RE Vocabulary

Puffing In Real Estate

As a real-estate buyer, have you ever had a real estate agent go on and on about the positives of a property they are showing you? Throwing words like ‘the best you can get for a certain price or professing how they haven’t seen anything this good?

Or, perhaps you just want to know what real estate puffing is for your real estate exam.

The same thing happens when you want to sell. Agents offering you their services by saying they already have buyers or claiming they can sell your home at a higher price.

Although such talk could make you feel inclined to go with that real estate agent, consider your agent might be real estate puffing.

What is puffing?

Real Estate Puffing is the tendency for salespersons and advertising material to exaggerate certain facts about the real estate with the hope of initiating a buy.

Real-estate agents can be the worst at this.

Is puffing illegal?

Well, it isn’t. You see, puffery is seen as an opinion rather than a misrepresentation of facts. Hence it can’t be put in the same boat as fraud. That means your real estate agent can’t be sued if you get a bad deal.

So how do you avoid being vulnerable to your agents sales speak?

Here are 4 ways to nullify any attempts to shortchange you on your real-estate deal. We’ll begin with sellers and end with buyers.

Experience

Experience gives one an edge when it comes to business. Many buyers and sellers of real-estate prefer to work with an agent that has done a good number of deals. Real-estate agents understand this and may be forced to exaggerate their level of experience or expertise to get business.

So basically to gauge experience, you try to find number of years your agent has been in business, the number of deals and the type of deals done. The third helps you get a feel for the expertise of your realtor.

Don’t just ask them these questions, call their office to get the exact numbers you want. Not only will the puffery not work, but it will actually help you sift chaff from wheat.