I've mentioned before how important honesty is in the real estate game. I've also blogged about stereotypes linked to certain professions, and that sometimes telling the truth isn't right up there when people think of real estate agents. When it comes to the people I work with at Century 21, I am confident in saying this is a myth. I like to tell the truth, and the people I work with do too. In fact, it's not a choice. Honesty is the only option.
This doesn't mean that telling the truth is fun, because often it's not. It's not great telling an owner that the sale of their house fell through, or that the feedback from an open home was less than positive. I do believe the truth can be delivered tactfully enough to make it easier to hear, but at the end of the day, the truth needs to be told for everyone's sake.
However, it would seem not everyone is big on the truth. Some people who pride themselves on always telling the truth often don't want to hear it for example. Many of us are guilty of this. At times, the truth does just totally suck. Maybe yes, your bum does actually look big in that, or maybe yes, your home really does smell of dog, but at the end of the day these types of responses are possibly what people actually need to hear.
When it comes to buying or selling a home and things aren't panning out in an ideal fashion, telling the truth can end up causing hurt, disappointment or can shatter the illusions someone has about a particular kind of house, and it's understandable (although not acceptable) that this is why the truth is sometimes stretched. Vendors sometimes don't want to hear, or believe how much their home will actually sell for. A buyer may not want to hear that the home they're convinced they can buy doesn't actually exist in their price range, or their ideal suburb. But still, the truth is something that they need to hear.
One of our Century 21 real estate agents was recently referred to in the editor's letter of a national magazine for this very reason. The editor was expressing her shock at the disarmingly honest nature of her real estate agent, who did in fact tell her that her house smelled like dog, and that the outside of the property needed to be updated before she could possibly show any potential buyer through. Despite the editor's initial misgivings, truth prevailed, and the property sold and the vendor nationally praised her agent for everything – including telling the truth.