Do Realtors lie?

[BarbC]

Where are you looking? See if the area has a GIS tax map on the computer and you can tell then who owns it, taxes paid, what they paid for it, surrounding lots, etc.

 

[mississippi revolverman]

I remember several years ago my wife and I were signing on a house and thought of the people present.

2 realtors, a Lawyer and the loan officer. I thought to my self to bad didn't have a used car saleman present that way we would have all the "sleaze" professions represented

 

[palmetto99]

Realtors are the new used car salesmen.

 

[Landpimp]

rough crowd

been selling for 15+ years.....cant say I have ever lied(I see no reason to)....probley told more than I should and pointed out serious issues others would not, I never ever have thought about commission when showing or writing a deal.

I dont make HUGE bucks, I made a good honest(yes I said honest) living, I will not work with asshat buyers or sellers. You can not find any of my clients that dont just love me, I am the guy that will crawl under the house, dig up the septic, take stuff to the dump......whatever it takes to help or make a client happy. I live(born and raised) in town I work in.....and its a small town...if your a bad seed word gets around fast

my folks have been selling since the early 1960's.....wont find 2 more honest folks around

But yes some RE agents do lie(and about alot more than RE) I am working with dept of lic, ethics and others to get rid of this one agent that has 3 SS#'s...within the 1st day of meeting here I hired a PI to check her out, she is a scam artist(and more)

In my area there are really only a handfull of dirtbag agents, most are just good folks that work hard for their clients. You may also mistake lieing with just being DUMB.....trust me alot more dummies than liers in RE

During the bust(and before) Not one of my builders got left holding the bag, we got all of them out in time, whole. Not one of my buyers bought more than they should, not one of my clients lost their home. Myself I never flipped any RE..I figure its my job to find my clients deals not myself. I dont deal with mortage brokers, just banks, I use the BEST home inspectors(actaully structual engineers) all my professionals are the same i use myself on my home or buildings

I did sell used cars once......and my Mrs had been in the car biz for 15 years

anyone want to kick my old dog?

 

[Ogandydancer]

Originally posted by mississippi revolverman:
I remember several years ago my wife and I were signing on a house and thought of the people present.

2 realtors, a Lawyer and the loan officer. I thought to my self to bad didn't have a used car saleman present that way we would have all the "sleaze" professions represented

You forgot the worst of the lot "insurance salespersons".!!!!

 

[ladder13]

Worse than car salesmen.

But there ARE a few good ones.

 

[ladder13]

Originally posted by BarbC:
Where are you looking? See if the area has a GIS tax map on the computer and you can tell then who owns it, taxes paid, what they paid for it, surrounding lots, etc.

Barb, what's GIS?

 

[Broker57]

Landpimp, you basically wrote what I have already drafted and deleted more than a couple of times.

I started to respond to Neil, the gist being that if you don't trust the guidance you are getting then find another agent. Ask friends or other people whose judgement you trust to recommend someone. At the very least, whether you continue working with your present agent or not, you should bring their seeming lack of professionalism to the attention of their managing Broker.

I also agree with Landpimp that in most instances what you are dealing with is lack of knowledge or incompetence rather than outright deception . The issues that Neil seems to have a problem with are items that should be very easy to remedy by any agent with a grain of ambition.

I taught myself at the outset of my career the phrase "I don't know but I'll find out". I still use it to this day when necessary. It has saved me from a lot of grief and embarrassment along the way.

And just for the record, folks, "Realtor" is a designation indicating membership with the National Association of Realtors. All "Realtors" are real estate agents, but not all real estate agents are Realtors. A minor point to be sure, but I know that as S&W enthusiasts we all like to be precise in our correct usage of various terminology. Now if you'll all excuse me, I have to go shopping for more clips for my Glock automatic pistol.

 

[guntownuncle]

Originally posted by Raider:
A lot of time realtors will withhold or distort the truth about something important about the property to make a sale. I would rate them along side used car salesmen in the honesty department.

