There is a natural tendency for me to want to compliment a home before I leave simply because I want to be polite. However, I have often wondered whether complimenting a home could potentially be used against me.
While I have never had this happen to me personally, there are a couple instances that I can imagine where a compliment may be used against me. Suppose, for example, that I tell the homeowner that they have a lovely home, but then report a value that was lower than they were expecting. I sometimes worry that they may say something along the lines of, “He told me that my home was lovely and then reported a value that did not reflect that statement.” I also worry that complimenting a home could potentially create a conflict of interest because I am supposed to be an unbiased third party and complimenting the home could appear as though I am taking the side of the homeowner.
Honestly, I don’t have a good answer for this yet, but I would love to hear your opinions on this subject. Perhaps it merely comes down to finding creative ways to compliment the home in a way that won’t be misinterpreted and possibly used against you. What are your thoughts?
For more information on this subject, please listen to The Appraiser Coach Podcast Episode:
