribly bad within a office, you can expect the others will not be much better since they have to accept each other to work together. One office may have different acceptable standards of conduct (no matter how illegal) than another, but so far I have not found even one that doesn’t behave atrociously.
Perhaps there are some generalizations in this particular blog entry, but I personally have dealt with two buyer’s agents fitting the description given here. Those of you who are offended by this article, good for you. Maybe you happen to be a good trustworthy buyer’s agent, but your awareness does not mean that unscrupulous realtors don’t exist. Indeed they do. Do your research first and ask for references in anything dealing with character.
TO ALL A REALTORS WORK HARD FOR YOU IMAGINE DIAGNOSING A CONDICTION ON YOUR BODY WITHOUT A DOCTOR YOU CANT BUY OR SELL WITHOUT A REALTOR
Agents are not to concerned with doing the right thing they basically only care about their pay day. I have had two agents and they basically just sat with me at the sales rep desk and offered no guidence and when I asked for information I did not get it but they say I did not give them a chance to help me what bullshit. That is why I am forced to waste time going through sales agents because they are mostly lazy. And I believe some agents make under the table deals with the sales agent againt their clients.
Real estate agents are a cancer in the system. The sooner we can get rid of them the better. Only problem is what will those unskilled leeches in fancy clothing do to make money? Well I’m sure they’ll find another way to steal it!
WOW, that’s a lot of hate for both real estate agents and Realtors. This was an eye-opening discussion. I had no idea how much the general public hated us. I will agree, there are unscrupulous agents in this industry because I have had to deal with them too and I don’t like it either. But for the majority of the general public to “fault” anyone going into the real estate profession “just for a paycheck” is an unfair generalization. What profession are YOU in? Did you get into that “just for a paycheck”? We ALL have to provide for ourselves and our families, so to judge us for wanting to do something to help pay the bills is ludicrous.
I spent 30 years in dentistry and I can tell you, there are just as many unscrupulous people in that profession as well. EVERYTHING is about business and the bottom line. The reason I got out of the clinical field of dentistry is because my focus was to do what was best for my patients…not to do only what the insurance companies would pay for or what my boss could charge the most for. I got tired of my boss, the dentist, putting constant pressure on me to “sell” more services and products just to increase his/her bottom line. The dentists often run “contests” between the hygienists & staff to see who can produce the most profit every month and offers bonuses and incentives to do so. That to me is unethical, and that is a big part of why I left the profession.
So, don’t all of you say that ONLY Realtors / real estate agents are profit focused. Whatever professional field you are in has unscrupulous people in them too. And everyone needs to make enough to support themselves.
I gave up a $45/hr position because I wanted to find something where I could actually HELP people and not be dictated to on how to “get blood from a stone”. I have struggled to make it in my real estate profession, but by putting the needs of my clients first, I am slowly starting to develop a very good reputation as an ethical and helpful Realtor. My focus is first time home buyers and I work with HUD to instruct their classes. I stress the importance of a home inspection and if my clients are unable to be there for the inspection, I am there no matter what. I want to speak with the inspector to make sure that the property is up to par so that my client’s financing will go through. If issues are found, I negotiate with the seller to do the necessary repairs.
I also instruct the first time home buyers on how to interview a Realtor, what questions to ask, what qualifications to look for and to be certain they feel comfortable with whoever they chose. I personally DO remain friends with my clients. I feel honored that they chose me to help them with one of the biggest financial investments in their life and I do not take that responsibility lightly. I run a first time home buyer’s group on Facebook where I have other ethical professionals answer questions and give advice, whether the group member is working with me or with another Realtor. I do not allow any “selling” of services in my group because the focus is to be a resource of valuable information for those who are seeking. I have had numerous clients of other Realtors contact me to tell me that their agent has dropped the ball on them. I give them whatever advice I can, but ethically, I cannot try to “steal” their client.
Lastly, whenever anyone signs ANY contract with either a listing agent or a buyer’s agent, they need to be aware of HOW to get out of that contract and “fire” their agent if that agent is not living up to their expected performance. That responsibility lies with the buyer/seller because an unscrupulous agent is NOT going to go over how to get out of their contract if they are not happy. They are going to try to “lock them in” for at least 6 months. Sad to say, most people are too cheap to take that contract for review to an attorney who, as an independent 3rd party, would be looking out for the seller’s/buyer’s best interest. My contracts clearly state that if my client is not happy with my performance for any reason, all they need to do is put that in writing and our contract will be voided. I do that and I let me clients know up front that they CAN fire me because I know how hard I work for them and if they are unhappy, I want to know what it is that I can do to rectify the situation. In my 3 years of being a Realtor, I have never been fired.
