Red Flags To Avoid When Choosing a Realtor

I’m going to tell you some stuff that most agents wouldn’t tell you. I’m going to tell you how a lot of realtors are taught how to do business. We call it the quick sell method, and if you do notice your realtor is doing some of these things, it may be a red flag that maybe they’re not the best realtor for you to be working with.

You see, the real estate industry over the last few years has become largely a part-time industry. The average agent in Guelph only does 8 transactions a year, and usually half of them are listings. Meaning they’re really only helping four or five buyers a year purchase a home. This has led to some unsavory tactics.

Three Home Shuffle:

One of the most popular ones is what we call the three home shuffle. It’s the same thing you see on HGTV all the time. It’s where they’ll book three showings for you, the first two homes that they show you are going to be horrible houses that don’t meet your criteria at all. Then the third house that they’ll show you will be decent, it’ll meet some of your criteria, but in contrast to the others, it’s going to look like a palace. They’re gonna push you to try and purchase that home right away.

Only The Positive:

The other thing that you’ll notice with some realtors is that when they walk through a house they’ll only provide you with the good news. They’ll talk to you about the features and the great things about the house, but they won’t point out any of the defects or any of the negative points hoping that you don’t notice them.

You’re Too Picky:

Another common thing is you’ll go out with a realtor once or twice, and they’ll get frustrated with you, they’ll tell you that your criteria is way too picky and that you need to adjust your search because what you’re looking for is not going to come on the market.

Over Your Budget:

Another thing that you’ll notice is some agents will take you to see homes that are significantly over your budget. Then pressure you to purchase and over-leverage yourself.

Won’t Work With Private Sellers: 

Some agents won’t show you houses or they’ll strongly discourage you from purchasing a house where they have to go and negotiate their commission. Now with MLS, we are seeing lots of private sellers put their houses on the market. An agent should be showing you every potential property that you want to purchase.

Won’t Present in Person:

Another thing with some realtors is they won’t present your offer in person, they just email in your offer. Part of our job as real estate agents is to convince the sellers that you are a good buyer and they should accept your offer. That is much more effectively done in person than just through email. Whenever possible, your real estate agent should be presenting in person.

There are some amazing Realtors out there, in fact, most of them are, but with any industry, you do get some bad apples. You want to make sure that the agent you’re working with is looking out for your best interest and focus on finding you the right home, not just getting their next sale.