Key takeaways
Agents hold a legally binding contract with the seller, not the buyer — their priority is to achieve the highest price for the seller.
Many buyers withhold true budgets or shift their criteria, which leads agents to conclude “buyers are liars”.
Buyers act cautiously because of rising mistrust in the industry — it’s not necessarily malicious deceit.
The phrase “sellers are swindlers” isn’t directly used, but sellers’ agents may appear conflicted because their primary duty is to the vendor.
Buyers who feel disadvantaged in the process often assume collateral damage by the agent, fueling suspicion of unethical behaviour.
Despite aggressive reputations, the industry is regulated and agents are audited — the issue often lies in misconception rather than actual deception.
One effective way to level the playing field is for buyers to engage a specialist buyer’s agent (especially an ex-selling-agent) who understands how selling agents operate.
Have you ever walked out of a property inspection feeling like you weren’t getting the full story?
Or perhaps you’ve wondered why an agent treats every buyer with a healthy dose of scepticism? In real estate, there’s an old saying that gets thrown around far too easily: “buyers are liars and sellers are swindlers.”
It’s a catchy line, but it also reveals something deeper about the mistrust that runs through the buying and selling process.
The truth is less about deception and more about human behaviour, conflicting incentives, and the emotional pressure cooker that buying a home or investment can become.
Buyers often hold their cards close because they don’t want to be played. Agents push hard because they’re legally and financially tied to the seller. And somewhere in the middle, confusion and suspicion thrive.
But if you peel back the clichés, you’ll find that most of the friction isn’t caused by dishonesty at all - it comes from misunderstandings, mismatched expectations, and a lack of strategy.
And once you understand how the game really works, you place yourself in a far stronger negotiating position.
I’ve been in the real estate industry a very long time – at least, long enough to know how the game works.
For some people, real estate agents rank in their Top 10 Most Untrustworthy People, up there with car salespeople and cold-callers offering free iPads along with a too-good-to-be-true phone contract.
Their job is to be the referee between the buyer and the seller – finding the perfect property for the buyer whilst working to get the best price for the seller – but they’re often regarded with more than a small measure of caution.
Why?
Because their motives and ethics are not always clear.
That said, there are rules to the game that can help you to navigate the process of buying real estate.
The only downside is that unfortunately, not everyone is aware of them all.
Note: Many buyers don’t understand that real estate agents have a legally binding contract with the seller, not the buyer. Their job (and their moral obligation) is to get the best price for the property to fulfil their contract.
I’ll say this again because it’s vitally important: a real estate agent’s ultimate interest and loyalty lies with the seller because they have been contracted to sell the property for that owner.
Once an agent has secured the listing to sell a property, they must make every effort to sell it for the best possible price.
How do they sell it for the best price?
By showing the property to potential buyers who are a good fit for the home.
Sure, the prospective purchaser is also a customer who they hope will buy the property, but their interest is first and foremost in getting the best outcome for the seller, who pays their commission.The misconception that a real estate agent is impartial and is working just as hard to land the buyer a great deal as they are on selling a property has left a sour taste in the mouths of many buyers.
They walk away from the bidding process feeling hard done by and frustrated at missing out.
And more often than not, the blame falls squarely on the ‘greedy’ real estate agent.
In turn, this has led to a largely false impression that agents are untrustworthy and dishonest.
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Note: The truth is that in the majority of cases, agents will work with both parties to find a home for the buyer and a sale for the seller.
And while they must fulfil their contract with the seller to assist in selling their property for the best price possible in the prevailing market, from a pure perspective of logistics, they need buyers in order to do their job.
However, the snowball effect of this growing mistrust has led to the birth of a term known commonly amongst real estate agents, but not widely known to the public.
This saying is…
Buyers are liars
The term is a little misleading (and probably offensive, if you don’t know what it really means!), so let me explain.
When buyers are looking to purchase a property, they usually have a checklist of criteria they’d like to tick off for their ideal purchase.
Whether they’re shopping for their own home or an investment, they generally know their preferred locality, number of bedrooms, land size and required features and fittings.
They’re also being guided by their own budget, meaning they have a maximum purchase price in mind.
Real estate agents do their best to show buyers properties that fulfil these criteria.
But what agents tend to see are buyers who change their minds about their budget and property needs, or who hold back from telling the agent what they really want or their true budget, leaving the agent confused about what the buyer really wants.
Thus, they conclude that “buyers are liars”.
Why are buyers behaving this way?
The surge in suspicion of real estate agents has led buyers to feel they can’t be honest and upfront when searching for a property.
The word ‘liars’ is a little erroneous, but it’s a catchy little rhyme.
And it does express how real estate salespeople feel when they can’t point a buyer to the right property, because the buyer is playing their cards too close to their chest.
Note: What’s not generally known is that the real estate industry is heavily regulated and frequently audited.
These laws have been instituted in response to the perception that agents are ‘swindling’ buyers and using unethical tactics.
And the good news is that they ensure agents are well aware of the need to keep things above board and legal.
If you’re looking to purchase property, for yourself or as an investment, a good way to circumnavigate the confusion is to appoint a buyer’s agent.
They kick the goals for you, finding the right properties and taking care of the negotiations all the way through to the final settlement.
They act on your behalf, and because they are expert players in the real estate game, they can help you find a good deal in the market.
I’ve found the best buyer's agents are ex-selling agents, so they know how to deal with them and level the playing field.
