I am a Realtor. It is my job to protect my buyers from making bad decisions. I find myself talking people out of more homes than I do closing them.

Unfortunately, buyers do not take good advice when they hear it.
Here are two examples (just two of many)

First time buyers. Sat down, qualified them, and came up with a price range they could afford (with a reasonable cushion). They secured a loan and we started looking. They turned their nose up at homes they could afford. They wanted to start at the middle, not where they could afford. They became frustrated, They ditched me, went with a Realtor who hooked them up with a lender who pushed their price range up by 100K. They bought a house way over what they can afford. I did not get a commission for the six months I spent with them (cleaning-up their credit). They readily ditched me because I told them what they did not want to hear. They went with the Realtor who told them what they wanted to hear. Honesty?

Next: Experienced buyer and investor. Wife falls in love with a home that is 1.2 million. This was three years ago. I told them to wait. I said that the prices in that development would be coming down. They said, O.K., we’ll wait. What happens? Another Realtor got heard she liked it and sold it to them. I was the procuring cause. That home is now worth $850K. Again, screwed for doing the right thing.

So, it goes both ways. Ethical Realtors get screwed over by clients who want what they want and are too impatient and want instant gratification.

I have gotten so I print out EVERY LISTING in the area we are going. We will be driving by a house that is way over their price range, under contract, etc. and the insist on seeing it. I tell them it is under contract, over their price range…etc and they get upset. They think I am just showing them homes with a higher sales price. They don’t believe me when I tell them that THIS HOME IS OVER YOUR PRICE RANGE. I have to have PRINTED proof of it with me when they see the sign. Why? Because they don’t trust me (because of articles like this one).

What have I decided? I will show homes, I will give advice, but it is the clients decision. If they are impulsive enough to buy more home than they can afford (after I do the right thing and tell them it is a bad decision), I am going to write the offer. They are going to do what they want in the end anyway (and if I ask them to sleep on it they’ll just go get another Realtor…..that day).

As far as feedback goes, the feedback is being provided to the seller (homeowner). If they house smells like a cat box, if the price is too high, if the paint colors are hideous, if the dog is jumping up on buyers, if the stinky garbage can, smell of smoke, holes in the walls, clutter, dirty dishes….are turning buyers off, they need to know. It is much better to get the feedback from the potential buyer than from the agents.

Another offer coming in? I hear it all the time from the selling agent. I tell my buyers that there may or may not be one BUT I HAVE TO TELL THEM. What happens if they decide they want the house and there really is another offer and I don’t tell them? They don’t get the house they want and they are pissed at me for not telling them about the other offer!

I disclose all I know and my advice is based on what is BEST for my buyers. Period. But, after 12 years in the business, I also know that good Realtors get screwed-over all the time.

http://leafcounting.com/2007/03/29/violent-hypocrite/

And Cheney’s dick turning black and falling off would be a deterrent how?=)