Tampa Bay Times Once Again Tries To Give Real Estate Agents A Black Eye
The Tampa Bay Times has once again published an article designed to create feelings of mistrust among the public toward real estate agents and brokerages.
This is not the first time that the newspaper has done this. I suspect it will not be the last.
In Sunday's HomeLink Section, page 1, the main headline warns buyers to beware of "real estate speak". It advises buyers to "Be on the lookout for certain catchphrases that may signal an agent is being a little too creative."
The article goes on to quote out of state real estate agents who tell stories about how some of their local real estate agents have played fast and loose with the facts when describing property conditions in an effort to hide expensive repair problems with houses. The story describes how agents also use little more than code words to describe property conditions -- like saying a very small house is "cozy", or saying a house that merely has new appliances offers a "completely remodeled kitchen".
This is the kind of misleading story you get when a newspaper does not have a staff writer or editor who really knows anything about real estate except the median prices and number of sales from last month. If the Times had anyone on staff who held a real estate license, or who ever sold real estate for a living in Florida before turning to writing, the Times would not print such a misleading story.
But I guess the Times does not have such a qualified person. So instead, they pick up a syndicated story from somebody outside Florida ... somebody who clearly does not know the laws for marketing property in Florida ... somebody who assumes that because real estate is done one way in their state that it is done the same way in every state ... and this small-minded writer pens a story and syndicates it so that a big-city newspaper like the Tampa Bay Times can print it as truthful and send it out to upwards of a million people on Sunday morning.
Look, I don't know how real estate agents work in other states. But I do know how they work in Florida. And Florida, my friends, has some very strict rules about misleading the public about property conditions. If an agent or a seller knows that there is some kind of problem that will affect the value of a property or make it less than desirable, they must -- repeat, MUST -- disclose the problem. There ain't no weasel-wording about it. No cutesy phraseology to mislead the public is allowed. Sellers are required to complete a written property disclosure form that asks some pretty pointed questions about the condition of the property being sold, and to falsify that disclosure would be to open up a whole bunch of lawsuits for the seller and probably the agent.
If the Tampa Bay Times had written an article describing how the practices of Florida real estate agents protect buyers from unscrupulous sellers and agents by requiring full and complete disclosure, then I would think the newspaper was doing a good thing.
But when all they can do is pick-up a syndicated story warning the public to beware of "real estate speak", then I think the paper is doing a disservice to all those honest agents who do their best to deal honestly and in good faith in what has become a very tough business. Moreover, the paper does a disservice to all those subscribers who believe that since it appears in the Times, it has to be true.
Scare tactics like this on the part of the Tampa Bay Times do nothing to improve the real estate business nor the relationship between buyers, sellers and agents in these transactions. I realize that improving relationships between these parties is not the job of the Times, but that then begs the question: Is making the relationship worse part of their job?
Oh, by the way, the Times can send their apology to all the real estate agents to me via email. I'll make sure all the agents get a copy. But the best thing the Times could do is hire a real estate writer who actually knows something about real estate!
This is not the first time that the newspaper has done this. I suspect it will not be the last.
In Sunday's HomeLink Section, page 1, the main headline warns buyers to beware of "real estate speak". It advises buyers to "Be on the lookout for certain catchphrases that may signal an agent is being a little too creative."
The article goes on to quote out of state real estate agents who tell stories about how some of their local real estate agents have played fast and loose with the facts when describing property conditions in an effort to hide expensive repair problems with houses. The story describes how agents also use little more than code words to describe property conditions -- like saying a very small house is "cozy", or saying a house that merely has new appliances offers a "completely remodeled kitchen".
This is the kind of misleading story you get when a newspaper does not have a staff writer or editor who really knows anything about real estate except the median prices and number of sales from last month. If the Times had anyone on staff who held a real estate license, or who ever sold real estate for a living in Florida before turning to writing, the Times would not print such a misleading story.
But I guess the Times does not have such a qualified person. So instead, they pick up a syndicated story from somebody outside Florida ... somebody who clearly does not know the laws for marketing property in Florida ... somebody who assumes that because real estate is done one way in their state that it is done the same way in every state ... and this small-minded writer pens a story and syndicates it so that a big-city newspaper like the Tampa Bay Times can print it as truthful and send it out to upwards of a million people on Sunday morning.
Look, I don't know how real estate agents work in other states. But I do know how they work in Florida. And Florida, my friends, has some very strict rules about misleading the public about property conditions. If an agent or a seller knows that there is some kind of problem that will affect the value of a property or make it less than desirable, they must -- repeat, MUST -- disclose the problem. There ain't no weasel-wording about it. No cutesy phraseology to mislead the public is allowed. Sellers are required to complete a written property disclosure form that asks some pretty pointed questions about the condition of the property being sold, and to falsify that disclosure would be to open up a whole bunch of lawsuits for the seller and probably the agent.
If the Tampa Bay Times had written an article describing how the practices of Florida real estate agents protect buyers from unscrupulous sellers and agents by requiring full and complete disclosure, then I would think the newspaper was doing a good thing.
But when all they can do is pick-up a syndicated story warning the public to beware of "real estate speak", then I think the paper is doing a disservice to all those honest agents who do their best to deal honestly and in good faith in what has become a very tough business. Moreover, the paper does a disservice to all those subscribers who believe that since it appears in the Times, it has to be true.
Scare tactics like this on the part of the Tampa Bay Times do nothing to improve the real estate business nor the relationship between buyers, sellers and agents in these transactions. I realize that improving relationships between these parties is not the job of the Times, but that then begs the question: Is making the relationship worse part of their job?
Oh, by the way, the Times can send their apology to all the real estate agents to me via email. I'll make sure all the agents get a copy. But the best thing the Times could do is hire a real estate writer who actually knows something about real estate!
-30-
posted by Terry Ward at 8:36 AM
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