The Realtor Myths
There is a lot written on the Internet about Realtors. Some of it good, some not so good. It is human nature that you would want to know the dirt on Realtors. The Internet is a great place to find it.
Yes there are a few bad apples out there, but every industry has them. Don’t let some of the bad Realtors sour your opinion on the whole profession.
Realtors are not trusted by consumers because of misinformation. The misconceptions people have about our profession are many. In an effort to help you; I thought it was about time to discuss some of these Realtor Myths:
All Realtors are the same
Well yes, we all have the same access to the same information. We all start with the same training. Anything one Realtor can do so can another. But let’s talk about what Realtors really do in today’s competitive market.
- Do they have their own Internet presence or are they dependent upon their company?
- Do they network within the Realtor community?
- Are they involved with the community?
- Is the company they work with well respected?
- Do they advance their education?
All Realtors know your community
Realtors know a lot about Western New York, and they can help you learn more about each community. Some Realtors specialize in Residential Real Estate while others specialize in Commercial Real Estate. While Real Estate Professionals prefer to work with Condos, while others focus on homes or investment property.
It is not always what the Realtor knows about a community, it is how well they can research an area for you.
Read Also: Why Use A Realtor® for your Buffalo Home Purchase?
Realtors should tell you about schools, crime stats and ethnic makeup
Federal Fair Housing laws prevent a real estate agent from discriminating against a number of protected classes, which automatically prohibits an agent from disclosing anything remotely relating to the protected classes. Therefore, it may come as a shock to many people that agents cannot disclose crime rates, school stats or ethnic mixes of neighborhoods. If that kind of information is important to you, an agent can tell you where to find it but cannot provide it to you.
Read Also: Fair Housing Rules Affect WNY Buyers
Agents get Kickbacks for other services
Realtors have been prevented from receiving any kind of kickback or favor from real estate vendors. It’s against the law. It’s against RESPA: the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. Some agents are slower than others to realize how the law affects them, but most have heard of RESPA and would not jeopardize their license, regardless of the temptation.
Realtors will say anything to get the sale
Western New Yorkers are a close knit community bad news travels very fast. Realtors depend on repeat business, our reputation in the community is very important to us. If we to lie and break that client’s trust it would destroy that reputation.
Read Also: What Should WNY Sellers Disclose to Home Buyers?
Beside which, making misrepresentations or a false statement is against the law. Agents who break fiduciary relationships or fail to disclose material facts are subject to prosecution and a loss of their license to sell real estate in New York.
Read Also: Is your Buffalo Realtor® telling you what you need to hear or what you want to hear?
Realtors Make a lot of Money
Not all Realtors are rich, many of us make a good living. We are independent contractors, we pay our own taxes, professional fees, E & O Insurance, marketing and overhead. There are a few that are driving around in Lexus cars and have designer wardrobes. But there are many more that drive a Ford or Honda, live in modest homes and love to shop at local consignment shops to have a designer wardrobe.
Realtors by nature are great bargain hunters. The bargain hunters are the ones you want working for you. They not only recognize a good deal in a consignment shop, but it carries over to their understanding of value in the Real Estate market too!
Realtors just want your money
Realtors don’t want your first born child or all of your money. We provide a service, and all we expect is to be paid for that service. We tell you up front what we expect for our service. Some times people feel that what we earn is a lot of money. If you feel that way, you do not have to use our services. Go ahead and do it yourself.
What we do expect is to be paid for our services, which by the way, is only once we perform. So if you home doesn’t sell, we do not get paid. When working with buyers, it is customary that the seller pays the commission. A commission that you agree to at the time you list your home for sale.
Realtors just want me to up my offer so they can make more money
I may suggest that you increase your offer because it could make or break the deal for you. There are times that you may be faced with multiple offers on the home you want to purchase. This is simple math, there is little difference in MY commission on a $80,000 and $90,000 sale price. The $10,000 does not go to me.
Read Also: Making the offer on your WNY dream home
You can make more money by paying less commission
Discount Brokerages like to claim to save sellers money by charging less. Top producers in this business do not discount services. Why? Because they don’t have to. When you see the value in our Marketing and experience you will understand that sometimes you get what you pay for.
Thinking of selling your Buffalo home? Interested in finding out the current market value of your single family home, condo or investment property? Then call Colleen Kulikowski at (716) 743-5297 to discuss what is happening in today’s Western New York Real Estate Market.
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