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”
Mike,
You really should take this post off the airwaves. It is inaccurate, defamatory and no service to the consumers you purport to help. I can’t speak for every agent and just like every other profession, how we behave is subject to the many individual personalities, motivations and skills we bring to our work. I know my underlying mission is to serve and help people find affordable housing that works for them. I don’t succeed if I fall short of that. I want my customers to be happy, to feel protected and to know that I am honest and caring, as well as skilled. While earning an income is essential to me, I can’t do it without a strong personal ethos. People would be wise to find someone they feel they can trust and be discerning in who they work with- as real estate agents or any professional.
best, cindy
We put a purchase offer in on a house, it was accepted after some negotiations but the home inspection uncovered that no permits had been filed for any work done one the house since 1999! There are 10+ projects that require permits that need to be retroactively permitted (cutting up walls to look at duct work and electrical)! Our buyers agent and her boss are trying to convince us that building permits are “superfluous” and assure us we’re “getting a good price”. We told them we want out of the deal (there’s >$15k of work to be done on a $100k house) but they’re still pushing the house and the sale! They have lost my business after we get out of our contract!!
Hello.
After I read this article, I was super pissed off. Fuming…then reading these comments made me want to say things not likely to be said in front of my 3 and 6 year old children. My wife even asked me why I was so upset and I said “because some idiot is bashing my industry again on a blog post trying to make us look bad”. She just shook her head…
Then I thought about it for a few minutes and realized, I’m not upset at the article, the guy who wrote it or the negative remarks continuing to give credit to these statements made about my colleagues. I realized what was making me mad was the fact that these points being brought up, these horrible crappy things, were actually being said because, they’re TRUE. They actually happened to people. People suffered financially, and clearly emotionally, due to incompetence by what is supposed to be a professional. Some more than once…
So with the utmost sincerity and from the bottom of my heart, I apologize. I’m sorry that you had to endure such bad experiences. There’s nothing I can say to try and change your mind about your feelings towards the industry I love so dearly except to understand that it certainly matters who you work with. I do have to disagree though with one statement made in the article about referrals. A personal referral is certainly the way to go since the agent must have done a good enough job to be referred in the first place.
So I leave you, the public, with a couple of pieces of advice when deciding on wether or not to work with an agent…
1. Are they a Realtor®? All agents are NOT Realtors® There is a HUGE difference.
2. Interview them. Even if it is a personal referral. You may not jive.
3. Trust your instincts. If it is not working out with an agent and they’re not responding to you, or living up to your expectations, fire them and find one that will.
4. We are independent contractors. Not employees. We run our own business. Find out what their thoughts are about owning their own business and you can learn from the very beginning wether or not this agent is the right pick.
I hope this helps and again, I apologize to those that have had such bad experiences. I love this industry and will defend it to the end, but you’re right, It needs some major changes.
Vance
Seattle
3.
I am a real estate agent and it is sad reading this article…but it is sometimes true. I have a healthcare background, where my focus was always the patient, their needs, their best interest… I carried that into my real estate business, and there are agents who will even want to conspire with me.
I will say there are agents out there who don’t do any of this… well…Me for example. I follow a very simple philosophy. First, before I was agent, I would have fired any agent who I feel, was not looking after me, first. That is what I do, I look after my clients first. I keep emotion out of all transactions… I have had a client walk away over a refrigerator.. It is is important to my client, its important to me.
My only criteria is, if I have my clients back, my expectation is they have my back… ! That has served me well.
well, it’s that time again finding an agent in the Tulsa, OK area. I’ve had dealings with two. Suzy Bell who owned the house I was looking at and bought back in 2005 very rude and nasty lady wouldn’t even meet me to give me the key to my new home. Then we I sold the house GuyAnn Miller the Christian saint after she sold my home I saw her in a QT and she walked right past me didn’t even recognize me. These two ladies will not be used in March when I buy another place in Tulsa this year. realtor and used car salesman same different. Don’t let either one bully you M B
Where do I BEGIN? I weigh in on this topic using the job description as a purveyor of sticks and stones and all the terra firma that they are encumbered on….have been practicing these discipline for 30 years which may or may not give me the title of expert,regardless its late,I’m bored and had a bad taco or two and can’t sleep. All posts above have some truths to them and some of them are one sided and don’t tell the whole story. The fact of the matter is we have some dirty rotten scoundrels in the business of selling real estate and this applies equally as well as to some buyers and sellers out there as well. So my advice to you buyers who choose to work with an agent its very simple, ask for a list of their current listed inventory or go on realtor.com and get it and then using the U.S.postal service place a piece of correspondence in the mail and send it to them with some pertinent questions, such as would you recommend your agent to me and what is his/her strengths an weaknesses , how many deals have you done with them and any thing else you would choose to ask about that agent or agency.Attach your e-mail address and wait for reply and you will know the facts about that agent in a skinny instant. Ask the agent for a list of all properties that they have had the buyer for in the past six months and do the same thing I recommended as above and you will get the truth about the agent asap. Then after you get all warm and fuzzy about one, make contact and lay down a foundation of expectations you wished to be honored and above all do not tell them your financial position or the top dollar you are willing to pay for a property, such as we can pay cash, we sold our last house and made a million dollars,we just inherited 3.2 billion dollars.All that is needed is a pre approval letter from a banker you know and trust with that banker to know under no circumstances are they allowed to disclose anything about your financial status to any agents they may call and inquire..by law they are not suppose to anyway but like all professions,the bankers can be weasels and sell folks down the river as well. Once you find a house it is your responsibility to due your own due diligence and find out whats going on in the house.Don’t take the sellers word for it or the agents word for it either,you and you alone are responsible to discern the truth…. here’s a quick tip,ask the surrounding neighbors the questions that you want answers to, they love to rat their neighbors out. Find out who has their home insured and call the agent to see if there have been any claims against the house,call the home owners association and talk to a member and ask them how long they have lived in the subdivision and what they know about the house,the furnace repair folks leave their call back stickers on the equipment they work on,get the number and call them and get the track record of the hvac equipment. Go on the state police website and search the sex offender list for location, call the local police and request a copy of the last years crimes report for the area . Sit at Denny’s and talk to some old folks who have lived in the area, they love to gossip, the county recorder of deeds has all the data you need to look at in regards to the house you want to buy, have the realtor obtain a copy of the last ten years and see if the seller has kept up on taxes,leins that are filed against and if there are any from irs filed don’t even think about making an offer on that house unless you have more time than money. Just remember you are the one responsible for the outcome of your purchase,trust no one,verify,go with your gut and last but not least you can all ways demand that you get to be there for the presentation of the offer to the sellers,which I do believe on a personal and professional level this would cease about 99 percent of all the b.s. that is posted above,of course if your making an offending offer,you may not want to be around to do that.
