Why won’t my agent show me a home I found on online

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“My agent does not want to show me a house I found online.” These are the words often heard from clients right before the broker/client relationship is severed. As a buyer’s agent, it is the agent’s fiduciary responsibility to not waste time on properties that are not in the best interest of the client. Where a client sees  inexpensive dream homes in pictures, the agent sees all of the gruesome surroundings and defects not found online.

The problem with so called transparency in real estate is the buyer’s inability to decipher between marketing and reality. With that said, I am glad the company RealtyTrac is beginning to show properties online in their true light. Yes, they will be showing buyers the pictures a listing agent would not dare show because it would hurt the sale of a property like sex offenders, toxic dumps, and drug labs to name a few.

Agents are not allowed by law to say if an area is good or bad, but with accurate data clients would be able to eliminate a property from their list without question. RealtyTrac will be the first to begin this trend in transparency, although there will be more to come.

As we see it, buyers will have two choices, if this sort of data isn’t available in their area:

1. Trust your hired real estate agent

2. Buy at your own risk