An agent knocks on your door or phones you out of the blue saying he has a buyer for your house. Should you believe him? My advice is take this with a grain of salt. MOST of the time this will not be true and it will merely be an agent trying to secure your listing or at the very least get a listing appointment. If you invite them into your home to evaluate your property there’s a good chance their fictitious buyer will never actually materialize and you’ll quickly find this out when you go to list your home. I’ve actually seen it on occasion when another agent in their office will pose as the Buyer. Totally unethical! However, occasionally there actually could be a buyer for your home. On occasion I’ve sold homes and have had calls from buyers during the conditional period asking me to keep them informed if the buyer backs out for any reason. In that case if I had a similar model home in the same area I would have a potential buyer for that home. Here’s another thing to consider that most people don’t even think about. If an agent knocks on your door and says she has a legitimate buyer for your property and you end up selling to this buyer, make sure you are very well educated before signing on the bottom line. Remember the agent is representing HER client, not you so she is trying her best to negotiate the best price and conditions for her client, not you. If you haven’t done your due diligence you may end up selling for less. Sure you’ve benefited from the convenience factor and may have saved a bit of commission but if you’ve left thousands of dollars on the table you’ve actually done yourself a disservice. You must expose your home to the largest buyer pool possible. If you sell to this one person and don’t test the market and let other buyers see the home, you may be missing out on a potential bidding war. Make sure you keep this in mind too.