Hello everyone and Welcome to another
episode of Selling Greenville your
favorite real estate podcast here in
lovely Greenville South Carolina I am
your host Stan McCune as you guys most
likely know I am a realtor here in the
greater Greenville area of South
Carolina I'm also in Spartanburg I also
do some stuff every now and then in
Anderson lawren Pickin all these
surrounding counties but Greenville is
my base you know this is a small area
so we have to cover kind of a wide
range of places so I kind of do business
in all of those places and if you need a
realtor in any of those counties in any
of those areas here in the greater
Greenville area let me know my contact
information is always in the show notes
and if you like this podcast please go
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you can just text me if you're trying
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whatever platform that you use today
we're going to be talking about trust in
real estate which for a lot of people is
an oy right there's a lot of
distrust in real estate really all over
the place I'm not just talking about
trust or distrust towards Realtors there
is distrust across the board in real
estate distrust for inspectors distrust
for
appraisers distrust of course for
realtors distrust for the other party if
you're a buyer you might have distrust
towards a seller if you're a seller you
might have distrust towards the buyer
there is all sorts of distrust distrust
towards contractors that's another big
one that I hear over and over again so
there's a lot of distrust in real estate
and we have some as humans All Humans we
have gut instincts that inform whether
we should trust or distrust someone
but I want to think through that a
little bit and kind of spell out five
categories or you might even say five
questions that we can ask ourselves to
determine whether or not someone is
acting in a trustworthy manner in real
estate and you could probably extend
this Beyond simply the real estate
transaction except I'm just not an
expert in anything besides the real
estate transaction and and let me just
say none of this is like any kind of
there's no research behind any of this I
haven't done any kind of psychological
study or anything like that this is just
from my personal experience
what I find to be good metrics good
questions to ask to determine if someone
is trustworthy in real estate I have
dealt with a lot of people in real
estate a lot of contractors a lot of
appraisers
inspectors all of that lenders a lot of
different people and when someone is
that is not trustworthy does something
that is not trustworthy feeling my
Spidey senses start to go off right I
can determine okay something here is off
but you know it's helpful if you can
actually determine what that is to just
have the spidey sense to just know that
something is off that's not an entirely
helpful thing I mean that might prevent
you from doing something that you
shouldn't but it's even better if you
can identify what that thing is so that
then you can be like okay is my Spidey
Sense going off for the right reasons
what is going on here maybe I just
need to ask a different question of this
person or maybe this person I just need
to to fire them and find someone else so
I have here five questions that are kind
of five key things that that I think
we can ask people in real estate or
maybe not ask them but ask ourselves as
we're communicating with people in real
estate to help us determine if they are
TR trustworthy or not the first one is
one that I think is is probably the
most important out of all of these
they're not really these aren't really
in order but this first one it's first
for a reason and it is do they
whoever it is you're talking to again
this could be Realtors inspectors
lenders appraisers whatever do they
answer questions or give advice that
help helps you but could hurt them do
they answer questions or give advice
that helps you but could hurt them now
this is really really important because
there is a bit of what we call a moral
hazard in real estate me as a realtor
when I'm communicating with my clients
and and here's the thing and and I make
fun every now and then of some of these
real estate television shows that are
out there there's so many of them now
it's unbelievable so it's crazy how much
that genre has exploded but you always
see these Realtors and what they're
doing is they're they're following the
stereotypes and and if you see Realtors
on movies it's the exact same thing I
was just rewatching Breaking Bad
recently I'm going back through it
and there's a situation where there's a
realtor going through a house that used
to be a meth lab and she's just focused
on all the positives of the house all
these great things oh don't look at that
don't look at at this this house is just
going to be perfect all you need to do
is just all these little things and
it'll be great and that's the stereotype
right these realtors that they are just
trying to sell you on the house now in
real estate we do have to to do sales
obviously and if I have a listing I'm
going to try to sell that house on
behalf of my client but there is again
like I said a moral hazard that I'm just
trying to get business for myself and so
I'm not necessarily going to be
completely honest with someone about
whatever it is that they're looking at
whatever property they're looking at or
whatever the case may be that is the
risk that's out there and that's a risk
with contractors contractors hold a ton
of knowledge about code about
construction just in general about cost
of materials cost of Labor all sorts of
different things and they have a moral
