As a real estate professional, you’ve probably heard it all in terms of crazy stories. There’s a lot of negativity surrounding the real estate world, and some people have bad connotations associated with it due to the stories they’ve heard from others. As an agent, broker, or team leader, it is important that you are able to recognize some of these common myths about real estate so you know how to properly debunk them to your clients:

“Real estate agents are salesmen – all they care about is making a sale.”

This is probably the most common myth surrounding real estate. It follows the premise that “all salesmen are the same,” and “all they want is your money.” While this may be true of some businesses, real estate is not one of them. Real estate is very much a “people-pleasing” business, and agents typically genuinely care about selling you a home that you like. Most agents will go out of their way to make sure that you’re not settling for a home that doesn’t fit your standards. It is an ethics-friendly business, one where the workers truly care about their clients.

“For Sale By Owner saves money – agents just want you to hire them so they’ll get part of the profit.”

We live in the world where people believe they are capable of doing everything on their own. Selling a home is a long road paved with difficult tasks and unless you are a real estate professional, it isn’t something that’ll come naturally. Real estate agents know the ins and outs of the home sale process and can help you sell your home for the best deal possible. Hiring an agent actually saves more money than trying to sell it by yourself – they know what they are doing, and know what makes the most cash.

“I don’t need to prepare my house for a sale – someone will be willing to buy it the way it is.”

Clearly, this doesn’t work. People don’t want to buy a home that’s damaged or dirty when they can buy one for the same price that isn’t. Clients think this will save them money in the long run by not incurring the costs of professional cleaning and repairs, but it actually wastes money. A home in that condition cannot be sold for nearly as much as one that isn’t. It’ll also turn people away if they walk into an open house that doesn’t look pristine.

“Agents always try to convince you to buy houses outside of your budget.”

This is another area where ethics is involved. Due to strict protocols within real estate companies, agents are not allowed to persuade you to increase your price range. An agent may show you a home that is slightly above what you are willing to pay if they believe it is something you’d be interested in – but they won’t try to sell you a home that is thousands of dollars above your budget. There are rules in the real estate world, after all.