COLUMBUS, Ind. – Feb. 11, 2013 – Savvy real estate professionals avoid “puffing” their property listings with misleading descriptions.

“I tell the truth in my listings,” says State College, Pa., agent Kristie Weiss. “I will not say ‘completely remodeled kitchen’ if it is only new appliances – but there are a lot of agents out there who do.”

Embellished details can waste other agents’ time. They review the listing and then take clients to view the property, mistakenly thinking it is a good fit.

Hawaii agent Randy L. Prothero, for example, recalls one listing that advertised a water view. He took a client on a showing, only to be disappointed.

“I took (the buyer) to this property, and if you stood on the roof with a 30-foot ladder, you might see the ocean through the trees,” he says.

According to Prothero, a liberal description may bring house-hunters out, but it will not result in a sale. “I find that really annoying,” he says. “It wastes everybody’s time.”

Regardless of a listing agent’s warm description of a property as “quaint” or “rustic” or as a “fixer-upper,” Weiss says buyers should always get a professional inspection before submitting an offer for any home. “It may be pristine,” she says. “The wood floors are gorgeous, and there are brand-new countertops and cabinets – but it needs a new heating system (or) a new roof.”

Source: Columbus Republic (IN) (02/07/13) Pierce, Emmet

© Copyright 2013 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688