8 Stupid Realtor Tricks

Many companies teach their agents to use these tricks to try and create more business. I’d like to highlight them both for their ridiculousness and to teach you how to see past them.

The question boils down to whether or not agents are consultant-based or transaction-based, whether they want to help or they just want to make money.

Here are the 8 stupid Realtor tricks to look out for:

1) Using their listings as BAIT- trying to make consumers call into the office to ask the sales price by doing one of the following:

• Intentionally leaving a flyer box empty
• Intentionally leaving the price off of a flyer
• Buying listings (see below) just so that they can pick up buyer leads.

2) Alphabet Soup- ABR, SRES, SIOR, etc. Really just a jumble of letters after their name. Most consumers have no idea what they mean and most Realtors haven’t kept their designations updated or paid their renewal dues.

3) Advertising a property as “Great Deal, Act Now, Won’t Last” even after its been on the market for 6 months….really? I can see it won’t last long. Obviously. Umm, update your marketing.

4) Calling FSBO’s and saying “I might have a buyer for your home”. This is a misleading tactic that agents use to get their foot in the door and then follow up. Relationships ought to get started on a foundation of honesty, not manipulation. If the Realtor actually has a client, that’s one thing, but if they are falsely getting the FSBO’s hopes up, they aren’t really coming from contribution are they?

5) Guaranteed Sale Programs- these are designed ONLY to get Realtors appointments to talk with potential sellers. Always ask “how many of these homes have you actually bought?” In reality most Realtors using these programs are only willing to pay something on the order of 50-60% of market value and they will usually charge a commission.

6) Buying Listings- telling the seller what they want to hear on price then “beating” the seller down on price over time. If a Realtor guarantees that they can get a certain price, put a clause in the listing agreement that if they EVER ask for a price reduction the Seller has the right to terminate the listing.

7) Consistently, repeatedly posting their listings to Facebook- this isn’t interesting or fun and is really just another version of SPAM

Using outdated pictures- ummmm, if your picture doesn’t look like you, then get a new one. Period. End of story.

Good business is built on trust. If you see any of these tricks, either your agent doesn’t have a mind of their own and they’re just doing what their broker told them to do, or you should run because they’re being dishonest from the start.