What does Mike do for a living?
This is honestly the worst advice I have ever seen.
I held a brokers license for 15 years – great profession if you are good with working 7 days a week – and the hours – I have had days I started at 6:00AM and ended at 2:00AM the following morning. I have worked with buyers and sellers for up to a year without a transaction being completed. So I worked for free for them – well actually it wasn’t totally free – I had a lot of expenses to pay. Gas – wear and tear and mileage depreciation as well as advertising. When adding the cost of doing business up – desk fees, broker splits, association dues, MLS fees, continuing education costs, licensing fees, transaction fees, B&O tax, E&O insurance, etc. Now that I’ve covered a percentage of the basics – shall we consider the other costs? Advertising (signs & posts, color flyers, newspaper ($40 for one ad), other publications ($300-$800 per page), car insurance is – business carrying clients and a minimum $100K/$300K – I could keep going – but I think I made a point – this is not a cheap career to be part of. For those that have never been involved in a commission based highly competitive profession – you just sat down with your family to enjoy your evening meal and the phone rings – buyer in front of house wants to see it now! or neighbor calls your listing was just broken into and they can’t contact the owner! Buyer agent calls and has clients in town but will be their plane leaves in two hours and have an offer written – these and many more situations have happened – including a 3:00AM call from someone wanting to look at a house. Well when you have bills to pay – just to stay in business – you go! When I represented a buyer – that was what I did – inform, advise, suggest and say – but it is up to you to decide. Sellers – basically the same thing. When a transaction goes forward for a buyer – scheduling the inspection and often re-inspection, negotiating needed repairs, coordinating with their lender (often), scheduling closing date, scheduling final walk through prior to closing and be at the closing to assist with questions or issues. Working for the seller – pretty much the same – except for being there for the inspection – replace that with the appraiser. I broker friend had to pay $5K in legal fees because a buyer decided to sue a seller and their attorney went after both agents, both brokerages, the inspector, the appraiser, the Title company and anyone else he could think of – the plaintiff lost – but my friend did not get her $5K back. Ready to go get your license now? Well – I have been retired for nearly a year – but now I’m bored and planning on reinstating my license. Why? Because I’m good – highly ethical – hard working and I have past clients that are begging me to work with them. By the way – most Realtors are good – honest hard working people! I know – I have been on the other side of negotiations and have not only said, but often heard this “that would not be in the best interest of my client”. Interview your agent/broker and choose wisely. Best of Luck to All
This article hits the nail right on the head! This is exactly what we encountered the last 2 months of trying to buy a home in the Bay Area, where it’s a sellers market and agents are circling like sharks in a feeding frenzy. We’ve encountered listing agents try to dual agent us and offer to help us find a better house than the one they are being PAID to sell at an open house. We’ve had our own agent push us to bid $100K over asking price on a mediocre $480K townhouse – no exaggeration – when we expressed interest in making an offer. We had a listing agent lie to us and mislead us into believing a house was 300 sq ft larger than it actually was, which was discovered to be false after $1,000 spent on inspections/appraisal at our expense. Thankfully, we discovered this before escrow closed and backed out in time.
It’s sad to discover this side of humanity. To the agents out there: you don’t want to be compared to used a car salesman? STOP ACTING LIKE ONE.
When writing an offer for a client, we always put it in our clients hands. We offer guidance on the property, it’s condition, look over all disclosures, provide a valuation, as well as an estimate of value and offer price based on supply and demand, and market activity.
On the representation side, in the #SiliconValley it is a very competitive market, so having a strong presence on both buying and selling side is critical, as well as deep relationships with all the REALTORS in the community. When you are bidding on houses, and truly that is what you are doing with the very little inventory in the Bay Area, it is always tricky to navigate the buyers through all the pitfalls and emotions of putting an offer on a property.
I believe if REALTORS spent more time educating their clients they would be in a much better position to gain the trust they require in order to represent them. Keep in mind without trust in a Real Estate relationship you will never be able to provide the client the guidance and representation they deserve!
The buy agent I worked with never said any of the things of this article, and we were fighting with dozens of other buyers to buy too, and we bought 4 houses, all are pretty good deals. So those agents who make excuses for these cliches are probably guilty of employing these tactics themselves.
This sounds like it’s been written by someone who thinks the world exists for them alone, and who my have suffered an unfortunate experience. I wonder what kind of work you do, and if you agree you should be judged as you judge others? That would be like going to your accountant and paying them for their service ONLY IF you like the amount of refund he or she got you. Buyer representation is a good thing, there are many things done to protect a buyer in a transaction, this was written out of ignorance.