hazard as well where they can try to
upsell you on things and you have really
unless you're you're very knowledgeable
about about that World you may not be
able to to even know what questions to
ask in order to make sure you're not
getting ripped
off there is a lot of that the same
thing for lenders of course one of the
simplest ways to combat that is to make
sure that you're communicating to
multiple people that's why it's good to
until you find a contractor that you
like it's good to interview multiple
contractors it's good good to interview
multiple Realtors I always encourage
people to interview multiple Realtors I
feel pretty good that the vast majority
of the time people interview multiple
real Realtors they're going to hire me
so I'm not self-conscious about that
I'm not worried that I'm going to lose
out on business when people H when
people interview other Realtors
that's fine make sure that you find
someone that fits you if you find
someone that fits you in your opinion
better than me great work with them
there are other good Realtors out there
I'm not going to pretend like I'm the
only one but one of the simplest ways
outside of of interviewing multiple
different people to determine if someone
is trustworthy is when they give advice
when they talk to you about something
when they try to inform you about
different things or answer your
questions do they only ever give answers
or give advice in ways that would help
them that would line their Pockets that
would bring them money bring them
business or are they upfront with you
about you know
what for instance as a realtor you know
what I don't think this is the right
house for you this is not going to be a
good investment you shouldn't do this
this this doesn't make sense for you
maybe they're not that pushy I
personally am not a real pushy realtor I
try to lay out all the information for
my clients and let them make a decision
so I just showed a house recently and
and as soon as I walked in I immediately
realized okay there is deferred
maintenance in this house and it wasn't
like anything big that I saw right
away I could just see a lot of little
things and when you start seeing a lot
of little things there are big things
somewhere right because people that
ignore little things if they're not able
to afford fixing the little things guess
what they're not able to afford to fix
the big things this is normally how how
life works
and as we went through the house it
was a pretty big house as we went
through the house I started noticing
more and more things and then I started
to see the serious things I started to
see where there appeared to have been
some moisture issues started to see
where there appeared to be some
structural issues and so guess what
you think I just kept that information
to myself no I went to my client as we
were walking through I was like Hey
listen you need to look at this this
this is not good this is clear evidence
that there must be a moisture issue here
went around we looked at a bunch of
other things I saw some other issues we
go outside we look and and I see big
cracks in the brick veneer now cracks in
brick veneer happen all the time but
this was
substantial and and it became very
apparent as I was looking around at
different things and and we were looking
around at different things I noticed
this house is actually starting to fall
down in one corner like it is starting
to collapse just the way the grading
is or whatever the house was starting
to pull apart in one corner and so I
told my client that and it was like yeah
this is not that was kind of like the
final that was like the last thing we
saw and that was the final straw it's
like no no no no no this is more than
just okay A little bit of crack in the
brick veneer homes settle all the time
but if a home is settled
to the point that it's starting to pull
away and and that settling hasn't
stopped and that was what it looked like
to me it looked like the settling hadn't
stopped there are some ways you can
identify that maybe I'll I'll do a
different podcast on that one of these
days but it it looked like the settling
was ongoing and that this was going to
be a major major problem somewhere down
the
road and I've talked to lenders as
well the I have a lot of lenders that
I've dealt with over the years there are
some really good ones and you know what
the best ones they'll be like hey you
know what I this is not going to be the
type of loan that I can do for you there
are better people out there to handle
what you're looking to do let me refer
you over to them I'm not going to get
anything out of it just Goodwill I'm I'm
going to send you over to them and they
can help you out same thing with with
contractors if you you have contractors
and and they're looking at the house and
they're like you know
what this would normally be what I would
advise to do this full package but you
could get buy with this I mean you don't
need to get the highest grade Granite
what you know in this area go with a
cheaper grade type of of material that
will help you out in the end maybe
they'll say you know what I'm we numbers
are kind of tight here I've got a sub
that I use a little bit here and there
he doesn't do as great a work but
this isn't a top the line type of
project if you're okay with it and
you're just trying to pinch pinch
pennies I'm willing to use this sub
rather than my normal guy that costs a
lot more and does stuff in much nicer
neighborhoods than this typically things
like that that they're discussing with
you the options they're talking it
through with you they're not just saying
okay here it is this is this is what we
need to do and it just so happens that
