PH Real Estate - The Best Ways to Know If Your Broker is Honest

Brokers may be competent and licensed, but if they are dishonest, you will surely be losing money during the transaction. Hence, it’s wise to avoid transactions with dishonest agents. It can be a tough job to determine whether your broker is honest or not, but with patience, you can do it. Judging the external appearance of a person is often unreliable. When a person is dressed to the nines and has a friendly smile on his face, typically, you judge him positively.

However, not all well-dressed, smiling agents are honest. There are still a number of them, who wouldn’t hesitate to pull one over you just for a few bucks. And in real estate, that few bucks can be equal to a large sum of money. So, what are the best ways to know if your broker is honest or not? Check this list.

The Best Ways to Know if Your Broker is Honest

• Observe the movements of his eyes.

Typically, a person who is lying cannot look straight at the eyes of the person he is talking to. He would avert his gaze or would dart his eyes to and fro. He would look down more often, trying to avoid eye contact.

If your broker has shown these mannerisms, there’s a good chance he’s lying. Bear in mind, however, that there are pathological liars who can lie through their teeth without batting an eyelash. It can be difficult to unmask a person who has mastered the craft of deception. Thus, you have to observe all of his body language (non-verbal cues) to arrive at an accurate conclusion.

• Notice any sign of nervousness when he speaks.

Does the agent feel nervous whenever he speaks to you? Do you sense that he feels you’re continuously attacking him? Observe him and notice if any of these symptoms appear.

Symptoms of nervousness

• Trembling voice
• Trembling hands and body
• Stuttering
• Touching his ears every now and then
• Twiddling with his fingers
• Biting his lips
• Biting his nails
• Touching his hair

If he does two or more of these actions, then he is nervous, and the reason can be because he’s lying.

• Observe his body language.

Aside from the mannerisms mentioned above, observe the other non-verbal cues, such as turning his body away from you when you talk to each other; he puts objects between you and him; he distances himself away from you.

• Ask him an unexpected question.

While talking to him, ask a question unexpectedly; a random question that comes to you mind. It can be related or unrelated to real estate properties.

Examples of these questions:

• “Are you married? You seem to be fond of children.”
• “Would you be spending the rest of the day in the city?”
• “Where did you buy that shirt; it suits you to a T.”
• “What can you say about the neighbors?”
• “Are good in playing golf?”
• “What’s the number of houses in this subdivision?”
• Do you know a place in this area where I can bring the children on Sundays?”

These unexpected questions will throw him off-balance, and will provide you a clue whether he’s dishonest or not through his answers. A lying person will be defensive every time a question is asked due to the fact that his answer may trip him. He also thinks you’re attacking him. If he’s completely honest and has nothing to hide, he would answer your questions - without hesitation.

• Inquire about other brokers.

Ask him if there are other brokers in the area. If he mentions them, despite the fact that they could derail his chances of success - he’s honest. A dishonest broker will tell you there are no other brokers or agents in the area because he wants to conclude the sale all by himself.

Obviously, his negative answer is false, because if he wanted to help you, he can certainly find one. Honest people are helpful and generous.

• Observe both his verbal and non-verbal cues

Collate your observations of his verbal and nob-verbal cues and make your conclusion. If the person is lying, his non-verbal cues don’t harmonize with his verbal cues. They’re unsynchronized, indicating that one of the two is false. Most probably, it would be his words (verbal cues) that are false, because as the cliché goes: “Actions speak louder than words.”

Confront him in a straightforward manner. This is the best way to know if your agent is honest, but it’s the least diplomatic. Let him understand that you don’t want dishonesty in your transactions. You can ask him if he’s lying straight to his face. Nevertheless, you don’t need to be confrontational.

Example:

• “I noticed that there’s a broker in the next block. May I know why you lied to me?”
• “I visited the owner and she told me that she won’t be responsible for the registration fees. Are you intentionally misleading me?”
• “You’re not being honest with me. May I know why?”
• “I want transparency in our transactions. I don’t want a discount if it’s illegal.”

If he’s not a pathologic liar, he would apologize immediately and set things straight. But if he is, he would turn defensive and come at you with his guns blazing. You’d better be ready. Attacking you would be his defense mechanism to prevent his lies from being exposed. Either way, you must avoid such brokers or agents.

These are the best ways that you can know if your broker is honest or not. It takes a little observation and you would learn the truth. If your observation reveals that your broker is dishonest, you have to run away from him as fast as you can.

Enlisting his services will only cause you harm and, perhaps, financial loss. Deal with honest brokers and avoid shady deals to ensure that your integrity in intact. What more, the legitimacy of your ownership of the property will never be questioned.

Tags:    Ways to Know Your Honest Broker