At the closing I had last week, I got the nicest thank you letter and gift from the seller. The thing is, she wasn’t even my client! The buyer’s were my clients (who also gave me a lovely thank you note and gift)! Her agent aggressively sought her out to get the listing and then did nothing for her. It made me very sad when I found this out, so on top of helping my buyers, I helped the seller too. She had to sell her mother’s house due to her dementia and was moving her from FL to Chicago to an assisted living facility near her home. I found the seller someone to haul away the large old furniture that had to go; I connected her with a local charity where she could donate other items she didn’t want to throw away; I put together a bill of sale for other furniture she needed to sell; I returned all her cable equipment because she was so overwhelmed and ran out of time and I shipped her some photos she had left in the house that she forgot about before she went back to Chicago. To me, these were all “little things” which took only a few hours out of my time, but it meant the world to her to have some help. Truthfully, these were things HER agent should have helped her with but did not. Yes, that one, who was actually a Cent.21 broker, was all about just getting the deal done.
THAT’s what it’s all about. Helping others. It’s NOT just about getting a paycheck.
So, I do thank everyone here who shared their displeasure with this profession for opening my eyes. It’s a very sad situation. I don’t know what the answer is, but I will just say that there ARE Realtors in existence that love this profession and honestly do their best for their clients.
I personally dislike real estate agents in general.
I acquired my Real Estate license and briefly worked a real estate sales agent, but I, too, felt the most of my coworkers and those from other agencies were far too adversarial to their clients.
I left the business because I felt that most agents and some brokers needed to take a course on how to properly deal with sellers and buyers.
I also feel that dual agency, is a serious conflict of interest, and in the states where is is allowed, it should be banned.
I agree with the author about not trusting an agent that says do not put in a low ball offer as it may insult the seller.
In some states, ALL offers have to be presented.
Perhaps the agent is too lazy to put in a low ball offer because they know it will be refused and they do not want to put the energy into presenting an offer.
That is a mistake, IMO, you never know when a seller with a too high price, is willing to throw in the towel. So put is the offer and see.
On the other hand, sales agents will often refuse to take an over-priced listing.
IMO, that is also a mistake. A house is worth what a buyer is willing to pay for it. Some buyers have cash to buy and do not need the house to meet comparable appraisals in order to qualify for a mortgage. Some can come up with the difference between the appraisal and what the bank is willing to mortgage.
Therefore an over priced house does often sell to an appropriate buyer because it may be in a location with low inventory, or a very desirable location of the buyer wants to live next door to his brother.
So again, agents who refuse to take an overpriced listing are shooting themselves in the foot.
In addition, the agent has nothing to do with the price a seller wants to list their house for. They can suggest and show comps, but they can not control the seller.
Lastly, many times when an agent tells the buyer there is another offer coming in, they are telling the truth.
Also the agent is right, when they say, you never know when someone else will look at a house you are waffling about and decide to make a full price offer.
If you love the house, and do not want to lose it. put in your best offer.
Here is my personal story from selling my house:
I owned a home on a hill with a beautiful but rare view. There were no other homes around for salel at the time, with that view, and none planned to be.
The listing was way overpriced due to the unique view.
All the agents wanted me to lower the asking, but I insisted that my price was the price I wanted, otherwise the home was not for sale.
Two people put in offers at one time for my overpriced home.
One buyer’s wife loved the house and unabashedly raved about it and the upgrades, etc. She knew it was overpriced, but said she and her husband could afford to come up with the difference between the appraisal and what the bank was willing to loan them for a mortgage.
I wanted her to have the house because she seemed to resonage with it and was so open with her praise for all the upgrades we had put into the home.
Still, another buyer, who was not as agog about the house, but liked the view, learned of the other buyer and immediately put in a higher offer to have us to sell them the house, instead.
Still, I wanted this young woman who loved the house to have it.
To that end, I was willing to sell it to her for the lower price. The caveat being that they had to make a decision that day.
The husband said it was BS, ….there was no other offer, he told his wife we were only trying to get a quick sale. That was not true.
The end of story is we sold to the other buyers who offered the higher offer.
When husband of the women who loved the house finally made the decision to buy, the house the next day, the hosue was already under agreement.
Oops, I am sure he and his wife had a huge fight that night.
The point of the story is that often if someone told you another offer came in or is coming in and it’s a one of a kind house, inventory is low, and you really want the house. Buy it pronto.
When I worked as an agent, I never knew an agent to lie about that fact. Typically when they told the buyer that, it is because they already got wind of another buyer inquiring after the hosue, with the intent to buy.
I totally agree with this article. Realtors have very low ethical standards. Currently we are in the middle of a contract where there was an existing offer. Our realtor hates the seller, so he told us to put in a low offer to prevent seller from selling. We would have put in higher offer but agent said don’t waste your money, as he claimed he knew how much the existing offer is. But, in talking to owners…that was not true.
