The real estate industry has changed a great deal over the last decade. It use to be that newspaper and local home magazines were a good way to market a home for sale. But in today’s world, with over 80% of buyers starting their search on line, things have changed.

Agents have figured out that the internet is the best place to go to find buyers and sellers. An entirely new segment of the real estate industry has been created. Self proclaimed real estate gurus are selling systems to agents that have been tried and tweaked over the last 10 years. These systems are designed to drive traffic to agent’s websites with sensational offers like “Sell Your Home in 30 Days, or I’ll Buy It”.

Is this real or a scam? My opinion is that while these offers, especially in today’s buyer’s market, are real, sellers need to be forewarned of the inevitable “fine print”. From what I have seen, most of these offers come with big strings attached. The agent will buy your home if she/he does not sell in in 30 days, but the buy out price is agreed to up front and usually for a lot less than fair market value, or the seller has to agree to buy one of the agent’s current other listings.  

Don’t get fooled by sensational advertising whether it’s in the paper, on a postcard, or on the internet. As the old adage goes, “There’s no such thing as a FREE lunch”. For great real estate information in Collin County Texas, go to http://www.collincountyrealestate.info/ .