Wooden toy house on white desk with real estate agent sitting at it.
One of the biggest headaches that comes with buying or selling a house is working with a real estate agent.
Many home buyers don’t feel like they can trust their real estate agent. And some people might feel like their agent talks down on them.
Especially rookie home buyers.
Well, don’t worry rookies.
We’ve done some research to find out what you should know about real estate agents. And what you should look out for in the future.
Here are 23 things your real estate agents will never tell you:
Wait to buy a house as long as you can. Moving sucks. You want to move as little as possible in life. And the longer you put it off, the more time you have to save your money.
But if you know you’re ready financially and mentally…
Then let’s get that house!
In the end, you’re only going to have one buyer. But an open house allows your agent to introduce themselves to a large pool of prospective clients.
Chances are you probably won’t find a serious buyer while your agent hands out their business cards to the entire neighborhood.
A real estate agent might find it difficult to tell you things like: “your house is ugly” or “your house smells”.
They don’t want to lose you as a client.
But it’s important for you to know about any features that might prevent you from selling your house. Just be aware of that.
Don’t dismiss a low ball offer right away. Who knows when you’ll get another offer?
Try to work with that prospective buyer. Your real estate agent usually overestimates the value of your house anyways.
If you plan on settling down for 5 or more years, then you should probably buy a house. 10 or more years? You should definitely buy.
But your real estate agent is only interested on making the sale now.
Think about what’s going to make you happy long term.
A big house might be the American Dream for many people. But bigger houses just create more headaches for you. And they suck up your money faster!
Pick a conservative house that will make your family happy.
Good agents with a strong reputation are hard to come by. And even if you do find one that you can work with, they usually pass you down to a junior agent that works with them.
Make sure you know exactly which agent you’re going to work with. You’re paying for it.
Read your contract carefully to make sure there are no hidden fees in your contract. It’s common for some agents to slip in an administrative fee. These fees can cost you another $1,500.
Don’t worry if you do find the fee. Everything is negotiable. Just like their commission.
Insist on having the final walk-through. Sellers decide to take things with them at the last second. You might lose out on the appliances or the chandelier that you liked when you first saw the house.
Do the final walk-through to ensure you’re paying for what you’re getting.
Some real estate agents will list your house at a higher price than they should. This might help them stand out among the other real estate agents that price houses more realistically. But overestimating the price of your home will keep your house on the market longer than you want.
Don’t let them convince you to show your house with no furniture it in. It doesn’t always help the prospective buyers. They can’t visualize how much of their own furniture they’ll be able to fit in each room.
You should keep the furniture in your house. But you definitely want to clear up all the counter space you have. People love seeing a lot of counter space. And it’s usually at the top of many wish lists!
Your agent’s commission is not set in stone. In fact, you can even use it as part of the transaction. If you’re only a few thousand dollars away from selling your house, ask your agent if they can reduce their commision.
Setting things up to make the house flow is a good idea. Add some swag to your house.
But going overboard can turn off potential buyers. This includes things like music, rose petals and champagne glasses. Don’t add those to the presentation!
It’s actually illegal for a real estate agent to tell you about the type of people that live in a neighborhood. It violates the Fair Housing laws.
If you really need to know about your neighbors before you move in, then do some research yourself. Drive through the neighborhood frequently and eat at restaurants in the area. Get to know some of the locals and ask them how they like the neighborhood.
They’re usually lying if they tell you they have a bunch of interested buyers. The truth is, they’ll list your house, and the interested buyers contact them. That’s it.
If you’re interested in buying a property, don’t take the real estate agent’s word on how much repairs are going to cost. They usually give you a lowball number and then the repairs end up costing more than they told you.
Always get a professional survey done and get multiple quotes on repairs before you buy a house.
They make extra money when they send people to their recommended contractors. But you can save a little extra money by doing your research and finding the best deal for your situation.
Yes, they might lose a little bit of money if you sell your house for a couple thousand dollars under the asking price. But it won’t be a significant loss. Their commission percentage will stay the same no matter what.
Real estate agents sometimes hire fake buyers to show you the amount of potential buyers they have lined up for your house. But this number usually goes down as soon as they make the listing.
If one agent isn’t working out, then try using another one. There’s no rule that says you can only use one. Hire multiple agents if you think it’ll give you a better chance of selling.
Sometimes it might be a better option for you to continue renting. You don’t have to make a long-term commitment now. And you’ll save money on maintenance too!
Just keep in mind that a real estate agent’s main objective is to sell your house or sell you a house.
You don’t need a real estate agent at all. In the end, the two sides are both working to get the same thing accomplished: sell your house. They make money off of it.
Do you think they spend time thinking about your decisions after the transaction goes through?
Nope.
Make sure you do your research and prepare yourself before you do anything. This can save you some money and headaches if you’re able to buy or sell on your own.
Most of the same property websites and online resources your real estate agent uses is available to you. Try to learn as much information as you can. And maybe you can catch them trying to play you like a fool the next time you work with an agent.
Have you ever worked with a real estate agent before?
We know not all of them are bad.
Tell us about your experience. What was good? What was bad?
We can’t wait to hear from you in the comment section!
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