How to recognise genuine professionals… and unmask those who seek listings through deception
In the property market there is a profound difference between professional consultants, who work with method, data and responsibility, and those who instead seek listings through shortcuts, false promises or outright deception.
For an inexperienced client, it is not always easy to tell the two apart. And yet, the choice of estate agent is decisive: it affects the final return, the time it takes to sell, the quality of the negotiations and, above all, the peace of mind with which you go through a financial and personal step of great value.
One rule, however, never fails: an agent’s initial behaviour tells you exactly how they will behave for the entire duration of the mandate. Those who start with a lie will keep building lies. Those who start with seriousness, transparency and verifiable data will keep the same approach right up to the sale.
Below we look at the most common “3 traps” used by unprofessional agents and, above all, how to protect yourself.
1. THE INFLATED PRICE
The promise that wastes time, opportunities… and real money
Let me tell you about something that happened just a few weeks ago. I received a mandate to sell and carried out what I consider the foundation of my work: an accurate comparative market analysis, based on real data.
I identified three recent sales in the same area, with characteristics identical to the property being valued. I had personally sold one of them a few months earlier. The sale prices? Between €260,000 and €280,000. I presented my valuation to the owner, together with all the evidence needed to support it: I brought with me the most recent notarial deeds, certified values per square metre, an accurate analysis of real demand and a photographic and documentary comparison of the properties already sold. In this way, the owner could clearly understand the complete picture of the market and the reasons behind the proposed valuation.
And then “the other agents” arrive
A few days go by. The client tells me that two other agents have viewed the property. The first suggests €320,000. The second goes even higher: €350,000.
A question naturally comes to mind, and you should ask it too: Based on what logic? What data? What deeds? What comparisons?
Because when I make a valuation, the figures I present are not made-up numbers. They are the result of technical work: real deeds, completed sales, verifiable parameters. They, on the other hand, simply make promises.
They do it by playing on psychological leverage.
And this is where the trap lies: promising a higher price means exploiting your enthusiasm.
It is a technique as old as the property market itself: inflating the price to get you to sign the mandate, not to actually sell.
Then, inevitably, after a few weeks or months, the same phone call always comes:
“We tried, but we didn’t manage it. We need to lower the price.”
And by then you are already caught up in the mechanism. You have already listed the property, you have already placed your trust in them, you have signed with them and you have already lost precious time. And you are, in effect, trapped in a process built on the wrong promise, not on the right strategy.
Why the initial price is decisive
Because starting with a price that is out of line with the market is not just a “test”. It is a choice that, from the very first moment, risks burning out the interest of qualified potential buyers, lengthening the time it takes to sell and exposing the property to a loss of perceived value that becomes difficult to recover. It means ending up chasing the market instead of staying ahead of it.
The key principle
When a professional starts with an unrealistic promise, they are showing you exactly how they will behave for the rest of the negotiation: with improvisation, not method. With illusions, not data. With words, not results.
And if a professional relationship is born out of a distortion of the truth, it is almost impossible for it to produce a sound, effective and advantageous result for you.
2. “WE ALREADY HAVE A BUYER LINED UP”
This is a phrase many owners hear over and over again. It sounds reassuring, it creates the illusion of an immediate market, it gives the impression that the property is as good as sold. But, in practice, it has no real value.
Every agency, large or small, has its own internal database. Some have more up-to-date lists, others larger ones, others still more disorganised ones. But the truth is that the right buyers are not found in a database: they are found through the right marketing strategy, the right communication and a precise analysis of the property’s positioning on the market.
Anyone who says “we already have a buyer” is not bringing a real offer. They are using bait.
Because if there really were a buyer ready to purchase, logic (if your intention is to sell at the highest price) would call for another question: “Why stop at the first offer, when you could reach an entire audience?”
Today the property market rewards competition. The more people see the property, the more interest grows, and the greater the chances not only of selling… but of selling well, on the best terms.
Accepting the first buyer who is “already lined up” means limiting the potential, switching the market off before it has even been switched on.
It is like putting a precious work of art up for sale and showing it to just one person: they may well buy it, but how will you know whether you have achieved the best result?
An authoritative agent does not aim for the quickest solution. They aim for the best one.
They reach a wide audience, generate visibility, create desire and encourage competition. That is why I always say: it is not whoever arrives first who wins. The winner is whoever brings the best terms, the best guarantees and the best price.
The secret to achieving a record sale is the buyer’s perception that they are not the only one interested.
And I don’t mean the classic salesperson’s line: “Hurry up, madam, because someone else is coming tomorrow” – that is just nonsense.
What I mean is the consultant’s ability to manage the sales process so that the buyer tangibly perceives that there is real competition.
We do this through a precise process, which starts with the client’s first contact to view the home and ends on the day of the Open House, with the handover of the information pack for the purchase offer. Now, this is not the article in which to go into sales strategies and techniques in depth, and I don’t want to stray from the main topic. But if you really want to understand how I work, how I achieve results and what methods I use, you can do something very simple: search for Adriano Feduzi on Google.
You will find reviews, verifiable case studies, articles, technical content and interviews that transparently describe my professional approach.
And if you are passionate about real estate or want to improve your skills as an owner or investor, I invite you to read my book CA$A DA RECORD, available on Amazon. It is a concentrate of method, strategy and real results, designed precisely for those who want to sell at the highest price, quickly and without surprises.
3. “ZERO COMMISSION FOR THE SELLER”
At first glance, this offer may seem attractive. Many see it as an immediate advantage: “I don’t pay anything, so I save money.” In reality, this is one of the riskiest traps in the world of property sales.
When an agent tells you that they will not charge you any fee, it is important that you understand a fundamental concept: if they are not working for you, then they are working for someone else. And in a property negotiation, the “someone else” is always the buyer.
Now, let me ask you a simple, direct question: a professional who will be paid only by the buyer – whose interests will they really protect? The answer is obvious. And it is not in your favour.
Personally, the mere idea of entrusting the sale of a property – an asset that often represents a lifetime’s savings – to someone who works for me for free sends shivers down my spine. Not because of bad faith. But because it is a matter of logic.
Because if an agent cannot place value on their own work, if they are unable to stand by and defend their fee, how can they stand by and defend the value of your home, which is immensely more important?
The fee is not an expense. The fee is the guarantee that the professional sits on your side of the table, represents your interests and negotiates for you, not against you.
That is why I urge you to be cautious. “Free” offers are often the most expensive: they save you money straight away, but make you lose much more when it really matters, at the time of the negotiation.
Be careful.