It does not help the game when people put out information that is false or misleading. I do not like wasting my time and it puts a really bad taste in peoples mouths when you go out of your way to mislead. I went to check out a small house with renting it in mind. Here is the web description and picture.
“All Brick Ranch with fenced in backyard in established neighborhood. Many improvements include:All new vinyl and carpet, fresh interior/exterior paint, new doors, blinds, range and kitchen countertops and cabinets. Enjoy patio view of mature cherry tree. Refrigerator and outside storage shed convey. ”
I was good with the description until I saw the house. The following statements are where things got kinda weird for me, “new doors, blinds, range and kitchen countertops and cabinets.” There may have been 2 new interior doors in the house. All doors were not replaced, which is not really false, but misleading. There were no blinds in the house at all. Maybe they were going to put in some new blinds, but they were not in when I stopped by.
The flyer in the house said “Newly installed range,” and the web description allude to a new range. This was interesting as well, because the range was old. It might have been new to the house but it was not new. The countertops were new and not misleading at all, which was a welcomed thing to see. The cabinets on the other hand were not new at all. They were however painted recently, but not new.
I felt like I had gone to the wrong house and double checked the address a few times. The flyer had a disclaimer, to the effect of “Information provided by sellers, subject to independent verification by the buyer.” When people mislead it gives the impression that they are not trustworthy. You never know what to believe when you deal with them. I was considering this house, but have since decided against the house, just based on the lies/misleading information.
Honesty goes a long ways…
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April 28th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Honesty goes a long way… yea for sure. but the agents usually listing and marketing these properties have their own little interpretations of “information” received from owner/seller, and based on that they make it sweeter and sweeter each time the property is getting listed.
Working in Chicago real estate market, I see listing remarks, truly worth a minute to stop and ask…. is this for real?
I sometimes avoid units which are marketed by the same agent/s which have a history of
“extreme puffing”. I understand puffing is a practice in the sales industry, but for crying out loud, I do not appreciate “extreme puffing”
Thanx for a good post…
keep on keeping on!!!!
April 28th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
i think we are on the same page. i gots like 5+ realtors in the family. no one will even give me a key code to enter a house. they will lose a listing before exagerating square footage. that is just how they roll. so to see such an extreme example is rough.
granted I have seen worse. i just hate wasting my time. i thought the house was overpriced to begin with and was expecting to offer a bit less. it is listed at 125,000… where it could barely cover itself in rent (and I might have used it as a deduction [aka lost each year] if I couldn’t have gotten it for less). 1 and 1/2 bath does not cut it with 3 bedrooms om raleigh. anyhow I was going to offer less, but with the misleading info I would have had to offer way less…
I do not have any problem posting positive info, but peoples seem to want to be on blast, soon I will have to post personal info (like photos of realtors of houses with info just misleading
and later links…)
May 1st, 2008 at 9:22 am
HA! Do it and see what happens b/c “misleading” is not only a time waster but feels horrible for 1st time home buyers. I remember going around with a realtor who got my wife’s hopes up on a few houses and wow what a HUGE let-down on 90% of ‘em.
May 1st, 2008 at 9:42 am
Here are two links to the same house.
http://www.relo-expert.com/MyHomeDtl.asp?lstPages=1&HomeID=693838
http://www.trulia.com/property/40927089-4401-Kilcullen-Dr-Raleigh-NC-27604
May 12th, 2008 at 10:43 am
You should really contact the Local Real Estate board. These Realtors work on ethics, and when they are not followed, such as the case with you and the above stated house, they will lose there license. So please contact the local board of Realtors, beacuse this asshat need’s to get there Real Estate License taken away. Trust me when I say this Realtor has broken so many laws, it’s not even funny. So go get him / her .