It's your realtor's responsibility to provide you with the best information in order for you to make the most prudent decisions as a buyer or seller.
If you're a buyer and you have a serious interest in a home, your realtor will pull up current market information for that home so that you can decide what offer to make. As an example, if your realtor can show that the offer price is right in line with current market value, and there are multiple offers on the property, DON'T insist on writing below list price because you read somewhere in a paper that foreclosures are flooding the market or that your sister-in-law bought there home three years ago and used a different approach.
If that's the case, then why didn't you hire your sister in law to help you purchase a home? Or the editorial writer of that article you read in the paper - perhaps he/she is available to help you purchase your home?
If you're a seller and your realtor pulls up current comparable sales in your neighborhood, DON'T insist on listing it significantly above market value because your Uncle Gooch sold his house 3 years ago and made a huge profit, or don't take the approach that foreclosures and short sales have nothing to do with your home because those are just "different".
If you have a toothache, do you hire your Uncle Gooch or your sister-in-law or your best friend to extract your tooth?
No. You hire someone who is qualified, and you trust their expertise.
Get real. Be real. And you will end up under par every time.