In the county office I work in, we are able to help people find out alot about properties. Restrictions, floodplains, taxes, etc. We've had realtors threaten us because one of their potential victims found out something from us that the realtor didn't want them to know.

Thats not all realtors, though. Some or very honest. Many aren't.

An interesting thing to look at is how many of them grew up wanting to be realtors. It is safe to say almost none. Lots of them, though not all, were failures at nearly everything they tried and kept rolling down hill until they became realtors. (It works the same way for many car salesmen and insurance salesmen.) That's not always the case. My grandparents started a horse farm, made it succesful, and sold it. Next, they succeeded with and sold a flooring store. Lastly, they became successful realtors, sold their agency, and retired to Colorado. They're the exception though.

 

[ingmansinc]

I was self employed for 75% of my working career and I got three bad checks in forty-three years. One was from a cop, one from a sub-contractor, and one from an exec. of a large corp. All were made good. I always treated my customers with the same respect they treated me. I got to tell you that in my opinion 98% of the people are trustworthy and the other 2% make everybody else look bad.

 

[truckemup97]

Wow. Lots of hate for real estate agents. There is a difference between Realtors and real estate agents. In order to call yourself a Realtor, you have to join an organization and agree to a code of conduct. If your Realtor is not abiding by that code of conduct, you can file a complaint. If any real estate agent is breaking a law, you can certainly turn them in to the appropriate authorities.

As for not telling the whole truth, that is YOUR fault. $750 to a real estate attorney would have turned up most any problem. However, when I suggest this, most people reply, "I don't need an attorney, I have a real estate agent and title insurance." Those are the people who have yet to be ripped off. Cover your butt. Spend a little on an attorney as an insurance policy on a huge investment.

 

[Broker57]

Lots of them, though not all, were failures at nearly everything they tried and kept rolling down hill until they became realtors.

Wow, talk about sweeping generalizations. I wouldn't even know where to start with this. In another topic and context this would be probably be called "profiling".

I was going to ask how many real estate professionals you knew personally in order to make this assessment, until I remembered that you had grandparents in the real estate business but that they were the lone exception to the "failure equation".

In my 28 years in the business I have met MANY practitioners, and while I'm sure none of us woke up one morning in the sixth grade declaring that we wanted to sell real estate for a living I can assure you that the vast majority of agents (particularly the successful ones) went into real estate because they saw opportunity. I have met doctors and attorneys who ended up in real estate because they were making a much larger income than in their chosen professions.

Believe me, I don't have a problem with the general tenor of this discussion because you don't have longevity in this business if you are thin-skinned. It's also one of those topics where everyone has their favorite horror story, or knows a friend of a friend who got shafted, so there is no shortage of examples of why real estate agents occupy the bottom rung of the food chain along with all of the other service industry pondscum.

 

[sparky9]

I've experienced both sides.
Our realtor made a call after the deal fell through because of the other realtor. She sold our house house to an investor, sight unseen. She got many recommendations from us over the years.
That was 19 years ago.
Our present house has been on the market for 2+ years and I haven't notice any dishonesty, but I sure think they could work smarter, if not harder. It seems they only want to throw your house into Lake Internet and see if they get a bite.
There's very little, if any, creative marketing in the realty business. Could that be from the fact that houses virtually sold themselves in the not too distant past? Probably.

 

[NFrameFred]

All kinds of salesmen lie (notice I didn't say all salesmen) . . . for a while.

These guys and gals tend to drift from one job to another since with that kind of ethic, they never build a book of business for repeat sales.

 

[BarbC]

Barb, what's GIS?

GIS is Geographic Information System, and a lot of counties use it for tax and ownership data. This one is for Pike County GIS. You can search by name or map or tax number, or you can drill down to the parcel you're interested in.

Our realtor in Virginia was excellent. She ended up our next-door neighbor, good friend, and even witnessed our wedding.

