Common Tactics Real Estate Agents Use to Get In Your Front Door

By Meghan and John Mullin
Real Estate Professionals

“Call us! We have a buyer lined up for your house! We have a builder for your house! No, we’ll buy your house — cash — if it doesn’t sell!”

If you live in an affluent area — or any area with a hot market — chances are you’ve seen one of these promises in a postcard or a letter, in an online ad, or even on a billboard. The question is — what’s the catch? Will someone really come in and buy my slightly less-than-perfect house for very top dollar?

Good question. In this market, the truth is just about anything will sell at the right price.

But — even in an awesome market, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. Today, we’ll talk a little bit about each one of these promises (tactics) and the fine print (catches) you may not learn until it’s too late to turn back.

“We have a buyer for your four-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath house!”

Yes, this is probably true, because almost any real estate agent with a pulse right now has a buyer for a four-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath house. Or a three-bedroom, one-and-a-half bath house that’s priced attractively. Inventory is slim and buyers are anxious — so homes that might not have sold quickly five years ago or even one year ago are being snapped up in record time. Real estate agents send these letters to entice sellers to call them — studies show that if you’re the first agent in the door, you’re the most likely to get hired.

But what if you keep getting these letters, from a few of the same agents EVERY SINGLE MONTH? What does that mean? Is your house really the most awesome that ever was, and dozens of people are sitting with earnest money in hand, ready to strike?

They might be. But it’s more likely that you’re part of a farm. What’s a farm, you ask? We’re not talking about chickens and cows, of course. In real estate, farming means “planting the seeds” for business and future business with marketing. You can select farms from geographic areas (think “The Hill” in Madison or “The Manor” in Chatham or “Washingtons Headquarters” in Morristown), or you can comb through tax and property records to find homes with a specific program (think 4 bedrooms, 2.1 bathrooms, etc.). In theory, if you do enough farming, you’ll become the go-to agent for a specific neighborhood or target market. And it works — agents have been doing it for generations.

“We have builders who will pay cash and help you avoid the pain and inconvenience of marketing and selling your home!”

There are LOTS of contractors and investors who want to build big, beautiful homes on the pretty lot where your Cape Cod or small-ish Colonial or split level stands. It’s a fact. But it’s also a fact that these builders and investors are in the business to make money (and lots of it!) and they also want to get your home for the BEST price possible. In fact, there’s a bit of real estate development wisdom that professes “Investors make all their money the day they buy the property they intend to sell” — and this holds true even for single-family sales.

What does this mean to you? Well, this means that you might get “fair market value” — but it will be fair market value for a builder, and they will likely factor every shortcoming into the price they extend for your home. In most cases, they will pay significantly less than a “retail” buyer (i.e., someone who wants to live in your house after purchasing it). A great metaphor for this is the auto industry’s Kelly Blue Book values — there’s a column for trade-ins at dealerships and then one for private parties — and private parties always pay more.

Of course, you won’t have to go through the pain and hassle of staging and preparing your home for market — but in all honesty, this is usually far less expensive than the discount you will be giving the investor. It’s all up to you — and your tolerance for work and inconvenience. For some people, an easy, quick cash sale is worth a significantly lower price for their home. For most of us, though, a few thousand dollars is a lot of money, and we’re willing and able to wait an extra month or two to receive it.

“If your house doesn’t sell, we’ll buy it!” or “We’ll sell your house — guaranteed!”

This is a most mysterious and fascinating tactic — even to a seasoned real estate agent like me. I’ve been so fascinated by this that I contacted several agents who advertise this promise to find out more about the approach and the fine print.

Unfortunately, as soon as the person on the other end of the line found out I was a real estate agent, too (I believe in always working from a place of honesty and transparency — I was a news reporter in a former life!), they had little interest in speaking with me or sharing their secrets. So I had to resort to Google to find out more.

Turns out, this promise isn’t usually a rock-solid-win for sellers. To qualify for an agent to buy your home under one of these contracts, you have to agree to the price the agent recommends, then a series of discounts and price reductions over a pre-determined time period. And, if your home doesn’t sell by that time, the agent may or may not agree to buy your home, depending on what criteria you may (or may not) have met during the sale and marketing process.

And as for the agent who “guarantees” to sell your home, without explicitly stating that they will also purchase it? Here’s the thing about contracts: they’re an implicit guarantee/agreement to sell your home. If, at the end of the contract, your home hasn’t sold, you have the right to find another agent.

Selling your home and making a move is one of the biggest decisions you’ll ever make. Talk to someone you trust about the process, and educate yourself about the promises that sound too good to be true. An educated consumer is truly the best consumer.

Meghan Mullin is a residential real estate agent with Coldwell Banker in Madison, New Jersey as well as a writer, blogger, marketing expert and a former news reporter. Her husband John Mullin is a commercial real estate development professional in New York City so between the two of them, they know all of the industry’s best-kept secrets.

That said, dinnertime is exceptionally boring for their two kids because all they talk about is real estate. Contact Meg at meg.mullin@cbmoves.com and John Mullin at johnwmullin@yahoo.com for more insights about residential and commercial real estate.