NEVER Say This to Your Real Estate Agent When Buying a Home!

If you want to avoid sabotaging your home buying experience, you need to know the things you should never say to your agent! In this video I share with you the things you should never say to your agent when buying a home. Although communication is important with your agent, be careful with how much information you are sharing with them.

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Jacqueline "Jackie" Baker
NJ License 1541448
Coldwell Banker Realty
Allendale/Saddle River

#realestate #jackiebakerrealtor #jackiebakersellsnj #homebuyingtips #homesellingtips #realestateinvesting

[Robert-syji]

I had a buyers agent in Oregon years ago. I supplied him with a map and an area I circled in Red. I said this is the area I want to live in, so focus here for houses. I drove thru my preferred area one weekend and saw a for sale sign. I asked my realtor why he didn’t notify me. He said, “But you qualify for so much more than that house is selling”. Total loser. I ended up buying that house.

[DarrellGrainger]

Years ago, I let slip that I wanted a home for below $300, 000 but that I was pre-approved for a home around $400, 000. I let the realtor know what I was looking for. He kept showing me homes listed for around $300, 000 but they didn't quite meet what I was looking for. Then he said, let me show you something. We went to another home and it checked off all my requirements EXCEPT it was $399, 900. I finally did find a home for $280, 000 that met all my requirements. I'm pretty sure the agent was purposefully showing me homes around $300, 000 that he knew wouldn't meet my requirements because he knew I was pre-approved for $400, 000.

[kerrybyers]

Only say you’re pre-approved for the amt you are looking to spend, not how much house the bank says you can afford.

[michaely]

Buying a house is as bad as buying a car. The only person working for the buyer is the buyer.

[johnpad]

Spot on information. I have bought and sold many homes through the yrs. 1st thing i was told. Treat everyone as it was a business deal. You may like your agent or others. Its a business deal. Reveal only information needed to close the deal.

[createallow]

Perfectly good to teach people the basics of negotiation.

[randomcontent]

Been house-hunting on/off for a couple of years and have learned firsthand that buyer's agents are your enemy. Tell them NOTHING except that you've been pre-approved. You don't even have to say for how much except "in this range." They will, absolutely WILL use any and all information against you because in the end, they're also working for the seller to drive that cost up and increase their own commission. Keep your cards close to your vest!

[Ninjanimegamer]

We were lucky. In 2018, we paid in cash and that's what we stuck to. No more, no less. Our agent was thrilled to work with us, because there was no chance we had to wait for approval for a loan. Our agent had a lot of leverage with us. Cash is King.

[stephenross]

Good suggestions. The one caveat I have to add is we ended up having to tell our realtor our maximum amount we could afford because we were looking in the SF Bay area with bidding wars being the norm. The house was priced high, but it had been on the market a month or two. We were the only offer & came in at 10% under because it's all we could get financed for. The seller wasn't happy & wanted to counter, but the agent was able to get them to accept our offer because of this. She just said, 'that's all the bank will give them, they can't go any higher.'

[RJGa]

As an agent I'm a little disheartened by this. I (all agents) should always have the clients best interest in mind. The fact that you can even say the words "your agent might use it against you", while I know is true and a valid warning, it is still very sad.

[drwisdom]

I know what you should say to your real estate agent - "No HOAs! And not next to a highway." Then if they try to get you to buy into that knowing that it is forbidden, that indicates you need to change real estate agents.

[estuardo]

So many things said remind me of what to do or not to do when buying a car.

[kittykat]

Real Estate is the biggest scam. Agents do practically nothing other than put together a listing, then make bank. They don't even show their own listings anymore. I have bought and sold 3 houses in the last 3 years and the agents sucked, but they still made their commission. On the last house I bought, my agent colluded with the seller to not disclose information that affected the material value of the home and cost us $50K to replace a bridge crossing they said was repaired. So many lies. We are suing both of them.

[nonamegivenatbirth]

Jackie, thank you for telling clients these things. You are spot on! RE Agents are NOT lawyers and don't have to abide by the same confidentiality requirements. I worked in a large real estate office and saw statements like you mentioned used against both buyers and sellers to "get deals closed". To buyers and sellers...think about it. Agents make a commission that's a percentage of the sales price. Doesn't it make sense for them to get the highest price possible? Isn't that a conflict of interest right there? Good for sellers, not good for buyers. I've known some really good, ethical agents but I've seen many that were incompetent and derelict in their fiduciary responsibilities. Your agents DON'T need to know the things Jackie stated.

[debbiem]

When we were looking for a house to buy earlier this year, we were the ones who were determining which houses we wanted to go see. We went on several different home websites that lists homes for sale, we would then go check out the neighborhood and then we would tell our agent that we wanted to go see the house. In one instance our agent did tell us about a house he knew was coming on the market within a few days, we drove past it, but it wasn't in a neighborhood that we liked very much. Other than that, we pretty much controlled homes that we wanted to check out, not our agent..

[Meditations]

Real Estate Agents are a lot like defense attorneys or used car salesmen. Most of them became Real Estate Agents to make a lot of money doing very little work. No moral compass whatsoever.

I honestly have considered getting a license myself just so I can do my own transactions, free of their unwieldy fees. I used my aunt to purchase my current home.

[Christina-rbvk]

Add to the list, don't tell your agent how much you owe on your house that you are selling because eventually, they will tell other agents to undersale your house

[splithoof]

That’s some really good info, and it makes totally good sense!
I would add that ANY comments made in regards to the property, offers, etc. with your agent be done AWAY from any part of the property, not just “outside”, as surveillance cameras can capture distant voice, sound, etc.

[tscoff]

One problem is buyer’s agents require signing exclusive contracts these days. And getting out of those contracts when you find out that your realtor is scamming you is impossible!

[friendofenkidu]

If your goal as a buyer is to buy at the lowest price possible, then it's important to remember that every real estate agent's goal is exactly the opposite - to have you buy at the highest price possible.