A client recently called about listing his villa; I was up front and told him what was on the market and that the real estate market was very slow and if he would want to sell he would need to price the villa at a price it would sell.

I noticed sometime later that the villa was listed by another agent and this is someone I had dealt with before that I had a good relationship with. 

The next time I talked to him he said that the reason he picked the other agent was because I was not very positive.

I told him that I thought he misunderstood my realistic view of the market as being negative.  I am the most positive guy in the world.  I work straight commission and I have sold more than anyone so I believe in Hilton Head Island.  I was just being up front with him about what the price of his villa was at this time and he interpreted this to mean that I did not like his villa and I was negative. 

I am sure there are a lot of Realtors out there that will tell people what they want to hear.  In our business, we call that “buying a listing”.  In other words, you have 0% chance of selling it, but you got the listing because you told them everything they wanted to hear and not the truth.

I have always built my business on the truth – even if it hurts.  It is very painful for me to explain to someone that their property on Hilton Head is not worth what they thought it was worth, or in some cases, what they paid for it.  I made a commitment to always be truthful and upfront, even if it hurts, and believe me, sometimes it does.

This probably won’t be the first time this happens, nor will it be the last, but I think it is important for all of us to realize that we really need to look at the market and be realistic about the value of our property on Hilton Head Island.