The most common lie in real estate
Posted 6/13/2008 by Joe ZekasThree letters: ABR.
The letters stand, of course, for Accredited Buyer's Representative, a designation sanctioned by the National Association of Realtors.
If you're considering working with a buyer's agent - and most of you ought to be if you're buying a home - you can check whether an agent who claims to be an ABR in fact holds that designation. I have a habit of checking when I see the ABR after an agent's name, and at least half the time the agent misstated his / her qualifications.
The Real Estate Buyer's Agent Council Web site makes it easy to check whether an agent is an ABR.
And now, let's hear your nominations for the most common lie in real estate.
Comments
6/14/08
kevin said:
How values double every 10 years! (Thanks NAR)
Dan said:
"Real estate only goes up in price" has certainly been the most commonly told lie in recent years. It may be true in the long term, but not always in the short and medium term.
Or how about this whopper: "There are multiple offers"
6/16/08
Devyn said:
Blatent square footage exageration. Any claim over 105% of the actual square footage is a bold-faced lie.
Local Realtor said:
"Location location location."
What about price, space, aesthetics, etc.? All much more important factors in most people's home buying decisions that simply geographic happenstance.
Jim said:
I agree with Kevin, those NAR commercials on TV are pure deceit.
Svalka said:
"Sure, pices might be down nationwide, but it's different here."
Carter said:
"It's in Andersonville, honest…why would we lie?"
daveydoo said:
Saw an add the other day where a condo development was "50% sold out." Sure. Is it really that difficult to leave out that last word since it's a little misleading?
6/17/08
Gary Lucido said:
Hah! I actually periodically post on the very topic of real estate lies and myths and have even created a special category for these on my blog.
http://blog.lucidrealty.com/category/real-estate-myths-lies/
And I'm just getting started covering this topic.
Joe Zekas said:
We "can match anything that a traditional broker provides but we provide these services for a lower commission."
6/21/08
Gary Lucido said:
You must subscribe to the "You get what you pay for" lie: http://blog.lucidrealty.com/2008/06/21/you-get-what-you-pay-fornot/
Joe Zekas said:
Gary,
When a team of real estate rookies contends they can match "anything that a traditional broker provides" the most charitable thing that can be said is that they don't know much about the real estate brokerage business.
If you want to bait me further on the subject of what I "must subscribe to" ( can be far less charitable.