Do Real Estate Agents Lie?

Integrity and honesty is of the utmost importance in any profession.  This is especially true in the home buying and selling industry. When you buy or sell a home, you are likely handling one of the most substantial financial transaction of your life.  The unfortunate thing is that the real estate industry is riddled with sales people with poor reputations.  Similarly, as with lawyers and car salespeople because some agents don't know the difference between the truth and a lie.  Much of the problem is that a large numbers of unscrupulous people believe that the real estate profession offers a fast track to easy money.

Which Agents Are Trustworthy?

The truth is about 10% of the agents do 90% of the business, and that top 10% are more likely to be the ones that buyers and sellers can rely upon and trust. Many home buyers and home sellers say they want their real estate agent to be honest, ethical, professional and experienced.

What Do Agents Lie About?

Most these agents lie about themselves. Real estate agents often misrepresent their experience, their credentials and almost everything else about them with their “I’m better than you attitude”.  Many agents spend inordinate amounts of time posting information online to obtain maximum search engine exposure.  Can you trust the agent's web site? Just because it's on the Internet doesn't mean it’s true.

Here are misrepresentations to look for on a real estate agent's web site:

• Experience

It is relatively easy for you to check to see if an agent has been licensed for as long as they say.  In most cases it’s as easy as logging onto your State’s Real Estate Commission’s web site and typing in an agent’s name.

• Listings

Most agent web sites feature their active listings. You can also check their company’s web site for a link to their listings to determine whether that agent has any listings or not. Only a few agents, such as buyer broker agents, will not take any listings. Listings are the backbone of most experienced agents.

• Specialty

Agents generally advertise their specialty. An agent might claim to be a specialist at selling homes in a certain neighborhood. Or agents may try to market themselves as an exclusive home specialist by showing only high end homes on their web site but they have never sold a home in that price range. Other agents may say that they specialize in FHA but have yet to close an FHA transaction.

Whether you are looking to buy or sell a Plano For Sale By Owner, a DFW Foreclosure of a Dallas Loft make sure you take all of this into consideration so you don’t hire the wrong real estate agent.  You don’t want to end up selling your home to one of those DFW We Buy Houses companies.