 

[zercool]

Broker57 said:

the gist being that if you don't trust the guidance you are getting then find another agent.

This is the best advice I've seen in this thread. Listen to your gut. You are not married to your agent, so ask around and find another one.

My wife and I started shopping for houses last year, and the first agent we worked with told us that the best possible mortgage for us was an adjustable. I said no, not for us, and she kept pushing the issue. We walked out of the house and she hasn't heard from us since.

Our current agent has been a dream to work with and has been pointing out things we might not have seen. She wants us to find a house that's right for us, and be happy where we are. We had an offer in on a house, it went under contract, then the deal fell apart because of an obstinate seller. Our agent was apologizing up and down like this was her fault.

So, I'll repeat the advice, a bit louder: FIND AN AGENT YOU TRUST.

 

[guntownuncle]

As for not telling the whole truth, that is YOUR fault. $750 to a real estate attorney would have turned up most any problem. However, when I suggest this, most people reply, "I don't need an attorney, I have a real estate agent and title insurance." Those are the people who have yet to be ripped off. Cover your butt. Spend a little on an attorney as an insurance policy on a huge investment.

That's very good advice. Barb's idea was good too. Even without an attorney you can find out alot about a property by doing a little checking. If you will be spending a small fortune on a property, why not spend a day doing some research with the local regulatory authorities? Much of it can be done over the internet. Calling is not always the best option. For one, they may not want to discuss a property over the phone. For liability reasons they may want you to come point to the property on a map before they say if it is in the floodplain, for example.

 

[Bassamatic]

Here is something to keep in mind: 90% of all home sales are sold by 10% of the realtors. This is true pretty much where ever you go.

Find those realtors in the 10% bracket. They are the movers and the shakers. They are successful for a reason and lying to their customers is not one of those reasons.

 

[Landpimp]

beleive it or not, I 1st learned that(exactly) when I was selling cars, I also still say it(and mean it)

I look or act nothing like a typical agent....more like the guy pumping the septic

my honest to god downside is....I truely care and take my clients deals very personaly(maybe to a fault sometimes)

Originally posted by Broker57:
"I don't know but I'll find out". I still use it to this day when necessary. It has saved me from a lot of grief and embarrassment along the way.

.

 

[Landpimp]

I sure didnt! as I didnt like eating dinner at 9pm

.....when your a kid and both your folks sell and you live in BFE....it gets to you.

dad started right out of college, worked at a hardware store part time during his 1st few years, then did building, development etc....he did a shake roof in 1964 that this just year needed a replacment. He is proud of each home and plat he did.....he lives here.

Me, well I was sorta expected to go in the biz.......so I did everything possible not to, even though I got my lic when I was 18(on my bday) So I ended up running heavy equipment(and was very good) and my back blew out.

Into car sales.......where i learned ALOT about people, it was a really good experence, and I treated my buyers just like I do in RE, heck I am a car/truck guy. I didnt stay in afterr 3 years as I could not stand being TOLD to lie(I dont play poker well either)

Finaly 15 years latter i joined my folks, for many reasons....they are only children and so am I.........so its kinda fun

moms dad(came over from Finland), he was an extention agent for WSU, after he retired and started investing in RE......he did VERY VERY well, I miss him

So when I started, I promised myself that I would try my best to make it a "normal" job/hours, done pretty well,normaly just work 5 days a week and home by 5pm, sure I dont make as much money....but thats not what life is about

I sleep well at night...

Originally posted by guntownuncle:

An interesting thing to look at is how many of them grew up wanting to be realtors. It is safe to say almost none. Lots of them, though not all, were failures at nearly everything they tried and kept rolling down hill until they became realtors. (It works the same way for many car salesmen and insurance salesmen.) That's not always the case. My grandparents started a horse farm, made it succesful, and sold it. Next, they succeeded with and sold a flooring store. Lastly, they became successful realtors, sold their agency, and retired to Colorado. They're the exception though.