You just need to find a good Realtor
I find it funny that the real estate agents are writing in on this site with the “wrath of all fury” saying how far from reality the article author is and that he has had a bad experience and should not curry the flavor of his readers, but the reality is that even though i fully believe that there are good and honest agents out there fighting for their clients to get the best deals and trying to do an honest days work the fact is that that is the vast minority of agents and the norm is for agents to do as he described in the article and behaving in what i can only describe as unethical if not out right illegal way. I am a first time buyer and I’m not having a good time buying either, my agent was just as he said in the beginning all nice and on the same page but after a while she started showing me bad houses then she would she a not so bad house and i would think man i should just grab this one but i am not letting up still looking. I finally found a house and was urged by MY agent to put a larger bid than i wanted to but i didn’t instead i put a bid that we (my wife and i)decided and the client agreed to it…Man! i almost bit $10,000 too much if i had listened to my agent. But it doesn’t end there even though she said they accepted the offer i am still waiting more than a week later for the contract to return signed from them. I suspect it is because they (both agents)are waiting as long as they can in the hopes that someone else will put a bid and cause us to go into a bidding war which is what my lawyer tells me, he also tells me this is not illegal which i still can’t believe but God is good and if it be his will for us to get this house we will in Jesus name…Amen
I’m have a contract on a house to buy. My question, the seller gave out my phone number to a business associate for purposes of selling me new window blinds. Is this ethical or legal? I live in South Carolina. I have not closed as there are appraisal issues, mainly it came in low and the seller is not happy.
Ok, there, Mike Holman.
But you forgot some other crafty businesses…
Like beware of that kid at the window in the fast food drive through!
Their paycheck? Yep, you guessed it.
Their just in it ‘for themselves’.
Sheesh. I totally agree with this. I spent 14 months looking at property. The first RE agent could care less and didn’t do her research. The second one, was a nice gal, but clearly scrapping for money. At 3 months, the pressure was ON. She didn’t show me many houses because I had a limited area, with minimal sales in my price range, but whew, she was all about getting me to buy. She was always talking about “motivations” and working deals between her and the other agent of any property I was interested in.
Without fail, there was always “another offer coming in.” (Wow, but its been sitting for 70 days on the market—this is San Diego…..). She had all the same game that is discussed in this article. I felt she attempted to play me for a fool and the pressure was too much, which made me dig my heels in. I knew I had had it with this woman when she told me, what is only $75 more a month? WOW. Then, you pay the $75 a month and all the interest on an additional $5000. I couldn’t take all the badgering and sales tactics. She disgusted me.
I decided that since the “buyers agent” was not really to help the buyer, but only to help themselves, I would find the property on my own and go through the listing agent. If I was going to have to defend myself, might as well go through it with the listing agent who had more motivation to get that offer through. (I had stellar credit, pre-approval doc, and substantial down payment)
I did. He didn’t pressure me, or talk about motivations or gossip with another agent. He didn’t try to get me to raise my price. It was the perfect home……I do supposed it went through because of luck, timing (it was the holidays and the sellers did want to move for various reasons) and the fact that he pushed it through. The appraisal came in lower than the purchase price, at which he carried on with my lender but the appraisal price stayed. I stayed firm and was not going to pay more than the appraisal, and I dont know how he did it, but he convinced the sellers to go with it.
Since no agents are on your side, if you are smart enough to represent yourself, then go with listing agents.
This site is a crock of BS! I don’t know what city your from but here in San Diego in most surrounding areas if you lowlball a seller and suddenly find yourself in a multiple counter situation, and you will, you just blew all credibility with the sellers!
Let’s think about this. You listed your home for $500k. You get three offers in for $495k, $490k and $345k. Why in the hell would you even dream of countering a $345k lowlball offer?! The low asking price ALONE tells you that buyer and agent DO NOT KNOW THEIR MAKE!
So, when an agent tells you not to lowlball he is doing you a damn big favor. Buyers my biggest question to you is if your going to listen to this crock of $hit blog then why are you even working with a Realtor in the first place?
Its a shame that I see so many people agreeing with this post. A shame in a sense that so many people have experienced “That Agent”! I am a realtor and I LOVE working with Buyers. There is no contract EVER I work on trust. Every offer I fight for my client by pulling homes, doing a market analysis and getting them the best price the market has to offer… On top of which when we go into a multiple offer situation. I really need these numbers to make sure the house will appraise because I will never let my clients pay more for a house then its worth… Shame on the agents that DONT do this. When I signed off to be a realtor I live by those rules and ethics we have to go by. I am a different kind of agent I look out for my clients best interest no matter how long it takes.
As with all industries, there are good realtors and bad realtors. And human behaviour tells us that for every good experience we have, we will share it 3 times with people. If we have a bad experience, we average retelling the story 7 times.
The fact of the matter is, any service industry is about people and relationships. There are bad realtors, but let’s also be honest here, there are also bad clients. I simply feel that it is unfortunate to paint any industry with such a broad brush. Realtors must adhere to a code of ethics, if not, they are liable to be fined, lose their license, or even be tried in court.
Of course, there are many infractions that go unpunished, but even still, in today’s world of facetubing and twittergrams, people’s reputation can tarnish pretty quickly.
True, realtors work on a commission system, but it’s a little oversimplifying it by saying it’s their bread and butter. As I stated previously, the service industry is about relationships. It’s about developing that relationship over time so that you want to deal with them the next time and the time after that. It’s about developing that relationship so that you will refer them to your friends and family also.
Of course, obtaining a real estate license isn’t the most difficult thing in the world. So while there may be some unscrupulous realtors out there, there are also some who simply aren’t equipped for the position.
So what does this mean? It means, as with all things in all industries, do your homework. Talk to reputable people for reputable sources. Check online with the board to see if the Realtor you’re dealing with has a history of being reprimanded. Yes, absolutely, learn about your market whether you’re buying OR selling. It means, interview a few realtors before selecting one.
