6 Ways to tell if your Realtor is lying.

This is the title of a web article I ran across the other day.  Since I'M a Realtor, you may not be able to believe anything I'm about to say, but if you give me the benefit of the doubt, I'll say why I think the article and its title are baloney.  Or perhaps pose the question, "How do you know when web-writers are lying"?

The title did grab my interest.  Unfortunately the title reinforces an untrue stereotype that Realtor's are liars. The writer seems either very paranoid, or simply very mean-spirited. Either way, her writing becomes suspect from the getgo.  Her article is based on her research as to how to tell when people are lying.  Maybe her research is accurate...I HAVE seen some of her "techniques" on a couple of TV shows about detectives who solve crimes by studying suspected criminals for signs that they are lying.  Maybe this author lives in a fantasy world also.

In the real world, Realtors are easy to pick on.  We are very public people and we put ourselves on the line every day in very complex situations.  One of our prime skills is the ability to guide clients through the real estate purchasing maze.  When our task is to help someone buy a house, we must sort through dozens of potential properties in numerous neighborhoods, make arrangements with listing agents to show the chosen properties, take our clients around to see the properties, help them evaluate each property for price, location and amenities, help them fill out the proper contract and disclosure forms, advise them as to which forms are critical to the process, help them understand how the process works, help them sort out the terms they want to offer an owner, negotiate the offer through the listing agent and owner, help our client understand whether a counter-offer is realistic or not, etc, etc...and then help arrange inspections, financing and settlement, handling the myriad details of all those processes. 

An intimate business relationship is developed.  This is an emotional time for most clients.  There are plenty of things out of the control of either the client or the buyer agent, and as a result, plenty of opportunity for expectations not to be met.  The Realtor is on the front line, and while she gets paid for the work, she also is the handiest and most intimate target for disappointments.

All the above is the truth and nothing but the truth... :)