that thing that we need to do is the
thing that's going to bring me the most
money so that is I think the number one
thing that's what we're
out of all of this have spent the most
time on is giving advice that doesn't
necessarily help them but definitely
helps you and it may end up causing them
to lose money that is the number one
thing to look for to help you determine
if someone is trustworthy in real estate
in my
opinion second thing on my list second
question do they admit when they're
unsure of something or tell you when
they're making a guesstimate so this is
also a really important one there's a
lot of people that just show a ton of
confidence in real estate there's just
overflowing with confidence in fact one
of the you know one of the realtor
stereotypes is is this Larger than Life
type of personality type of person that
they have an answer to everything
they're they're really outgoing they
have all kinds of ideas they know a
little bit of everything well guess
what I don't know everything and I don't
pretend to know everything as a realtor
and anyone that does pretend to know
everything they are misleading you and I
think it's really important you know if
if I'm dealing with a contractor and the
contractor says you know what I need
to check the code book on that I I don't
remember exactly what the most recent
code is on that that's great as long as
they get back with me now if they say
that and then they never get back with
you that's not a good sign but
they say that and then they check it and
they say okay we found this out I I
looked it up and this is all we need to
do to bring this up to code easy
peasy if someone asks me you know
what what do you think this house is
worth that's a question that I get an
awful lot you know I don't really like
to answer that question off the cuff
it's not that I don't have this general
knowledge of what homes are worth in
different areas but the difference
between like saying something that's
like1 to $15,000 off and being right on
the money that's a big difference I'd
rather not just throw out oh yeah it's
worth
$350,000 it it might be worth
$375,000 it might be worth
$325,000 who knows the market changes
constantly there's constantly new comps
coming on the market you also have to
look at what hasn't just been sold but
what is currently on the market and
so I will tell people when they ask me
that question
question I I'll try to give them
somewhat of a help helpful answer not
just completely past the buck but I'll
say at the end of the day you know I
really need to go back and and
research this out more and actually look
at all the data to make sure that I know
exactly how to answer this question 100%
and that again that's something I
think that's really important rather
than just throwing something out there
you you can throw something out there as
long as you're as long as that person
admits that they're just throwing it out
there you know if I have a contractor I
might ask a contractor what do you think
this is this is going to cost and he'll
say
$110,000 you know just off the cuff
right if he's just saying that off
the cuff and he doesn't really know
and he doesn't admit that he doesn't
know that's a problem and and I
appreciate it when I contractor like you
know I'm not entirely sure but if I had
to guess I would think it would be
between like 8 and $10,000 something
like that I appreciate that from a
contract that contractor that is a
helpful way of framing it that tells me
that they are or that at least is an
indication that they are going to be
honest and forthright with me that's
something that I think is very important
to look for question number three do
they provide data to back up their
claims or do they only make claims again
this kind of ties into the last question
but when someone says okay this house is
worth XYZ you know I I'll hear this from
sour sometimes my house is worth
$300,000 and I'll just be like oh okay
did Zillow tell you that did redin tell
you that like did an appraiser tell you
that did you get a a CMA or a BP from
from you know a local real estate
firm like where did you get that number
oh well my neighbor down the street sold
for for 275 and my house is a lot more
than that is a lot nicer than that and
it's like
okay that's not really data you know
saying my neighbor sold for for XYZ and
my house is nicer therefore my house
should sell for XYZ more that's not
that's not data and you'll hear this in
real estate all the time you'll hear
people make these claims they'll say oh
this is the nicest house in the
neighborhood okay maybe but probably not
have you been to every house in the
neighborhood I actually saw a listing
one time that said that this is the
nicest house in the neighborhood and you
know what it's possible that they were
right it's very possible they were right
but that's a claim that that is kind of
a turnoff to me it's kind of
like I I don't know about that I'm not
sure that I that I buy that that that's
kind of starting me off in the wrong
headp space in terms of my opinion of
you if you say something like that there
needs to be data to back up the claims
and so this is something if you are
talking to someone and again you reach a
point where you build rapport with with
someone if you known them for a while
that you don't need to always hound them
for data but when you're you're trying
to learn whether you need to trust or
whether you can trust someone or not
when they say something that is
inherently based on some sort of data
they should have some sort of data to
back it if they say I'm going to list
your house and I think it's worth this
much where are they getting that data
from they should have comps that they're