Can you buy and sell on your own? Absolutely! But the fact is, that realtors have more information available to them. Realtors have more experience. They have more tools in their toolkit.
Bottom line, don’t let one bad apple spoil the basket.
First off I agree with a lot of this article. However reading some of these comments makes me sick!! I work around the clock at my buyers and sellers requests, texts phone calls at all hours day and night, had a buyer text me once at 3 in the morning, but we are Out for only the buck? Weekends? What is that? I am a very honest person! Will I ask a buyer how bad they want a house when they make an offer? You bet! I want my buyer to have the home they want, who is the home for me? I don’t think so, I am not buying it they are! If they low ball it chances are they won’t get it, if the market is good. I don’t believe in high pressure sale. Bottom line I let them make the decisions but you bet I give my opinion since I know our market. When they low ball and lose they then take my opinion on their next offer! When the market was bad I went a long with a low ball offer they wanted to write, more room for negotiation. I do know of some very unethical dishonest Realtors and it makes me sick they still have a license! Makes us all look bad! Example one agent in the town I live in was staying in a sellers home she had listed! The seller moved out of state, her agent wasn’t returning her phone calls, she sent her ex husband over to her home to find out what was going on and the Selling agent was living in the home! Home went into foreclosure, the agent got fined $750.00 and had to go to ethics class, what a joke! She was basically stealing from this poor seller, she should not have a license still!! Obviously the Seller couldn’t sue her which should have happened, she had no money obviously, sad situation! Do your homework, call the real estate commission where you live, if there are any violations against an agent they have to disclose! I love my buyers and sellers but if it were for some of the unethical agents I have seen I wouldn’t be selling Real Estate, and it sure isn’t for the money! Look at our hours, our advertising dollars, our splits with the other agents and the brokers, my vehicle expenses, time away from family and friends, this job has allowed me to make many good friends though! Yes you bet us good agents will defend when you dont see the whole picture! Don’t categorize us all! If your buying or selling a home and don’t want an agent don’t get one, simple enough!
An excellent diatribe of opinion based on anecdotal lore. I imagine the author published here as any reputable site would require facts, statistics & citations.
Love it, don’t use a buyers agent… As the sellers agent I love negotiating with buyers not represented.. I will squeeze every penny out of them, make my clients happy and make more money.. There are 20 moving parts to a deal that involve MONEY, yet all the buyer even thinks about is the PRICE which is one out of the twenty..
I’m always happy to dispel notions like these when I work with clients. They seem confused when I protect them and tell me how they were so afraid to seek someone out since we’re apparently soulless in some public perception. Yes, I actually do exactly for someone what I would do for myself and my family. My reputation is important to me because that’s what makes my business and i want my clients to work with me for life. I’ve worked with some for months or years to find a place. If I’m just in it to make a quick buck, how did that benefit me? I advise people heavily on resale and sometimes have to be the wet blanket to a house they’re exited about because it’s not a good buy. Again, how does that benefit me? It’s important to me years down the road when these people come back to me to sell their house, because I never want to be the agent that sold someone a house too high that they can’t get their money out of. I am not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination and yet I still have my values, but I guess if you’re ignorant about the reality of something you can say whatever you want and have it be “truth.” Are there some crappy real estate agents? Of course, as with any field. There’s some houses that my clients want to see and I see the agent and even I say, “ugh,” but the vast majority are not how you are portraying them here, but the fact that you’re eviscerating me in the abstract will not affect me because they learn the truth when they know me.
This is evidently is written by someone who does not know about real estate, you do comps before you ever submit an offer on anything. If you can’t comp it out, neither can an appraiser. And yes, if you offer $50K to $60k below asking, unless that is what it is really worth or it is a mega million dollar listing, you usually do not get a response back. The other thing, if it is is an REO (bank owned property) they will not come off their price much. Last thing, when you go to the house, look and see if there are other Realtors business cards about somewhere. That is a good indicator how active the home is.
Mike Holman how dare you stereotype an entire group. Please enlighten us as to what makes you an expert on Realtors. My job is to serve my clients. Non of your nonsense tactics required.
For most of my career I have been a buyers agent. Worked with many clients for over a year searching for that perfect home. It is my job to advise my clients and obey their wishes. Never have I used the term the seller might be offended or the agent might be offended. Don’t care. Don’t work for them. If I tell a client someone looked at a home that day; than someone had. It is to give them an idea of interest not to feed my pocket.
There are more Realtors like me than the ones you describe in this article.
After I read this I laughed for about 20 minutes perhaps you wrote it for my clients… FYI you are so off base it is really disturbing and as a matter of fact I am going to send this article to them…hoping they respond… I had an client whose offer was exactly was 2000..short. Everything you stated here is exactly what I told them… the difference is …someone came along 3 weeks later gave the seller the extra 2,000 and closed 5 weeks later… They then made minor improvements perhaps 10,000 worth and staged the house and 6 months later put it back on the market and closed for 125,000 more then they paid for it… My buyers are still crying 2 years later and still can not find a house around for that price in that condition… So take your information and shove it because you just might cost someone else the house of their dreams… do to your negativity ……..Sorry you must have had a bad experience…
This information is totally inaccurate and dangerous for many buyers to follow. Yes, you can get an unscrupulous agent but you can also get a blogger who wants to give value to his blog by writing about things he really doesn’t know much about. Whether you need to jump or wade into the market depends on one thing — the market. Is it hot or not? Right now, ours is hot. Last year, it was not so much. A better article would be a list of questions to ask a potential agent and the pros and cons of certain replies. I’ve been an agent for ten years and no two deals are alike. No two agents are completely alike either. This blogger is correct that an agent does not get paid until a deal closes. How many of you want to work for free? Raise your hand! No hands? Not surprised. That doesn’t mean that the agent is in a hurry for the client to buy. We work with multiple clients, some for a longer period than others. I’ve worked with clients for two years before they’ve bought and I’ve also worked with many that didn’t buy for one reason or another. One thing I can say…it was NOT because they thought I didn’t have their interest at heart. Normally their circumstances change…job loss…divorce and even in one case…arrest. Do all of your readers a favor and don’t color your articles by they lousy experiences of a self described “Mr. Cheap,” but by honest research. What a concept.
