Do DFW Real Estate Agents Lie?

Integrity and honesty is of the utmost importance in any profession. This is especially true in the home buying and selling industry. When you buy or sell a home, you are likely handling one of the most substantial financial transaction of your life. The unfortunate thing is that the real estate industry is riddled with sales people with poor reputations. Similarly, as with lawyers and car salespeople because some agents don't know the difference between the truth and a lie. Much of the problem is that a large numbers of unscrupulous people believe that the real estate profession offers a fast track to easy money.
Which Agents Are Trustworthy?
The truth is about 10% of the agents do 90% of the business, and that top 10% are more likely to be the ones that buyers and sellers can rely upon and trust. Many home buyers and home sellers say they want their real estate agent to be honest, ethical, professional and experienced.
What Do Agents Lie About?
Most these agents lie about themselves. Real estate agents often misrepresent their experience, their credentials and almost everything else about them with their “I’m better than you attitude”. Many agents spend inordinate amounts of time posting information online to obtain maximum search engine exposure. Can you trust the agent's web site? Just because it's on the Internet doesn't mean it’s true.
Here are misrepresentations to look for on a real estate agent's web site:
• Experience
It is relatively easy for you to check to see if an agent has been licensed for as long as they say. In most cases it’s as easy as logging onto your State’s Real Estate Commission’s web site and typing in an agent’s name.
• Listings
Most agent web sites feature their active listings. You can also check their company’s web site for a link to their listings to determine whether that agent has any listings or not. Only a few agents, such as buyer broker agents, will not take any listings. Listings are the backbone of most experienced agents.
• Specialty
Agents generally advertise their specialty. An agent might claim to be a specialist at selling homes in a certain neighborhood. Or agents may try to market themselves as an exclusive home specialist by showing only high end homes on their web site but they have never sold a home in that price range. Other agents may say that they specialize in FHA but have yet to close an FHA transaction.
Whether you are looking to buy or sell a Plano For Sale By Owner, a DFW Foreclosure of a Dallas Loft make sure you take all of this into consideration so you don’t hire the wrong real estate agent. You don’t want to end up selling your home to one of those DFW We Buy Houses companies.

Your DFW Home Offer & VA or FHA Financing

If you are looking to buy a DFW Home and you will be obtaining VA or FHA financing then you must include that information in your offer. This is necessary because these government loans place additional financial and performance obligations on the seller that are not typical with cash or conventional loan purchases.
VA and FHA loans prohibit buyers from paying certain types of fees that are often charged by their lenders and title companies. They are called non-allowable fees. They will still be charged, but as the buyer, you are not allowed to pay them. This means that the seller will end up paying them instead of you.

Most of these non-allowable fees are fees payable to your lender. Prior to submitting an offer on the home of your choice you should have already been pre-qualified by a loan officer and that loan officer should have told you what the non-allowable fees will be. Experienced DFW Realtors should also have an idea of what non-allowable fees will be charged by the escrow agent and title insurance company. Since these are fees the seller would not pay on a cash offer or an offer with conventional financing, this information must be included in your offer. You should realize that since the seller will be paying these additional fees, they may be a little less negotiable on the sales price.

Appraisals on VA and FHA loans are a little more involved than on conventional loans because they include an inspection element and they are also more expensive. These appraisers are required to perform certain minimum inspections, which are generally safety items, as well as evaluate the value of the home. Although these inspection reports are not as detailed as a typical professional home inspection report they can uncover items that need repaired prior to closing. These additional repair costs are cost the seller would not be obligated to pay for someone paying cash or obtaining conventional financing. Because of this your offer should include a maximum figure, or cap, for these repairs. Whatever figure you put in will likely affect the seller’s willingness to negotiate on their sales price. If you put $1,100 as an estimate, the seller may be $1,100 less negotiable on their sales price. If no repairs are necessary, you may have been able to get the home for $1,100 less than what you and the seller originally agreed on as the sales price.

When searching for DFW Homes For Sale it is best to retain the services of a professional DFW Realtor. Your Realtor can discuss with you the possibility of buy a DFW Foreclosure to locate a good deal for you. Some of these foreclosures, however, may not be good candidates for VA or FHA financing programs as many times they need a lot of work, work a bank is unlikely to do. If you are not using a Realtor in your search of DFW homes you may consider a DFW FSBO understanding that these FSBO sellers probably have no idea if their home can be financed under one of these programs.