looking at they should be able to
explain those comps and how those comps
are different or similar to your house
there's a lot that goes into that
with again with contractors they might
they might
say that they have you know this opinion
on on something that that should be done
well what's the data to back that up why
do you think that that needs to be done
you think I need to rewire the whole
house why show me why that needs to be
done give me something other than my
opinion is it needs to be done have a
couple electricians come in and have
them write a letter with their name on
it that says this must be done for this
reason
or or have something you know from
the codes Department that says that just
saying that and just kind of making that
claim up that's no good that doesn't
help me there needs to be data if if
claims are constantly being made without
data that's a red flag that's a red flag
if you're constantly having to ask for
the data that's a red flag hopefully
most of the time now now there are
sometimes where we just have residual
knowledge people that are experts in in
a field they might just have residual
knowledge a contractor might know oh man
you know what if if we get this
permitted this is what this is what the
county is going to expect us to do
okay they might they might just have
that residual knowledge and so they
they might not inherently know what part
of the code book says that I understand
that but if there's constantly claims
being made without data to support those
claims that's a problem problem
that's something that is a red flag that
you need to
consider question number
four do they have multiple solutions to
problems this is a really important one
because no problem only has one solution
um
no issue that you run into only has
one way to address it there's always
multiple ways to skin the cat as the
expression goes and I really look for
this in everyone
any vendor that I that I use I want them
to be able to provide me multiple
solutions to problems and for them to be
able to tell me the pros and the cons
the plus and the minus I
had there's a house that I'm flipping
right now and we are doing some
there's a little front porch Gable
over the front porch obviously and we're
going to do some accent siding on that
and it's going to be bor and Baton
and I was talking to the contractor
about okay this is this is the board in
Baton that I want here's what I'm
looking for and the problem right now is
it's it's pretty difficult everything is
so backed up it's pretty difficult to
get the exact siding that you want
you really have to look at stuff that's
in stock and that's really limited it's
just it's just a tough time to be
doing house projects and so this
contractor he he said to me you know
what I know a guy that pretty cheaply
can make out of wood materials board
and bat ins siding this isn't a very big
area that we're trying to cover he can
do that and then we can just paint it
and what's nice about that is then if
you don't like the paint color because
the paint color was a big with the color
was a big deal it's like if you don't
like the paint color then we can just
repaint it and you won't have have to
like have a bunch of expenses with new
siding and all of that you know what I
love that great that is a great
solution didn't even occur to me that he
might have someone that's able to make a
quality wood board and Baton siding
awesome yes let's definitely do that
when I have clients that come to me or
other agents that come to me with a
problem I'm always trying to think of
different solutions to the problems I
always try to have not just multiple
Solutions at the beginning but a plan A
A Plan B a plan C A Plan D we want to
make sure that we're able to address all
the potential issues that could arise
here and there is a lot that can happen
during a real estate transaction that we
want to make sure that we get out in
front
of so multiple solutions to problems
that is a key indicator to me that
someone is trustworthy if they just say
nope this is the only thing we can do we
we don't have a whole lot of options
here most things in life have
multiple options and if someone only has
one option in their mind and that's the
only thing that they can come up with
either they're not shooting you straight
or they're being lazy or or they
simply don't know their stuff I mean
most of the time it's going to be one of
those options because usually there
are multiple solutions to a problem and
we want to make sure that the person
is a is someone that is willing to think
outside the box and be honest and maybe
they offer you solutions that they don't
care for but they can be honest with
that they can say like well you know I
wouldn't do this but this is an option I
was talking to an electrician recently
about scenario where there were two
prong Outlets switching them over to
three what all would be involved with
that and so he was explaining to me
about how yes you can simply replace two
prong Outlets with non-grounded GFCI
Outlets that have a sticker that say
that they're non-grounded GFCI outlet on
them and yes you you can do that you
you can get by with that but there
are some disadvantages to that he was we
were had a long discussion about
grounding and how all that works and
what the ramifications of that are in
terms of safety and all of that not
that I didn't know that but I'd never
had that detailed of a discussion with
an electrician so it was very helpful
and just him explaining all of that I
already knew this electrician was
trustworthy but that was him
exemplifying it that he was trustworthy
he was able to discuss the multiple
