MONEY MATTERS Where do you get your information about real estate? Do you count on the media? What you read in newspapers and hear and see on radio and TV may not be an accurate representation of reality. Yet, everyday people turn to the media because they think they can trust the information. Well think again. The real estate industry is a VERY POWERFUL special interest group organized as the NAR (National Association of RealtorsTM and the NAR is a very powerful lobbying group in Washington that influences our politicians with campaign contributions to write legislation that favors the real estate industry. One simple and classic example of this is the CAVEAT EMPTOR or BUYER BEWARE clause. This legal jargon is a fancy way of saying "cheating is okay" and that whether you are a home buyer or seller, if you make a mistake in judgement when buying or selling a home, pay too much, sell too low, thats your fault. You should have known the rules to the game before you play. This provides a way out for agents who may misrepresent or omit certain information, which may cause you legal or financial pain. How could this happen you say? Heres a simple example You are a home buyer, you contact a real estate company and meet an agent. The agent is super friendly, helpful and really works hard to find you a home. Through this process you develop a warm and fuzzy relationship with the real estate agent, telling them about your home dreams, your job, your financing and other personal and confidential information. You and the agent become friendly and you can trust them right? WRONG! Agents LEGALLY represent sellers, not buyers. Agents have a legal or a fiduciary duty to get the highest possible selling price for a property from a buyer. They CANNOT legally show you how to pay less for a property because they represent the seller. And themselvesthey are licensed SALES people who get a commission. But there is morethe real estate industry, nationally and locally, spends BILLIONS of dollars annually on classified ads, radio and TV ads. The media is KEENLY aware of these many billions of dollars and the revenues they earn from advertising. And the media WILL NOT ROCK THE BOAT of these powerful advertisers! Why? Because advertising revenue is what keeps the local and national media profitable. The result? Happy news storieslots and lots of happy news stories about real estate. When was the last time you read a story about a home buyer or seller getting raked over the coals? The media is not going to cover these kinds of stories because they dont want to upset their advertisers. So you see, the NAR and the real estate industry controls or influences everything from the real estate laws to the information you see in the media. And then there is a guy like meI know this industry, I was licensed in real estate. I was a residential and commercial loan officer. I know how people get screwed everydayI know that simple people get their financial throat cut and dont even realize they are bleeding. Why? Lack of information. Lack of specific education in real estate. Real estate agents are trained and licensed in real estate principals, practices, law and finance. HOW MUCH REAL ESTATE TRAINING HAVE YOU HAD? What I chose to do was to reverse engineer the training and experience I got in the business and present it to people so that people, buyers and sellers, could represent themselves on a more level playing field quickly and intelligently by reading a "SMART BOOK". Smart Books show buyers and sellers how to protect their legal and financial interests during the largest investment of a lifetime, buying or selling a home. It blows me away how many people underestimate what I am trying to say. IF you were smart, you would take this opportunity to click the links below to learn more. If you don't, well, then you are on your own. Copyright 2006
James W. Hart, IV
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