This document outlines 12 ways that homeowners can get ripped off when selling their home and lose equity. These include choosing an unqualified real estate agent, paying the standard 6% commission without negotiating, being unaware of conflicts of interest between agents and sellers, allowing dual agency representation, and paying for unnecessary inspections or services. The document encourages homeowners to educate themselves on these issues in order to preserve their hard-earned equity when selling their home. It advertises a free course called "Introduction to the Intelligent Home Seller" to help sellers avoid these rip-offs.

1. 12Ways to Get Ripped Off
WhenYou SellYour Home

2. You worked hard for
the equity in your home

3. Why give it away so thoughtlessly?

4. When you sell your home, your objective is...

5. ...to keep as much of your equity as possible
...to keep as much of your equity as possible

6. But you probably won’t
You will get ripped off

7. And the worst part is...

8. ...it will be invisible

9. You will get
ripped off AND
you will never
know it

10. You will pocket less money from the sale
of your home than you should, BUT...

11. ...you will think you did just fine

12. The first step to avoiding these rip-offs...

13. ...is to know about them

14. There are (at least) a dozen ways to get
ripped off when you sell your home

15. And it is doubtful you know about ALL of them

16. Make sure you understand them all

17. Or your hard-earned equity...

18. ...is going
into
someone
else’s bank
account

19. 1 You Will Choose a Lousy Real
Estate Agent
Studies* show two thirds of home sellers only speak
with one agent before selecting one. The reason?
Most home sellers have no idea how to tell a good one
from a bad one so why bother interviewing them.
You are going to hire a temp employee and pay them
$10K or $20K or $30K to sell your home. You should
know how to tell a good one from a lousy one.
*Citation

20. 2 You Think Paying a Real Estate
Agent 6% Commission is the
Only Choice You Have
Paying a 6% commission to sell your home is THE most
expensive way to sell your home. Other options, such
as flat fee and fee-for-service, will save you a lot of
money. You should not be afraid to consider them.
If you do insist on using a percentage-based
commission, at the very least you should negotiate a
substantially lower rate.

21. 3 You Will Pay Too Much
Commission Because You Have
No Idea How to Negotiate
If you are like most home sellers, you will invite an agent
into your home to give you a listing presentation.
Towards the end you will feebly attempt to get them to
come down on their commission, but at that point it is too
late. Your window for negotiating has already closed.
Nothing will preserve your home equity better than
understanding how to effectively negotiate a lower
commission with your agent.

22. 4 You Will Pay Too Much
Commission Because You
Believe the Big Lie
What is the Big Lie? You get what you pay for. Not true.
Research* conducted by Consumer Reports found...
Sellers who paid 3% were just as satisfied as those
who paid 6%.
Paying less did not hurt the quality of service.
Those who paid 6% were more likely to have regrets
about the selling process.
*Citation

23. 5 You Will Unwittingly Give a Big
Chunk of Your Equity to the Buyer
Today, it is not uncommon* for buyer’s agents to give a
portion of their commission (which you pay for) to their
buyer. This helps them attract buyers, but does not do
a thing to sell your home.
This is wasted money, and effectively lowers the
selling price of your home. You need to have a
strategy for how to keep that money for yourself. After
all, it’s yours.
*Citation

24. 6 You Do Not Understand the
Conflicts of Interest Between
You and Your Agent
It is called the Principal-Agent Problem and it causes
good agents to give sellers bad advice. Research*
conducted by two Stanford professors found that agents
distort information to mislead clients. It explains why
agents sell their own homes for 3.7% more than the
sellers they represent.
Smart home sellers know how to eliminate, or at least
reduce, the Principal-Agent Problem.
*Citation

25. 7 You Have No Idea What a Pocket
Listing is
A Pocket Listing is when your agent keeps your listing
off the local MLS (Multiple Listing Service). They do
this so they can keep the buyer’s agent’s commission.
Research* by San Francisco real estate agents found
that pocket listings, by severely limiting the home’s
exposure, can cost home sellers as much as
$200,000.
*Citation

26. 8 You Will Allow Your Agent to
Function as a Dual Agent
Dual Agency is when your agent also represents the
buyer. You may not think it is a problem, but the consumer
advocate group CAARE calls dual agency “The Biggest
Consumer Scam in Real Estate*.”
Research** conducted at Cornell University found that
dual agency homes sold for 8% less. That equates to
$24K on a $300,000 home.
*Citation
**Citation

27. 9 You Will Pay for a Pre-listing Home
Inspection
Some real estate agents will try to convince you to pay
for a pre-listing home inspection in the hope that you
will fix any problems that it uncovers. Fixing all the
problems certainly makes the agent’s job of selling your
home easier.
Unfortunately, a pre-listing home inspection can never
save you money—it can only cost you money. Save
your money and let the buyer pay for it. After all, it
benefits them to find hidden problems, not you.

28. 10 You Will Pay for the Buyer’s
Home Warranty
Buyers benefit from a home warranty. Why should the
seller pay for it? Because they provide secret
incentives for real estate agents. Many Realtor
Associations now include a check box for buyers to
select on the purchase agreement requiring the seller
to pay for a home warranty as part of the transaction.
You do not have to agree to this.
Visit RipOffReport.com to see all the problems with
home warranties.

29. 11You Have No Idea How to
Combat Buyer Steering
In the event you negotiate a less-than-customary
commission (i.e., 6%), some agents representing
buyers will actually try to steer their buyers away from
seeing your home in an effort to punish you for offering
such a commission. And less traffic generally means a
lower sale price.
Even though this behavior is a violation of the Realtor
code of ethics, research* conducted at the University of
Chicago confirms that buyer steering does exist.
*Citation

30. 12 You Will Use Service Providers
Affiliated With Your Agent
By using title and escrow services owned or affiliated
with your agent, not only do you forfeit the opportunity
to shop for a better price, but you destroy the integrity
of these vital checks and balances.
Research* indicates that these affiliated service
providers lead to market manipulation and artificial
price increases that cost consumers in one state an
estimated $100 million.
*Citation

31. So, now
that you
know
about
these
rip offs

32. What will you do to combat them?

33. How about some education?

34. I will teach you
how easy it is to
preserve your equity

35. At a FREE mini course called…

36. Introduction to
The Intelligent Home Seller

37. To register...

38. Go to End Of Six Percent
I’m Carl Weisman and
I help home sellers preserve their hard-earned equity
Why do I do that?
I’m sick and tired of home sellers being intimidated into
squandering away their equity due to an abundance of fear and a
lack of education