Tricks Real Estate Agents Play: 7 Shady Games to Watch for

Not every real estate agent will try to take advantage of you.

But some will use tactics that put their own interests ahead of yours.

That can happen whether you’re buying or selling a home.

And the tricks aren’t always obvious.

An agent might recommend something that sounds reasonable while leaving out the part that financially benefits them.

That’s usually where the problem starts.

Their advice becomes less about what’s best for you and more about what helps them get the listing, earn a bigger commission, or close the sale.

Here are seven tricks real estate agents play and what to watch for so you don’t fall for them.

1. Push you to sell off market to their investor

This is generally geared toward sellers who have a house that could use some updating.

Why?

Because it relies on the agent suggesting that the home’s condition will significantly hinder buyers from making an offer. 

The agent’s goal is to make an off-market offer sound more appealing by making the seller worry that putting the home on the market won’t work.

Then comes the pitch.

“I have a buyer who may be interested in your home.” 

That buyer is a real estate investor.

But this isn’t a typical agent-buyer relationship. 

It’s a long-term partnership that makes both the agent and the investor a boatload of money. 

How?

The agent turns one commission into three by representing the:

1. Seller in the off-market sale
2. Investor in the off-market sale
3. Investor after the property is updated and listed on the market.

The triple commission opportunity is how investors lure in the shady agents. 

Here’s one example of many emails and texts I used to get before founding SoldNest…

The result of sellers falling for this is letting the investor make a massive profit that should have been theirs.

Which means the price offered by the investor is almost always well below market value. 

In most cases, at least ~20% lower than what they could have gotten by putting their house on the MLS (sometimes ~30-40%).

This is why you need to be aware of the intent behind an off-market buyer when selling a house for cash.

If an agent attempts to orchestrate this on you, don’t work with them.

They’re trying to convince you to transfer money from your pocket into theirs.

2. Inflate the listing price to win your business

Most sellers would love for a buyer to pay a ridiculously high price for their home.

Some agents use this to their advantage.

How?

By exaggerating how much they can sell a house for.

Any prospective listing agent will provide you with their opinion of what your house should be listed at.

They may present this price estimate to you during your initial agent consultation, or a day or two after. 

But spotting an inflated price recommendation can be tricky.

That’s because some agents are experts at convincing a seller that their house is worth more than it is.

Why would they do this?

To get you to sign the exclusive agent listing agreement.

They know that your home will sit on the market and you’ll need to reduce the price. 

But…

By then, they’ve already won your business and have you locked into a contract.

So instead of losing the listing to another agent, they can start pushing you to lower the price.

And they still get a commission as long as your house eventually sells.

The issue is that homes lingering on the market for too long often sell for less than their potential value had they been priced correctly from the outset.

How can you avoid this?

First, never hire an agent solely based on their recommended listing price. 

Second, keep your opinion about your home’s value to yourself. 

You’re less likely to be duped if you don’t give an agent a number to work with.

This is why your price expectations are one of the key things you should not say to an agent when selling.  

3. Lie about having an interested buyer

“I have buyers looking for a home just like yours.”

That’s the way this starts. 

You’ll usually see some variation of this wording on mailers or an agent’s website.

And you might hear this when receiving a cold call or a knock on your door.

The agent’s goal?

To play on the anxiety some sellers have about whether buyers will be interested in their home.

So they use that concern to get a meeting with the seller.

All while knowing that there isn’t a real buyer. 

The game continues when the agent shifts the conversation to why the seller should hire them.

They start discussing the home’s value, their marketing plan, etc. 

Then one of two scenarios will usually happen…

The seller forgets about the “buyer” and hires the agent.

Or…

The agent says the seller needs to sign a listing agreement before the “buyer” can view the home (which isn’t true).

Alarm bells should be ringing if this happens to you.

Dishonesty like this is one of the warning signs of a bad agent.

There’s only one of two things happening in this situation…

Either the agent is lying –– or there really is a buyer and the agent is trying to represent both sides so they can make more money from the same transaction.

4. Push a seller to accept an offer from their own buyer

What makes some agents pull out their most deceptive tactics?

An opportunity to earn two commissions from representing both the seller and the buyer in the same sale. 

This is known as a dual agency transaction, and it can create a powerful financial incentive for the agent.

That’s why pitching a dual agent scenario is one of the deceptive games agents play with sellers. 

The strategy starts when a listing agent knows that their seller is fearful of buyers not being interested in their house.

This is the key ingredient for this to work.

Why?

Because the more fearful a seller is, the less likely they are to be concerned about working with a dual agent.

This makes it much easier for an agent to persuade a seller to accept their buyer’s offer.

Here is what you want to watch out for if you’re presented with this scenario: 

• Did the agent initially disclose that the offer was from their buyer, mention it later, or fail to mention it at all? Consider it a major red flag if they didn’t initially disclose it. 
• Pay attention to the “used car salesman pitch.” This is usually a telling sign that the agent is prioritizing their interests over yours.
• Is the agent emphasizing why you should accept their buyer’s offer while downplaying the risks of having them represent both sides?

You should seriously consider firing your Realtor if you’re in a shady scenario where they want to represent both sides. 

The unethical agents will take advantage of every opportunity to earn more money from one sale. 

And that almost always results in a lower price for the seller.

This is why you need to pay attention when your listing agent also wants to represent the buyer.

This is one reason why we analyze an agent’s transactions before matching them with a seller.

We never recommend an agent who has represented both sides in the same sale more frequently than the average agent.

Because these are the agents who have a history of lacking integrity.  