I am a REALTOR in NC that has been in this industry over a decade. I am the President of my local REALTOR Association. I have worked with anyone who’s anybody in our market, for the most part. I must admit, I am ashamed at most of my fellow REALTORs and their lack of service to consumers. I will not make excuses for them… in fact, I wish there were a way that we, as REALTORs, could ‘pull’ another brokers REALTOR card. The only way to have this change can be done by YOU all, the CONSUMERS! Please, please, please contact your local Association of REALTORs and file an ethics complaint against these REALTORs. You have 180 days from the time the alleged violation took place to file the complaint. I know the Code of Ethics is not an easy document to interpret, so ASK them for you to have a REALTOR familiar with the process to assist you in doing the paperwork and having your case heard. This process works, and the REALTOR nation is working hard to bring up our image to the public. Help us help YOU by weeding out the bad ones! I’m sorry for those of you who have had downright wrong things happen to you in your experience with a REALTOR. Not all of us are bad.
You say:
“Commissioned salespeople are not on your side ever.”
You’ve insulted more than real estate agents, pal.
Wow! You are the first person who has spelled it out clearly. We hear from so many people how wonderful their agent is and we try to choke back the laughter as to not laugh in their faces. We bought our house without an agent because it was a great price and there were other couples at the open house putting in bids with an agent. Listen carefully, we told the real estate agent who was listing the house we did not have an agent and she offered to serve as a dual agent and also said the Victorian home was really the best fit for us out of all the bidders – Why? because she would receive a higher commission, so she went with us – period!!! The poor smucks who used and a “buyers agent” got screwed because she went with us do to the dual commission. A buyers agent is just someone you give $3,000 dollars to for 5 minutes of their time and I am convinced they do nothing for you but instill panic.
The title should read,” Why You Should Never Trust A Blogger”. Bloggers are the worst and I laugh that this blogger thinks anyone would listen to their advice. This article is so far fetched that anyone that takes it for more then a rant is a moron. If anyone knows how blogging works then they would know that it is just a matter of opinion and not based off of facts 90% of the time.
GOOD LUCK WITH THIS GARBAGE!!!
All realtors and agents are bound by ethical standards. If you believe an ethical standard has been broken, you can consult with the state board. Other than that, remember an agent is not a tour guide.
1. Set expectations with your realtor regarding the features you want.
2. Understand certain price ranges have similar qualities of houses. You won’t always find the quality you want in the price range you want.
3. As so many of you stated, your agent gets paid when the sale is done. That means if you see 30 housesX1 hour apiece – +1/2 hour for paper work and phone time – That’s 45 hours He/she is working for Free. Now, throw in gas, lunches, possibly baby sitting etc. – Wow.
I don’t mean money deferred because there is no guarantee you will buy. I mean she is SERVING you for FREE – 30-45 hours. Don’t get too upset if she wants paid eventually.
Her job is to sell houses. Not be your friend or tour guide. That’s how they get paid, selling houses. Cmon!
Very disappointed with the tone. I take pride in representing my clients. We have to follow a lot of guidelines and legal and ethical requirements. After reading this article I am wondering about everything you as a blogger have written. I came to this site looking for information on other things. It is not very often I write on these sites but this one I find very offensive.
I hope you will take a day or a week and find a good realtor and follow them around and find out how many hats we ware and how much our lives are effected by our clients.
Good Luck
…oh don’t forget, don’t trust journalists, teachers, doctors, etc…..
Honestly, this is just a terrible article. My brother is a top journalist, , my best friend is an amazing teacher, etc
You cannot lump ALL Realtors in the same group,same as you cannot do that to any profession,there are amazing and bad in each profession.
There are many Realtors, like me who practice honestly, ethically and truly care about our clients money and the transaction.
Ask our previous clients.
And in a seller’s market there are reasons to get the offer in quickly and to go for the highest and best etc.
I don’t usually respond to stupidity, but this article is just so asinine.
“Are you really going to lose this house for $2,000?”
This response tells you EXACTLY who the agent is working for. If $2,000 is such a small amount, why don’t the buyer/seller agents get together and agree to lower their commissions by $2,000? That rarely happens. Agents are quick to recommend terms that take money out of the buyer/seller’s pocket, but they rarely, if ever, do the same for themselves.
Tell your realtor not to take money from your pocket unless they are willing to do the same! Commissions are ALWAYS negotiable.
Completely agree, there is always a side that the agent will pick, client vs builder/developer who will eventually pay the commission. There would be hardly any objectivity especially towards the deadline of construction and/or closing. Use your gut, agent is NOT your ally, they provide navigation as long as the deal closes to collect the commission. Keep that in mind, that’s their end game. Buyer has more at stakes, your financial risks, future cash outflow, a lemon home that could turn around your life into one never ending nightmare.
During home search, be proactive combing on listings in Zillow etc, the area of your choice, new development.. in fact give critics in every home an agent is showing you, see if they really listen to your request or not. Go visiting the recommended homes on your own, most agent only looks at paper listing, not the physical home. Decide on your own should you go for bidding or give an offer, compare w similar neighborhood, yes you have to spend more time to do the homework..
During the search of mortgage, don’t share too many info of your finance, pick your own lender, train yourself to make an informed decision.
