4 Common Real Estate Myths

4303 Willowick Dr

Every trade has its own myths surrounding it, but in real estate, myths can cost you money. Here are some ideas you may have come across or believed yourself. Take a look at these myths and see how believing them could be detrimental to your next real estate transaction. 

Myth #1: Selling a home without the help of an agent will save you money.

“For Sale By Owner” properties can actually lose money. The reason is that the owners selling the property are not often well versed in real estate transactions. With the help of a realtor a lot of costly mistakes could be avoided. For example, you may not know how to negotiate the best price fro your home. Simply overpricing it to allow room for negotiation could leave your house sitting on the market for months longer than you can afford. 

Myth #2: Price your property above its value to leave room for negotiation.

It seems logical that since real estate transactions often involve negotiations, you should price your property in anticipation of a buyer asking you to lower the price. The problem with this is that buyers are cautious with their money. When they see several internet listings of properly priced homes, they might not even bother to look at your home to begin negotiations. 
Pricing your house correctly will make the buyers more likely to show up and take an interest. 

Myth #3: Find the perfect house and then get pre-approved for a loan

One of the first steps in the search for a new home is getting a pre-approval for a loan. Why?  Because you need to know exactly how much you’ll be able to spend on your new home. It would be terrible to fall in love with a home only to find out you can’t buy it. Sure, you can have a house in mind and ask the bank if you can have a loan for a house in that price range, but don’t wait until you’ve made your mind up to buy a certain house. You may end up heartbroken. 

Myth #4: Realtors will say anything to get a sale.

Realtors have to follow strict rules and regulations in order to keep their license. Before becoming a licensed realtor, every realtor has to learn ethics and the rules and regulations that dictate real estate transactions and their behavior. 

Also, realtors get much of their business by word of mouth. If they go around making people angry, they won’t stay in business for long. So, they have every reason to be honest and straightforward with you.  That way you can tell your friends and family all about your wonderful realtor whenever one of them wants to buy or sell a home.