5. Withhold an offer from a seller

A listing agent is obligated to present every offer to their client.

The important words there are “obligated to.”

Because failing to present an offer to a seller is unequivocally unethical.

Why would an agent withhold an offer?

To ensure that another offer, which financially benefits them, faces no competition.

This trick usually indicates one of two scenarios:

1. The agent has received an offer from their own buyer.
2. Another agent on the seller’s team is submitting an offer.

Here’s the problem…

A homebuyer dramatically gains leverage when they aren’t facing competition.

Which means the seller is missing out on a golden opportunity to negotiate the best deal. 

But this is extremely hard for a seller to detect.

That’s because buyer’s agents typically submit offers to the listing agent via email or a third-party platform.

Neither of which are accessible to sellers.

The deceitful agents are experts at taking advantage of this. 

They mislead a buyer’s agent into believing that the seller considered their client’s offer but ultimately chose another.

And the seller is never aware.

Here are three strategies to help you avoid this:

1. Ensure your agent does not have a history of representing both the seller and buyer in the same transaction.
2. Right from the start, clearly communicate your expectations about transparency and insist on being informed about all offers. 
3. Include a clause in your agent agreement that requires them to present all offers in writing as soon as they receive them.

These measures will increase your chances of being informed about every buyer’s offer.

And help you dodge a situation where you could unknowingly miss out on tens of thousands of dollars. 

I’ve experienced scenarios like this firsthand. 

Including this one…

A real example of a listing agent hiding a buyer’s offer

I was representing buyers who were prepared to offer $2,725,000 without any contingencies.

Before submitting it, I spoke with the listing agent and learned that there were competing offers.

But when I asked whether the seller had already seen them, he told me they had not.

We submitted our $2,725,000 offer with an expiration later that day.

The deadline passed without a decision.

We agreed to give the seller more time after the listing agent said they planned to make a decision the following day.

He later told me the seller had chosen an offer with a higher price.

The property eventually sold for $2,730,000.

That was just $5,000 more than our offer.

But the listing agent never came back to us to see whether my clients would increase their price.

They would have.

So the seller accepted $2,730,000 without ever knowing whether another buyer was willing to pay more.

That’s the danger.

When a listing agent hides an offer, the seller can lose the opportunity to use that buyer’s interest to negotiate a higher price.

6. Lie about a competing offer

A real estate agent who lies about a competing offer is trying to create FOMO (fear of missing out).

Either the buyer’s agent or the listing agent can play this game.

Here’s how this typically unfolds…

The buyer’s agent knows their client is very interested in the house.

They contact the listing agent to find out what’s happening with the property.

Part of that conversation is finding out whether the seller has any offers.

The trick starts when the buyer’s agent tells their client there’s a competing offer, even though the listing agent said there aren’t any.

The buyer is trusting that their agent is honest and will help guide their offer strategy.

But the complete opposite is happening.

It’s a full-court press on the buyer’s emotions, exploiting their desire to own the home.

That doesn’t mean every conversation about another offer is a trick.

The seller may genuinely have a competing offer — or several of them.

The red flag is when your agent uses pressure to get you to increase your offer without giving you a specific reason to believe the competition is real.

This is how buyers end up offering a price much higher than what the seller would have accepted. 

Sometimes this occurs because the listing agent falsely tells the buyer’s agent that there are other offers, even when there are none.

How can you protect yourself?

Ask your buyer’s agent to get the listing agent’s response about other offers in writing.

That won’t guarantee the information is truthful, but it creates a written record of what both agents are saying.

7. Steer you away from homes offering less commission

A buyer’s agent should help you find the right house.

Not steer you toward the one that makes it easiest for them to get paid.

Some agents let their commission influence which properties they encourage their clients to see.

Here’s how this can happen…

Buyer-agent compensation is no longer displayed in the MLS.

So when a buyer is interested in a home, their agent typically contacts the listing agent to ask whether the seller is offering a commission to the buyer’s agent.

And if so, how much.

A shady agent suddenly has a financial incentive to steer their client toward another property if the seller is offering less than what the buyer’s agent expects to be paid.

And the buyer may never know why.

The agent might discourage them from seeing the home.

They might suddenly point out reasons why the property isn’t right for them.

Or they may steer you toward another house where their expected compensation is easier to collect.

Your agent’s compensation should never determine which homes you get the opportunity to consider.

So how can you protect yourself?

If you’re interested in a property, tell your agent you want to see it.

Then ask them to contact the listing agent and find out exactly what, if anything, the seller is willing to offer toward buyer-agent compensation.

This puts the compensation issue out in the open before your agent has an opportunity to quietly steer you somewhere else.

And if the seller isn’t offering enough to cover what you agreed to pay your agent, that doesn’t automatically mean you should walk away from the house.

You can decide whether to ask the seller to contribute toward your agent’s compensation as part of your offer.

The important thing is that you get to make that decision.

Not your agent.

How to protect yourself from tricks agents play

The best way to protect yourself is to understand when an agent’s financial interests could influence the advice they give you.

That’s the common thread behind every trick on this list.

These situations happen when an agent can benefit financially from the decision they’re recommending.

Knowing where those conflicts can happen makes them much easier to spot.

And one of the best ways to protect yourself is to properly vet an agent before you hire them.

But don’t just look at their reviews and sales numbers.

Look at how often they represent both sides of a transaction, how they explain their recommendations, and whether they’re transparent about anything that could financially benefit them.

If you’re selling, this is exactly why we use a strict agent screening process before matching a seller with a listing agent.

A good agent won’t trick you into doing what’s best for them.