I would advise a month before closing, please educate yourself in every step of the way, gather critical info you need to know on your own, make a list of actions, memorize the GFE or have it handy, take a driver seat to interview and hire your own home inspector, stay in contact with lender, title search officer, set up builder punch list and follows up, option of final negotiation if things go south etc.. Don’t let your biggest investment gets too dependable to an agent’s say, remember your end game (risk) barely crosses one bit of an agent’s and will disappear once you sign the dotted line. The most manipulative profession one could play.
Use agent when your time is strictly limited or a significant distance is involved, use agent mostly to bridge the discussion with builder/developer in terms of progress. When it’s time to sell, do it without an agent.
We recently sold our house. My question/comment has to do with a realtor who is quite active in our community (and who happened to be the listing agent when we bought our home 8 years ago). We ran into him a few days ago at a neighbor’s open house. He asked how much we sold our house for since we are still in escrow. We told him the truth, that one day after our open house, we got 1 offer. It was a solid, full price offer. This agent proceeded to tell us that he “has never, ever not gotten multiple offers” when he sells a house. Then he said he achieves this by using a vast network of “investors” (aka flippers) because as long as he has one solid offer, he can get his investors to make low ball offers, and it forces a multiple offer situation for the one true buyer. Doesn’t this border on being illegal? At the very least, it seems incredibly unethical.
I was very upset because I clearly remember when we bought our house from him, the house had been sitting on the market for months. He had reduced the price and that is when we put in an offer. Sure enough, he told our agent that he had just received another offer that day. We came in at our highest and best because of this. Now that I know his method, I think anyone considering buying a house where he is the listing should be aware of his borderline unethical approach. It’s completely disingenuous at the very least. Of note, our house is currently the highest price per square foot that has ever sold in our neighborhood. My agent didn’t have to create some fake bidding war to achieve this.
I would like to know if this is a common tactic or a poor practice? This is in CA. Is there any way to report his practice or am I limited to Yelp or some other social media site to out him?
As a current seller, I find this article problematic. We have received a very, very low ball offer in addition to them asking for additional appliances, full closing cost, a home warranty on a 2 year old house….all on top of the fact they are not pre-qualified for a loan! So yes, the seller in this case is quite insulted…and the hours and hours of showing and staging prep was not to receive an offer less than what we paid for the home prior to adding a privacy fence.
So buyers…Listen to your agents. Let them help and guide you. If you’re not happy, they don’t get paid. Don’t waste our time with showings and offers if you’re not pre-qualified for a loan or qualified for a lower amount than our asking price. We are already in a stressful situation. Emotions are high. Manners, respect, education all come into play with EVERYONE involved.
YES. WE DO BECOME INSULTED WITH LOW BALL OFFERS AND LACK OF RESPECT. AND LIKE IT OR NOT, WE DO TAKE THIS PARTICULAR BUSINESS PERSONALLY. THIS IS MORE THAN A PURCHASE…THIS IS OUR HOME.
To condense this in the shortest possible I will state what personally happened to me by a reputable agencies top agent. He screwed me over THREE TIMES and then he screwed over a mobbed up builder. He no longer holds a license. The mobbed up builder did very nasty things to him. I made sure he lost his license.
I hired him as a buyers agent. I found all the properties and did all of the work. He did nothing but screw me over. I’m not dumb so on the third one I finally figured it out.
We looked at about 25 houses and three were nice. I had to drive an hour because I was relocating. His office was in the neighborhood. He was their top producer, he got deals done. No, he made as much as possible and had to kick back some of that to the agency.
Lets take this in order:
First house – He put down the wrong address on the contract and someone else got the house. He told me the seller would not accept a higher offer, that it was a done deal. – Believable
Second house – On the market for six months, pictures made it look pretty bad but it was a nice house. Owner was home, left so we could look at the house and came back early. Talked directly to the seller and asked if he would accept a certain offer, he said yes, we shook on it and I went back to my agents office to write up a contract. Figured the seller would accept the contract, he was happy about the terms and the fact of the matter was that he only had two perspective buyers in almost 6 months. Called the agent the next day and was told that there were three other offers. The house had no offers in six months and the day after I looked at it three people came out of nowhere? Two had mortgage contingencies so those were out but the third was a higher offer then mine which was accepted. I wanted to go back to the house because there was a time when a handshake meant something.
Same thing, the seller was happy with the price, a contract was signed and was not interested in a higher offer. I was like even though the guy had a higher offer he wouldn’t even consider a higher one from me? Was told that in my State that it was a different process. In the other State once a contract was accepted, that was it. – Getting very suspicious.
Third and final house – Was on the MLS, wrote a contract for about 10% under asking, was told the house went to an auction house and that I would have to go to an auction which actually would have been to my advantage because I might get it for much less. I said wait a minute, the bank has my offer at 10% under asking on a desk and wouldn’t accept that? It was beginning to be a sick game at this point. The house goes to auction, I show up and the auction house has Shills who get into a bidding war with me. I had figured out what my top offer was going to be with the auction fee and was going to stop there. I did and the Shills had this look on their face. I turn around and there’s my agent! I get the whole your going to let them beat you? You won’t go $1000 more? No because with the auction commission that was over the listing price! The Shills tried to back out, the whole thing was one huge set-up. My agent was like well there you won. I said no they won and they can keep the house. The auction started at 40K under the listing price and the Shills bid me up to over asking. I said in no uncertain terms that it was their house. I even congratulated them. My agent was howling you should reconsider, you can have it for a little more then you offered. – Sure I was played
I was mad. I ended up talking to a guy that I knew was a builder and brought up the agents name. He said that scumbag? Let me tell you what he did to me and my brother. They had built ten townhomes. They were sure they were priced right and would sell. They sat. When they were doing little upgrades a car pulled into the driveway. A couple were very interested in their townhouses. Their exclusive agent was the same scumbag who played me. He was told to start at a certain price BUT they wanted them to move so he could go down 20K if he really needed to. They just wanted to recoup their money. A few months goes buy and they are driving past some other townhouses that someone else had built a few miles away and saw the car that the couple were driving in one of they driveways. They stopped and rang the doorbell. The couple was home and invited them in. It was supposedly a very friendly chat. They asked if the couple had bought the townhouse. They said yes, it was a toss up between yours and this one. Why did you choose this one? What was the main factor? The price. Your agent would not come down a cent and this townhouse while not as nice as yours was 10K cheaper and was all we could afford. The guy and his brother were livid. He told me some of the nasty things they did to the guy, I asked does he still have license? I think so. I said lets team up and go after his license which is what we did. You had a buyer and seller who both screwed over by this guy. I looked up who to talk to, there was a meeting with the regulatory board over this guys ethics and all three of us presented our cases. I had copies of contracts and returned escrow checks, the builders had a notarized statement from the couple and in the end he lost his license. He now owns a hotdog joint. Someone keeps vandalizing it.
