I've never been sure what determines a white lie from a straight out lie. Maybe it isn't so much of a lie, more of a half-truth? So if something is half-true, what would the other half be?
So, in real estate for example, is it alright to tell a white lie? Is telling people in a property advertisement that a "wooded creek" runs through the back of the property, when it is actually a drainage ditch? Or a "bubbling brook"? Does the average person not know the difference? I guess they wouldn't if they didn't live there. But why wouldn't the agent know? Even an agent that didn't live in the town, wouldn't they have done some research so they could be sure to be accurate in their descriptions? You would hope so.
I just had to know so I looked up the definition of "white lie". It said "an unimportant lie, especially one told to be tactful or polite." So going by that definition, telling people white lies about a property is being polite or tactful? Maybe the buyer wouldn't want to know the babbling brook is a drainage ditch so you are being polite and telling them it is something else?
I don't think so, I think that telling someone something about the property that is an out and out lie is misleading and meant to be misleading. I don't think the person who wrote the advertisment was just trying to be polite. I think they were lying and trying to embellish the property to sound better than it was. I don't think it was a white lie, offwhite lie, or a half truth. I think it was a blazing lie, meant to misrepresent the property.
There are all kinds of people in all kinds of business in this world. Be sure you work with real estate agents who hold to a CODE OF ETHICS. Like they say, not all agents are REALTORS and not all REALTORS are ethical. So be careful out there.
Mary Welch Broker/Owner Preferred Choice Realty of Harper Kansas
Member Wichita Area Association of REALTORS, Kansas Association of REALTORS, National Association of REALTORS
"You have alot of choices in Real estate, make a good one."