When you sign on the dotted line with a real estate agent,
your home is on the line.
Back in the days when doctors made house-calls and pizza companies didn't, things were different.
In those days, business was often done on a hand-shake. Consumers were more trusting. But then more companies were worth trusting. There was a spirit in our society which accepted that "your word was your bond".
Today the spoken word means little. Instead, what counts is the written word. It doesn't seem to matter what you were told. What matters is what you SIGNED.
When you sign on the dotted line with a real estate agent, your home is on the line. No matter what the agent tells you, once you sign-up to sell your home, the WRITTEN words take over from the spoken words.
If you get a lower price than you were told, too bad. If the agent puts you under pressure, too bad. If you don't like how the agent treats you, too bad. Once you sign, you're stuck with that agent.
A TYPICAL EXAMPLE
An agent quoted Helen $870,000 for her home which was then bait-advertised for around $750,000. Despite her protests, Helen was assured this was "standard" procedure. She was then high-pressured into selling for $805,000.
She lost her marketing expenses which were used to falsely advertise her home. But, worst of all, her home sold for well below its true market value.
"This has set us back ten years," said Helen.
A long-running advertisement placed by the real estate institute in her state says, "Our ethics and rules of practice Guarantee your protection." But when Helen wrote to the institute she was told that "the institute has no power to award compensation against its members".
"Why do they advertise a Guarantee if they don't have one?" asked Helen.
Helen should have got a written Guarantee BEFORE she signed with the agent. If the agent had refused to sign Helen's Guarantee, then Helen would have refused to sign anything.
And that's the way it should be. When you are selling your home you should say to all agents, "I will not sign anything with you until you sign a Guarantee for me."
If the agent won't sign a Guarantee to protect your rights, then, whatever
you do, DON'T SIGN ANYTHING!