It isn’t me.
In the end I was transferred back to my original State and for a while I owned two houses. I kept this one and rented it to my nephew. That is something I advise against, renting to relatives but that’s a whole different story. Buying and selling the house that I eventually bought through a different agent were much easier. I’m back in my original house and am looking for a house closer to work, about 20 minutes away. I am working with a buyers agent again and have little trust in her. She seems to want to sell me what she wants to sell me, not want I want. I never did tell her about my experience in the other State but she is really getting on my nerves. She is either extremely stupid or as sly as a fox. I suspect both. An example of the latest BS: She was all bothered by the trim inside in a house we looked at. I said I don’t care about the trim, I’m a bit more concerned with some of the rot on the garage that they painted over and the drywall screws that were popped in the ceiling. To my understanding there is not enough insulation and in the summer when they A/C is on and it’s nice in the house its too hot in the attic. That’s what my painter told me. She was just going on and on about the trim. I was like forget about the trim, lets concentrate on the rot on the garage and the screws popping. It might be time to get a different agent.
Like many others I have seen the good and bad. I would expect most to be good but in all honesty I look at all them like they are crack dealers. Some of them will screw you over for a few hundred dollars in commission. They are basically thought of as glorified used car salesmen and rightfully so in some cases. For instance Michele REMAX, look it’s my money, I worked hard to make it and you get a 6% commission in my State. I have CASH. I don’t have to get preapproved, I have a letter from my bank that I have X amount of funds. All you have to do is show me the house I want, my attorney will look over the contract, I will never use an inspector that you want me to and most importantly it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to do comps. If the same style houses are closing at a certain price in the same area then why do you think this one is priced at 25K more? Gold in the studs? You are going to try and sell me one that you are the listing agent for so you don’t have to split commissions. Then you are going to present an offer to the seller and try and encourage them to take less then what the house is worth so you get the whole 6%. In the end you will try and screw the buyer and seller over. You are the perfect example of the crack dealer agent. BTW I don’t sit at a desk, You sleep peaceably in your bed at night only because rough men like me stand ready to do violence on your behalf.
I don’t work on commission and never know when I might get killed on the job. Tell me again how hard it is to miss a soccer game.
Thank you STEVE for you quick response to such an ill advised article. This article and articles like it are the reason why REALTORS(R) are not respected in their profession. REALTORS(R) are one of the few professions where we do not get paid until the transaction is complete. We don’t get paid for our time, gas, or expertise until the client closes on a property–IF they close on the property at all. Then to find articles like this one, it just makes no sense. Mr. Holman has obviously had a bad experience with a real estate agent–and for all of you out there who have had bad experiences–let me apologize. Unfortunately there are bad people out there in EVERY profession. However there are lots of good, law abiding, professional, REALTORS(R) out there who know their market and a smart buyer who is inexperienced in Real Estate should take their advice into consideration.
I meant thank you STEVEN.
This is such an irresponsible post. Most agents really DO want to help their clients. Most clients know next to NOTHING about real estate markets, processes, or negotiations. Yes, we want you to buy a home in a reasonable amount of time. If you are an average buyer, there is no reason you should look at 30 or 40 houses. If you do, you are either in a very competitive market and have lost out on offers you’ve put in, your agent doesn’t really know what you are looking for, or you are not a serious buyer. And serious lowballing is a mistake in most cases. I’m not going to touch on all your points, but honestly, this is a moronic post. When we become Realtors, we are held to high ethical standards. Our job is to help people through the largest financial transactions of their lives. We deserve a lot more respect than this post gives.
We made a backup offer on a BOA REO. The offer was excepted at $45,000. The other party did not respond. We gave a $5,000 good faith cashiers check to our new/and the listing realtor. Should only have been 1 to 3%. We received paperwork along with the contract that said there was a HUD 1 statement and they needed 30 days to close. This is a cash sale and I don’t know what the cost are yet. They put the $5,000 in a trust account not an escrow.
When I asked for more info on the close This was the reply; Once we receive the ok to close from the seller’s title company than they will put together the HUD1 statement. This will tell us the amount you will need to wire. You also get credit on the HUD for your earnest money deposit, that will come off your final total. Also after we get the ok to close from the title company, they will send me more closing information, like the wiring instructions for your funds, along with wanting to know when and where they will you would like to sign the closing documents.
I was thinking that you could sign at my office when we close?
I’m hoping we didn’t step into a lion’s den.
Your article reveals a disdain for Real Estate agents, but it doesn’t inform potential buyers and sellers about the nature of a real estate deal. Your conclusions seem to me uninformed and overreaching.
Here’s an idea for a better article. If you’re not an agent, do a deal on your own and then educate everyone on what it took to get it done, and tell us why you would or wouldn’t do it again. Talk about your dealings with the agent on the other end of the deal, what you liked, what you didn’t like. If you’re an agent, let people know what they should look for in an agent, and what they should avoid.
