The Biggest Liar

Though losing popularity from it’s peak The Biggest Loser; is  still a spectacle which has the audience glued to its antics and believing what they see and hear.  Reality TV just seems to keep changing with different angles or occupations designed to show  us a slice of  life we  might  otherwise be  unaware of.   Well in real estate  the   evergreen favourite   of  many  real  estate  agents is the show they put on for  home sellers called  “The Biggest Liar’ gets the  listing. Now  the  ratings for this show  they  put on   are   dreadful  and   stories of regret for  believing everything they were   told litter so  many peoples past real estate experiences,  yet  the  show    goes  on and   on, and  on.  Of  course the agents don’t  call  it this, they  call  it ‘the  listing presentation’ and  when  you’re tuned into this channel, beware.

In the  advertisements for ‘The  Biggest Liar’ show  the  stars (the  agents) claim sky    high    ratings   of    “commitment to ethics”, “trust”,  “results!”  plus astonishing client  care  and  sale  prices, yet  frequently the  people who  are  the true   judge    of   those  claims    (buyers, sellers, tenants and  landlords) rate them near   the   bottom  on   these  measures. Aren’t we best to judge  people on what they  do,  not  what  they  claim? Here  is where   we  can   all  get   smarter by  not asking ‘lie to me’ questions.

When it  comes  to  selling   a  home,  ‘lie to  me’s’  can  seem so  logical  to  ask.  In some cases they  beg  an  answer we  so keenly   want   to  hear and believe them even though we  deep down know we should treat the answers with caution and healthy suspicion we  ask  them  anyway. Often we treat the answers  as gospel and  worse, use  them  as  the  grounds for selecting our  agent. Do  you  know  what fraud  detectives say  are  the  best ‘cons’ of all? The  ones where  the  victims  don’t even  know they’re  a victim! These people walk away  smiling  and  thanking the  con artist,  the  biggest liar.  ‘Lie to me’s’  allow the  wrong  agents to  seem right  and  the right agents to seem wrong.

Here are the top 5 ‘lie to me’s’  to AVOID asking real estate agents:

What do you think my property is worth?

How much  do you think it’ll go for?

Are you honest and  ethical?

Are you the best agent?

Is your price  quote what  you really think?

Instead, TRY THESE for starters:

How do you negotiate better than  other  agents?

What study have  you made of negotiation techniques and principles?

Can you give me examples of how you can  negotiate for more?

What do you do better than other agents? Can you prove  it?

Will you guarantee your price estimate? Why not?

The  real  ‘losers’   from  these ‘liars’  are the   home  sellers.  They  sign   up   on  a false  belief,  spend  the  next  month  or 3 publically   ‘dropping’ their  price   due   to intense pressure disguised as ‘market feedback’ and  in the  season finale,  the agent gets paid  for the  sale  whether the client  is  happy, whether promises and estimates were met and whether the best price  was  obtained or  not.  On  a  recent listing  I   presented  to   an   established client  but   ‘quoted’  a  price   lower  than another agent, who  was  called   in  only after  I  had   not  met   their  price   hopes. Sadly,  the  client  went  with  the  liar, has since failed at auction and  is languishing on the market unsold and  unlikely to.

Not all agents are bad. Not all agents are dishonest. Not  all agents are  unethical. But  all agents want  the  same thing;  to list  and   sell  as   many   houses as   they can.  If you  avoid  asking ‘lie to  me’s’  at the  audition stage  you  can   save a  lot of   stress,  disappointment and   anger at  the  selling  stage, and   probably  sell for more  in a  shorter time  frame.  If any doubts  persist  ask   for  a  service and price   guarantee,  that’ll  flush   out   who means what  they say.

Graham Lester

Graham is known for his passion and his drive to succeed in all aspects of his professional life. A man with a big vision.

Other posts by Graham Lester

Contact Full biography

Full biography

Graham is known for his passion and his drive to succeed in all aspects of his professional life. A man with a big vision, Graham has immense pride in the company he directs; and is particularly proud of having been awarded the BDH Cup in 2010, and becoming one of the top 10% of performers in Australasia while maintaining a 79% repeat and referral client ratio.

x