I have to say that we have been trying to purchase for awhile. One deal that we made an offer on we offered 830,00 the asking price was 862,500. Their agent came back with not a penny less than 850,000. My agent was useless, well that seems reasonable to me. Well today I just saw it closed at 835,000. This is the second time this has happened with him. Now a new agent we got turned on to from her senior agent. We lost 3 houses with her negotiations skills that she said she has. So disillusioning. BTW this is California if you all are wondering why the prices are insane.
I think the problem is the system itself….there are far too many realtors, many of whom are doing this work because its that time in life and they are unqualified for other work. Some of them make a lot of money, but that isn’t because they are incredible at what they do…they just are taking advantage of a rotten system that basically is set up to screw sellers. How long did it take you to accumulate the 5% commission you are charged to sell a property you might have spent 30 years to pay off…probably for 99% of sellers a heck of longer time that the broker spent trying to unload your house. With Internet listings that anyone can connect to i don’t know how these people have the nerve to suggest that it costs them a lot of money and dedication to sell your property….they are not fighting the marketplace, they are fighting each other for the few sales they might have in a year…my local realty office…keller williams, lists 162 agents for their local Yorktown Heights office in NY…to me that explains what is wrong with the realty market in this country.
Wow! This is ridiculous. I’m an agent. First of all, yes, of course we start getting frustrated when a buyer is taking us on a wild goose chase for months, are all over the place, can’t make up their minds, wants something that doesn’t exist, etc. We don’t get paid for any of this! Tell me how long exactly you would continue to drive clients around and let them drive you nutty for free, not listening to your advice, and not letting you do your actual job, which is negotiating home sales? Secondly, let’s think logically here. An agent wants you to get that house. He or she wants you to be happy with it. This business is about referrals. We don’t want you to feel that you overpaid, got a bad house, etc. We’re going to give you advice accordingly. Unfortunately, the common consumer thinks they’re some kind of expert, and thinks they can find “a bargain” in this crazy low inventory of the past x amount of years that is only getting worse, and makes decisions based on bad information, emotions, advice from friends / family, and end up getting in their own way. This profession can be extremely frustrating..it’s like being a doctor when every patient is convinced they have some weird disease they googled. They think they can get a foreclosure or a fixer upper on an FHA loan. They sit around waiting for weeks for that one house that’s going to be magically priced $45,000 less than every other comparable house, not understanding the first thing about how listing prices are calculated. Did I mention how tough it is just to get clients in the first place? We work constantly, people expect us to be on call all the time. We go for months without getting paid, yet we can’t go on vacation without being constantly interrupted. So, yes, we get a little antsy when we feel we’re being bamboozled by clients. But no, no agent in their right mind would try to get a client to bid higher in order to get their commission up…and anyone who would say that clearly doesn’t understand the commission structure. Let me spell it out for you…even if I convinced someone to go $50,000 over what they wanted to offer…that ends up working out to a measly $400 or $500 after commission splits, brokerage fees, etc, are taken out. You can imagine how little difference most changes of $5,000 or $10,000 makes. It’s a really stupidly small amount of money that no agent would risk their career over. Our duty is to YOU. Our buyer or our seller. We take a bunch of oaths. Are there bad agents out there, sure! But not for any of the reasons you listed. This is pure click bait and fear-mongering about a subject you really might benefit from learning about. And to anyone else reading this, please do your working agents a favor and learn a little bit about the market before you start looking. You can ask an agent. They will be glad to show you what houses sold in the areas you’re interested in, how long they were on the market, average price over or under asking price, etc…
What a bunch of malarkey.. At no time do I ever rush my clients to buy. I know ahead of time what they want and how much they want to spend and I never mislead them. I always tell my clients at any time for any reason if they feel uncomfortable with the deal then let’s walk away.. Buying a home can become very emotional for buyers when the Sellers will not negotiate. Money is really the last thing I’m worried about. Doing a good first is my priority.
One other thing to note is that realtors cannot spell. This is sad because a big part of their job is to write contracts. They are just notoriously bad at spelling, and it’s a wonder that they managed to pass third grade. You are constantly on the phone correcting them, and they can’t even spell your name right.
The above article is exactly what I’m going through right now. I was tricked before by a real estate agent, and I’m feeling the same vibe from the one I’m dealing with now. I have been told some version of all of the above. The one about offending the seller has come up a couple of times. I’m looking at fixer uppers, and I think I’m safe in my assumption that the sellers probably know they are going to have to negotiate. She seems to not want to put in my low ball offer. I see it as I’ll start low and see what happens. She has shown me comps on other condos in the complex. The one I’m looking at needs a good amount of work to be done. Comps help, but I don’t know if the recently sold were move in ready and had upgrades done. You end up looking at price per square foot and little else as a reference. I’m feeling like I need to find someone else.