For the most part, this article is spot on. Most of the negative comments on the article are from real estate agents/brokers. I own both apartment buildings and single family homes and because of the types of things described in the article, avoid using agents whenever possible. I avoid using a buyers agent but I will squeeze every bit of information from the sellers agent. I do not really have to squeeze to be honest.
I will offer some suggestions for buyers:
First, if you are going to low ball, know your market and backup your offer with facts. Find comps in the area based upon overall price, price per square foot and if you cant do that, explain that your offer takes into consideration all of the work that needs to be done, traffic in the area, sub-standard school systems, whatever. You goal is to avoid the low-ball offer being the “I am trying to just screw you”.
Second, your agent is not your friend, do not treat them like one. Your agent wants you to buy a house, your agent does not make any money unless you do. Assume that whatever you tell your agent, they will share this with the seller’s agent. I have seen it too many times, buyers and sellers agents talk, a lot. Never tell them how much you are willing to pay, EVER. Again, assume your agent will convey this information to the seller’s agent. Agents need deals to get done to get paid.
Third, do your own homework, do not expect or trust your agent to do it. First, agents are limited to what they can tell you and second, they don’t want to give you the bad side anyway. Research crime rate, historic housing prices, schools and the 10 other things you want to know.
I completely agree with Sharon. I am a broker and also an attorney. I never focus on the “deal” – in fact, I have counseled many clients more times than I can count NOT to purchase a home. People say bad things about every profession – when I used to actively practice law I was a good attorney, but knew many bad ones as well. To lump an entire group of people together is simply stupid. Each individual must be judged on his or her own character – if we lumped them all together as being a horrible class nothing in this world would ever get done!
I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle. I doubt Realtors prey upon unwitting home buyers, but if they work to earn money by selling hoses, you will find their greatest interest there, even if they claim and believe otherwise.
Capitalism works because it operates on the fundamental principal that most human act in their own self interest. To an extent, a realtor won’t hurt you to badly on any deal because a decent reputation ensure the next deal, but they will push the line as much as possible in order to maximize and expedite the closure of the current deal.
As long as you know and recognize those facts working with a realtor poses much less risk. Trust their knowledge, but do not allow pressure to persuade your position. If you really want to risk losing a deal over 2K, you may exercise that right, and the realtor should honor your request, albeit with protest, but don’t cry when the deal falls through, as you decided in advance you don’t want the house for that price.
Lastly, in regard to the many arguments I read about Realtor “working for free” unless they sell. I don’t feel sorry for them, they work on system of averages in a career they elected. On person even tried to break down the numbers and costs on a 3K commission (which represents a cheep house in our market). Even if he or she used $500 for lunches, gas and babysitting while taking you to see houses, plus 40 hours of time and office labor. they still make 2.5K for a work week, which beats my pay as a 13 year experienced teacher at about 1.5K for a week with a lot more hours spent.
My aunt spent several years in realty and performed well, making far more than she did as a teacher. Many deals fell through, and many deals didn’t, but the average value of those that did greatly made up the difference for the time spent on those that didn’t. She never sold a house for more that the buyer wanted to pay, because capitalism simply works that way.
Please pardon the roughly 10 grammatical typos in my previous post; a lot of words lost “e”s and “s”s and a few commas lost their way.
I didn’t proof it, because I typically proof immediately after publishing, as you can do in Facebook. I believe all of you possess the intelligence to fill them in where needed.
Once again, please forgive this teacher’s egregious error, in not proofing before publishing.
Great read. I’m currently a buyer and I think the truth depends on the agent you’re using and it’s too hard to tell the difference between a reputable agent that is representing you and one that has their best interest above yours.
I’m looking at a $320k home in the Orlando area. Allow me to list the points that led me to believe that she only wants to make the sale and could care less about my finances.
1. She told me not to ask too many questions about the home prior to making an offer. Wait until after they accepted so they are more willing to tell the truth about the home.
2. She provided me with a comp report proving the house is worth the current list price of $330k, although the home has been on the market for 6 months (over a month and the current list) and I found 3 other homes on the street sold within the last three months that weren’t short sales or foreclosures which didn’t make it to her report. If they were on it, her valuation would have been much lower.
3. While negotiating she keep grilling me for my walk away number. I caved and guess what, that’s what the seller’s last concession came in at. I know she and the listing agent are just looking to close the deal and get rid of both of us (buyer and seller).
4. She pushed us to use her inspector and didn’t want us present for the inspection although I’m paying for it. She just wanted us there at the end of the inspection.
5. She brought another buyers agent “in training” with her to the inspection to talk our ears off so we couldn’t interact with the inspector.
6. When the inspector said the pool heater is so rusted that he can’t test it or identify the make, model and size so quickly said it was known before we made the offer. It wasn’t I just checked the disclosure and the listing.
7. So then she said don’t make the pool heater an inspection negotiating point because the seller will consider it of all things “cosmetic”. My reply was if they advertised a hot tub and it’s not hot, it’s a cold tub and it will cost me nearly $4000 to replace the heater to make it a hot tub again.
Even though the author is stereotyping an entire industry, I believe he is spot on due to the conflict of interest created by the nature of their compensation. The seller’s agent doesn’t care about how much the seller gets for their home, the seller’s agent will just work the seller to come down as far as they will go to meet the buyer. And conversely that’s the buyer’s agent MO as well. They need sales on the books to get paid and $10k delta in the sale of one home doesn’t affect them as much as zero sales. This is my third home buying experience and I’m batting a 1000 on sleazy self serving agents. I believe there is a possibility there are good agents out there but I think they eventually get pushed out of the industry due lack of sales correlated to their honesty.