Inflated Realtor Claims

Does one sale make you an “area specialist”?

That’s the claim being made by a Coldwell Banker Burnet agent who just sold a home about a block from where I live near Cedar Lake in Minneapolis.

The agent’s flyer, which was just left on my door, trumpets “Just Sold” above a photo of the home, with “Cedar Lake Specialist” beneath the agent’s headshot.

Neighborhood Specialist . . . Everywhere

The agent, who represented the Buyer, is trying to capitalize on the sale. Nothing wrong with that — Realtors do it all the time.

However, wouldn’t a “Cedar Lake Specialist” logically work out of CBB’s Minneapolis Lakes office, just a few blocks away?

Or at least Burnet’s Minneapolis Parkway office, a few miles southeast but still close to the lakes?

Nah.

In small type, the agent’s flyer indicates that he’s in Burnet’s Edina Regional Office, a good 10 miles south (and a lot closer to Bloomington than Cedar Lake, Lake Calhoun, etc.)

How much do you want to bet that this agent is soliciting business in Bloomington, Eden Prairie, etc. claiming to be a “neighborhood specialist” in those areas, too?

About the author

Ross Kaplan has 19+ years experience selling real estate all over the Twin Cities. He is also a 12-time consecutive "Super Real Estate Agent," as determined by Mpls. - St. Paul Magazine and Twin Cities Business Magazine. Prior to becoming a Realtor, Ross was an attorney (corporate law), CPA, and entrepreneur. He holds an economics degree from Stanford.

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