Looking to buy a home in 2019 and SOS from these lying “Buyer Agents”. All they are good for is opening doors on overpriced houses and blocking you from submitting offers. Why don’t they just come out and say they represent the seller and get it over with. That they say they represent you the Buyer is the first of many lies…
What FB group?
Do your own research. As everyone has pointed out, agents are in the business to make money and are only interested in serious buyers or sellers. Make no mistake there are some ethical agents but an abundance of unethical ones. Beware of the ones who over and over say “to be honest blah blah blah,” you’ll know right away they are liars Money is the root of all evil and not many are ” honest” about anything except lining their wallets. They may not write it or say it, but there’s a subtle unspoken language that goes on with members within their own click. Do you really suppose a seller’s agent and buyer’s agent try to get be best deals for their clients? Of course they do but they negotiate the best profits for themselves and to keep their brokers happy. Dual agency works wonders! Then there are the agents who have it out for each other. The vicious agent that wants to get even with the other. Is it any wonder why there are so many “For Sale By Owner” listings? Be careful folks. Bring a knowledgeable and trusted friend into the picture if you know nothing about buying or selling. Don’t feel pressured. Just be smart.
What a HUGE BUNCH of incredibly stereotypical, reactionary LEMMINGS the author is and the vast majority of you who have responded are. “All” this and “all” that applied to ALL Realtors. You’re “ALL” about as sharp as SPOONS and as critically aware, knowledgeable and accurate as 10 year olds.
Your rampant prejudice, ignorance and generalization of anyone who is a Real Estate Agent isn’t even laughable. You should “all” be egregiously embarrassed.
What a Bunch of miserable cheap bastards
I couldn’t disagree more with this article. When you have a seasoned realtor with integrity, you get to sit back and enjoy the ride. He or she will take all of the stress related issues and resolve them before you even know that they existed. The scenarios documented above are obviously rooky realtor and you could say the same about rooky lawyers and doctors. Know who your are working with and you will have a wonderful first or second experience.
Most buyers are looking for cheap and deals. Bargain hunters. The home cheapo stuff. Real quality is elusive to most americans. They simply want bargains, and why would RE be any different. It was the illusion of quality, not true quality that most are looking for. Do NOT lower your price if the comps/quality fixtures/appraisals support it and don’t be pressured by some hustler real estate agent trying to get an easy fast commission.
I also had bad experiences. So this time I decided to sell by owner. I put up some signs and in 7 days had about a dozen inquiries. One prospective buyer said he was in the area saw the sign and asked if he could take a look. so he came to see the house. Next thing I get a message from his realtor asking if he could bring his client for another look. Sure no problem. The agent came before the client, so I asked him,”so who pays you for this” he said “YOU do”. What? I don’t even know you, – you walk into my house and tell me that I have to pay you 3% of the sale price. For what? You have done nothing for me! but you want 3% of my money, – are you insane! If you want 3% talk to the guy who hired you. Such Rubbish!
So his plan, is to walk around my house for 20 mins talking to the buyer, then if the buyer says yes I want it, he turns around and charges ME 3% What The…!
Beware of double ending (dual agency). It’s illegal in several US states. The real estate agent represents both buyer and seller and gets double the commission–like a lawyer representing both sides!
Also, another US empire hustler/huckster tactic is to “buy” the listing. The real estate agent gives an intentionally high price to list to get the listing, then drip by drop (“strategic pricing”) reduces the price until it sells.
Beware of these US conartists called realtors.
This is exactly what I am experiencing. The buyer’s agent is actually employed by the seller’s agent. I asked her if there was a conflict of interest and she of course said no, but I have been working against her for the whole month that I have been with her. I am the one who looked up the roof and AC needing replaced. I am the one that pointed out that there is no washer and dryer and that the deck is dry rotted. Her response, “You can find a washer and dryer set in the scratch and dent section for under a $1000. You can replace individual boards on the deck as needed, it doesn’t have to be replaced. The AC was replaced in 2009, it is good for 15 to 20 years.” The AC warranty is long gone on an 11 year old AC and research turned up that the existing Trane unit had horrible reviews, was not energy efficient, even though it was a SEER 20 and had to have frequent repairs. If you are buying a house for half a million, why do you have to settle for scratch and dent or a patchwork deck that is guaranteed to provide splinters, even on the non-dry rotted boards. Then she tells me that I am responsible for the termite inspection on a VA loan. When it looks like I have to clean up my credit a little more to get a better rate, she is all of a sudden not interested in my search, even though the money I make is rock solid and the house I want is easily affordable. She continues to discourage me, makes pot shots about my credit, although it was the result of a long illness and prior to me winning my VA claim and Social Security disability. She is a good 20 years younger than me and seems to think that her half truths and bullshit explanations will be enough to manipulate the outcome. I truly can’t wait to get out of my contract with her.