Things are not always what they seem. This is true in real estate, but it’s true everywhere in life, and the older and wiser we get, the more we see this play out all around us. I’ll point out a few examples to emphasize how important this is for you and me, but the goal of this article is to help you avoid traps for the unwary when you buy a home in the Sequim area, or Port Angeles or Port Townsend.
Things Are Not Always What They Seem
I quoted the short version, but the full quote goes like this: “Things are not always what they seem; the first appearance deceives many; the intelligence of a few perceives what has been carefully hidden.” Phaedrus
Let me set the stage. Have you seen a TV commercial promoting a pillow that sounds too good to be true? Even the price sounds fantastic when you hear that you get the second pillow free. So you call, but you find out the actual price is $180 for two pillows. You can buy one, but it will be the same price. But if you use the promo code, the price is ONLY $90. But not really. A set of two pillow cases is $50. But with the promo code that is reduced to $25. You wanted to buy one pillow for yourself, and what you find out is that you get two and the regular price is a total of $230. Plus shipping. But they tell you if you order now and use the special promo code, you get this incredible bargain.
You say to yourself, “You know what? I can go buy a good pillow at Costco for $28 to $38,” and you would be right. The reminder is that sales people on TV and everywhere will pitch their product and make it sound so doggone irresistible, but things are not always what they seem.
Awards are another example. How many times have you seen a car advertisement boasting that their model has received the J.D. Power & Associates award, and they obviously intend us to be impressed by that award. The truth is car companies have to pay substantial fees to J.D. Power & Associates to be included in the studies and get the reports, and if they want to boast that they received this award, they have to pay J.D. Power another $300,000. Things are not always what they seem. So much for the credibility of the award. It’s just another sales gimmick to fool consumers.
Things Are Not Always What They Seem
Realtors and home builders can get prestigious awards, too, but we also have to pay for them. I was awarded a prestigious Realtor award only given to the top 7% of Realtors in the entire Seattle area. I was quite pleased, but then after the award notification, they informed me the key to taking advantage of the award was to give them $4,000 to buy a half page add in Seattle Magazine. In other words, the entire business is to sell expensive advertising. The awards are just a front. Things are not always what the seem.
If you don’t know these things, you might be fooled when a sales person boasts about their awards. Understand that awards today are almost always bought. So are certificates. All those initials that Realtors have after their names were bought and paid for at expensive seminars. Entire industries are created for the sole purpose of creating false images all to sell smoke and mirrors to consumers and to make a sales person sound better than he or she really is.
The less knowledge, experience, and wisdom a sales person has, the more they need the smoke and mirrors, the more they need lots of initials after their name, and the more they need certificates and awards. Otherwise you would see right through them, and you wouldn’t be impressed, which means you wouldn’t hire them. May I say it again? Things are not always what they seem.
When you look at an MLS data sheet with photos online in search of your perfect home, are you getting an accurate representation of the home? When you get the seller’s disclosure statement, is it 100% accurate? When you work through the due diligence on your prospective home, maybe you would do well to pause and recall that things are not always what they seem on the surface.
The single most important thing you need when you visit a new area of the country like Sequim, Washington, intending to buy what may be your last home, is someone who is absolutely trustworthy. Do you know how to find that trustworthy Realtor? I hope so, because I can assure you . . . things are not always what they seem.
Last Updated on September 6, 2019 by Chuck Marunde