different solutions and not just offer
them and give prices but talk them
through here here is what this buys here
is what this buys here is how all of
these things work last but not least the
final question for whether someone is
trustworthy and realistate date is maybe
a bit intuitive in some ways but
nonintuitive in others it's do they have
time for you do they have time to answer
your questions to talk through your
concerns to answer the phone when you
call to and this is particularly true
when something is going wrong because
that's when people stop answering the
phone is when they've messed up in some
way they're ashamed they don't want to
talk to you they don't want to deal with
an angry person and it's it's difficult
and so you know what it's just easier
for them just to be like H they're
calling again
ignore that's not what a trustworthy
person does a trustworthy person a
standup person they're going to stand
there and when that call comes through
and they're going to answer that call
knowing that they're about to have a
difficult conversation that let me tell
you we all know cuz we've all had that
before that is one of the hardest things
to do is to know that that call means
something bad and to still sit there or
stand there and answer it but I think
even just aside from that even just
normally if someone is just in normal
trying to you trying to contact them
you trying to get together with
someone if they don't have time for you
that is a really bad sign there is a a
a guy recently that is a he's he
claims to be a local lender okay
doing like hard money loans and creative
financing for investment properties
and the like and I I like working with
local people that can be really helpful
really beneficial to have local people
particularly when it comes to money they
understand the market they're not as
afraid to lend money on real estate
because they get it they they get how
the numbers work it's not you know them
having to call you every few weeks like
Hey where's my money I don't like
that so this is the local guy but you
know what if we're having a local person
they're not like affiliated with like a
major bank I want to get together with
them or they're not affiliated with some
major company I want to get together
with them I want to have a face to face
a manto man or man tooman type of of
conversation with them to see what they
are to read their body language to to
ask them questions to to see how they
respond to to some of these things that
we've already gone through to see how
they answer if they have multiple
Solutions to problems if they are
willing to give advice that could
potentially hurt them I want to make
sure that I can get in front of those
people to to read all of that well this
person who is quote unquote the local
lender I couldn't get him to to
commit to getting together with me ever
and it was like he would he would answer
the phone he would respond to messages I
sent him but every time I'd be like hey
I want to get together this week when
are you free to get together and he'd
respond with
okay like that I asked you a question
like responding okay is not the answer
to the question and and I tried this
several times before finally giving
up and then lo and behold I saw later in
a Real Estate Investors Group that
I'm a part of a bunch of people saying
that this guy was not a trustworthy
person that he had done some shady
things and that they highly recommended
not to use him so guess what he didn't
have time for me and you know what maybe
it was the kind of thing where he knew
if he got together with me that it would
just be very clear that he wasn't TR
trustworthy who knows I have no idea
what all was going on there behind the
scenes but the bottom line is that that
was a very important metric for me I was
not going to do business with this
person or recommend him highly or or
at all really to anyone else until I
got together with him and saw that he
had time for me when he didn't that told
me everything I needed to know and then
I found out even more than I needed to
know when people that I know started to
say watch out for this guy he's doing
some shady stuff and so looking at how
much time someone has for you whether
they answer the phone when you call or
call you back whether they're willing to
get together all of those things that
tells you something about that person
and they might just be really busy
but again do you want to do business
with someone that's too busy to get back
with you I mean that's a whole another
topic for a whole another day but
sometimes people don't have time for you
because they're not trustworthy and I
have learned that over and over
throughout the years so those are my
five questions do they answer questions
or give advice that helps you but could
hurt them do they admit when they're
unsure of something or tell you when
they're making a guesstimate hopefully
they do do they provide data to back up
their claims or do they only make claims
do they have multiple solutions to
problems and do they have time for you I
hope that's helpful helps you to to
Think Through your instincts when you
find someone instinctively in your mind
to be untrustworthy maybe you can fit
them into one of those buckets maybe you
have your own buckets I'd be happy to
hear what you guys instinctively as you
think through this are using to
determine whether a person is
trustworthy or not let me know my
contact information is in the show notes
again leave this podcast a rating or a
review I'd really appreciate that please
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episodes
till next time I hope you guys stay safe
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