12 Ways to Get Ripped Off

When You Sell Your Home

You worked hard for

the equity in your home

Why give it away so thoughtlessly?

When you sell your home, your objective is...

...to keep as much of your equity as possible

...to keep as much of your equity as possible

But you probably won’t

You will get ripped off

And the worst part is...

...it will be invisible

You will get

ripped off AND

you will never

know it

You will pocket less money from the sale

of your home than you should, BUT...

...you will think you did just fine

The first step to avoiding these rip-offs...

...is to know about them

There are (at least) a dozen ways to get

ripped off when you sell your home

And it is doubtful you know about ALL of them

Make sure you understand them all

Or your hard-earned equity...

...is going

into

someone

else’s bank

account

1 You Will Choose a Lousy Real

Estate Agent

Studies* show two thirds of home sellers only speak

with one agent before selecting one. The reason?

Most home sellers have no idea how to tell a good one

from a bad one so why bother interviewing them.

You are going to hire a temp employee and pay them

$10K or $20K or $30K to sell your home. You should

know how to tell a good one from a lousy one.

*Citation

2 You Think Paying a Real Estate

Agent 6% Commission is the

Only Choice You Have

Paying a 6% commission to sell your home is THE most

expensive way to sell your home. Other options, such

as flat fee and fee-for-service, will save you a lot of

money. You should not be afraid to consider them.

If you do insist on using a percentage-based

commission, at the very least you should negotiate a

substantially lower rate.

3 You Will Pay Too Much

Commission Because You Have

No Idea How to Negotiate

If you are like most home sellers, you will invite an agent

into your home to give you a listing presentation.

Towards the end you will feebly attempt to get them to

come down on their commission, but at that point it is too

late. Your window for negotiating has already closed.

Nothing will preserve your home equity better than

understanding how to effectively negotiate a lower

commission with your agent.

4 You Will Pay Too Much

Commission Because You

Believe the Big Lie

What is the Big Lie? You get what you pay for. Not true.

Research* conducted by Consumer Reports found...

Sellers who paid 3% were just as satisfied as those

who paid 6%.

Paying less did not hurt the quality of service.

Those who paid 6% were more likely to have regrets

about the selling process.

*Citation

5 You Will Unwittingly Give a Big

Chunk of Your Equity to the Buyer

Today, it is not uncommon* for buyer’s agents to give a

portion of their commission (which you pay for) to their

buyer. This helps them attract buyers, but does not do

a thing to sell your home.

This is wasted money, and effectively lowers the

selling price of your home. You need to have a

strategy for how to keep that money for yourself. After

all, it’s yours.

*Citation

6 You Do Not Understand the

Conflicts of Interest Between

You and Your Agent

It is called the Principal-Agent Problem and it causes

good agents to give sellers bad advice. Research*

conducted by two Stanford professors found that agents

distort information to mislead clients. It explains why

agents sell their own homes for 3.7% more than the

sellers they represent.

Smart home sellers know how to eliminate, or at least

reduce, the Principal-Agent Problem.

*Citation

7 You Have No Idea What a Pocket

Listing is

A Pocket Listing is when your agent keeps your listing

off the local MLS (Multiple Listing Service). They do

this so they can keep the buyer’s agent’s commission.

Research* by San Francisco real estate agents found

that pocket listings, by severely limiting the home’s

exposure, can cost home sellers as much as

$200,000.

*Citation

8 You Will Allow Your Agent to

Function as a Dual Agent

Dual Agency is when your agent also represents the

buyer. You may not think it is a problem, but the consumer

advocate group CAARE calls dual agency “The Biggest

Consumer Scam in Real Estate*.”

Research** conducted at Cornell University found that

dual agency homes sold for 8% less. That equates to

$24K on a $300,000 home.

*Citation

**Citation

9 You Will Pay for a Pre-listing Home

Inspection

Some real estate agents will try to convince you to pay

for a pre-listing home inspection in the hope that you

will fix any problems that it uncovers. Fixing all the

problems certainly makes the agent’s job of selling your

home easier.

Unfortunately, a pre-listing home inspection can never

save you money—it can only cost you money. Save

your money and let the buyer pay for it. After all, it

benefits them to find hidden problems, not you.

10 You Will Pay for the Buyer’s

Home Warranty

Buyers benefit from a home warranty. Why should the

seller pay for it? Because they provide secret

incentives for real estate agents. Many Realtor

Associations now include a check box for buyers to

select on the purchase agreement requiring the seller

to pay for a home warranty as part of the transaction.

You do not have to agree to this.

Visit RipOffReport.com to see all the problems with

home warranties.

11 You Have No Idea How to

Combat Buyer Steering

In the event you negotiate a less-than-customary

commission (i.e., 6%), some agents representing

buyers will actually try to steer their buyers away from

seeing your home in an effort to punish you for offering

such a commission. And less traffic generally means a

lower sale price.

Even though this behavior is a violation of the Realtor

code of ethics, research* conducted at the University of

Chicago confirms that buyer steering does exist.

*Citation

12 You Will Use Service Providers

Affiliated With Your Agent

By using title and escrow services owned or affiliated

with your agent, not only do you forfeit the opportunity

to shop for a better price, but you destroy the integrity

of these vital checks and balances.

Research* indicates that these affiliated service

providers lead to market manipulation and artificial

price increases that cost consumers in one state an

estimated $100 million.

*Citation

So, now

that you

know

about

these

rip offs

What will you do to combat them?

How about some education?

I will teach you

how easy it is to

preserve your equity

At a FREE mini course called…

Introduction to

The Intelligent Home Seller

To register...

Go to End Of Six Percent

I’m Carl Weisman and

I help home sellers preserve their hard-earned equity

Why do I do that?

I’m sick and tired of home sellers being intimidated into

squandering away their equity due to an abundance of fear and a

lack of education