Many experienced real estate agents will tell you this is true. First, let us be clear that not all buyers are liars. But, for the purpose of this post, I will explain why buyers are liars. In this post, I will try to help you buyers understand that there is no reason or need to lie when you are searching for a property to buy.
Buying a property in Puerto Vallarta is being made easier by the day. Technology is making the research process easy for all buyers. The process starts from home with a simple search of the popular real estate companies that sell in the area you want to buy. Buyers get instant access to the inventory without the help of a real estate agent.
Buyers see a property they like on a site and fill out a form to ask for information. From this point on the lying begins when they give a false name or false information about what they are looking for. Agents get false information and are usually unable to do a good job.
All buyers are smart and always have a game plan on what they want to buy and how. For example, people that want to buy pre-construction it is because they have done it before and want to do so again. People that want to buy a resale it is because they want to do so also due to their experiences before. Here is the thing, all buyers always want a deal on a property. Nobody wants to pay full price now. And, sadly they come to Puerto Vallarta, a city in Mexico to try their luck. Everybody knows that in the United States and in Canada you will pay full price and more for a property, any property. To be fair, sales for the last 10 years in Puerto Vallarta and Nayarit do indicate that sellers do take about 6% under the asking price of their property.
However for a lot of buyers, 6% under the asking price is not enough, they want more savings. And, they are willing to lie to get more discounts. So, this is how they do it: they kick their agent to the curve. Once they are in town physically looking at property buyers decide they want to look for themselves. Thinking that will save them another 6 to 8% of the commission paid to the agent if they go directly to the buyer. Most buyers simply do not know how it works. Truth is that this might work but, only if it is a property that is for sale by the owner. And, that buyer has to make sure that indeed they are dealing with the owner directly with no real estate agency in between.
In the majority of the cases, a seller already has a set commission agreed in a listing contract to be paid no matter how a deal is done. Most buyers also do not know that when a price is set it already includes the real estate commission plus taxes for said commission.
When looking for a property buyers want to deal with the listing agent to avoid paying at least half the commission of their own buying agent and agency. In reality, the commission is the same, instead of half of that commission going to the buying side that would represent the buyer it is rightfully claimed by the same selling agent and agency. We call this a 2-side sale. As you can see, ditching your agent does not save the buyer money.
The most common lie is about the budget a buyer has to buy a property. Claiming to have an open budget is always a waste of time for all when a buyer always knows a price range they are looking for.
All buyers are not liars, of course. The best thing you can do as a buyer is always be honest with an agent you are dealing with. It is completely acceptable to tell an agent that you are not buying for a few years, that you are only looking, or that your budget is low. This should not decrease the level of work done by the agent helping you. A real estate professional will do a good job from the moment he/she gets contact information till the moment you have signed off on a purchased property.
Are all buyers liars?
NO. However, some buyers lie about their real intentions when buying.
