Are Buyers Really Liars? Addressing a Common Agent Complaint

There's an old and odious real estate saying that "Buyers are liars." It's odious because it's not completely true and it's repulsive because lying – or withholding the entire truth – isn't endemic to real estate consumers.

We all have the capacity to lie when we're expected to buy. Whether we're shopping for a pair of shoes or a used car, many of us are not completely honest with salespeople. Sorry, but to real estate consumers that's what you are, a salesperson.

So, what do agents think homebuyers might "lie" about? The list is long and just about every agent has experienced at least one Pinocchio-esque situation. But are these, in fact, lies? We're not entirely convinced they are, so let's take a look at a few common cases.

Case #1: They Don't Know What They Want

Your clients wanted a two-story home on the east side of town and ended up falling in love with a one-story on the west side. That's the vanilla version of the story. Many agents have stories of showing exactly the type of homes their clients said they wanted, for months on end, only to have them eventually turn their backs on their "must haves" and decide to purchase the exact opposite.

But did they lie about what they wanted? Chances are good they just really didn't know what they wanted until they were set loose in the candy store of available homes. In fact, chances are even better that buyers know more about what they don't want in a home than what they do. This is why it's so important you ask the right questions during your initial meeting, and keep asking them as you show potential homes.

"When a buyer says one thing and does another, I see it as a shortcoming in my own qualification and rapport building with the buyer," says Daniel Beer of Windermere Real Estate in San Diego. "Perhaps I did a poor job of listening or maybe I didn't ask the right questions. It is my job to help them find what they want, and they don't always know exactly what that is."