When it comes to selling your home, honesty is always the best policy, especially when speaking with your agent.
Each time I meet with home owners to discuss their property, I let them know up front that I offer complete honesty, adding that I don’t “sugar coat things”. I’m blatantly honest to the point that I have had a few home owners get mad at me for “insulting” their home. (Some home owners don’t want to face the facts that the home needs a MAJOR cleaning.)
Of course I asked them if they would rather have an agent lie to them to get a listing, or have an agent tell them what they most likely don’t want to hear and help them get the home sold. I have yet to have someone tell me to lie.
But the main point of this story is that after I state my commitment of honesty to them, I notify them that I expect the same level of honesty from them in return. Remember, anything you tell your agent is confidential. So don’t be afraid to tell them a divorce is on the way, or that you just received a notice of foreclosure.
What ever you do, DON’T hide facts that can affect the listing.
I once had a home listed that I was heavily marketing, and putting a ton of time and money into getting it sold.. It wasn’t fun getting a call one day from a buyer’s agent asking how long my clients had been in foreclosure. This was news to me. I had specifically asked the sellers if they were in foreclosure and had been told no. I had also looked into public records, and there was no foreclosure notice posted. Of course the day it became public was the day this agent had seen it, and thus called me because he had an interested client.
When I asked the home owners why they hadn’t told me, they said it was private information and that they were embarrassed to tell me. Unfortunately, their failure at being honest cost us months on the market. Now we had to regroup and talk short sale. Time was running out, and a short sale takes time. Luckily, they had a bank that was on top of things, and we were able to get a short sale approved. Unfortunately, their lack of honesty caused unnecessary stress and loss of time for all involved.
I could go on and on with examples of how past clients have been less than honest with me, and each one has had it affect them negatively – either through more time on the market, less money earned on the sale of their home, or no sale at all. Don’t let this be you! Be HONEST with your agent because they’re there to help get your home sold, no matter what the circumstances.