Selling a property fully furnished is fairly common in vacation-home markets, where a house without furnishings can become a chore for buyers rather than an immediate retreat. But it's probably not a smart decision most anywhere else.

In the popular Colorado ski town of Crested Butte, furnished listings are expected, reports Briggs Freeman Sotheby's agent Shelle Carrig. "Vacant homes always take longer to sell unless there is a noticeable price incentive," she said in a piece for Inman.com.

That's not the case in Dallas, where "very few homes" are sold with their original furnishings, says Lucy Johnson, a Briggs Freeman Sotheby's executive. Most buyers want to put their own touch on a new place, she told Inman.

Indeed, it's highly likely that wannabe buyers will simply scroll past any place listed as "fully furnished" when they peruse the market. Even when the idea is intriguing, they're not likely to give a property much thought unless the furnishings are up to date.

"Furnishings that aren't on trend and fresh can prevent some prospective buyers from seeing the underlying positive attributes of any home," Johnson warns.

Then there's the matter of cost. In Florida, where thousands of houses and apartments are sold full of furniture, plates, silverware, pictures and sometimes even towels and sheets, many sellers believe that offering their properties "turnkey" adds value and justifies a higher price.

But some buyers may not see it that way, says Christopher Carter of the Waterfront Realty Group in Naples. Carter is also a mortgage broker and writes a popular blog about Florida real estate. "In most buyers' minds, furnished real estate asking prices already reflect added cost, which they may or may not be willing to pay," he wrote on his blog.

Beyond all this, selling a furnished house tends to complicate the transaction -- in more ways than one. Consider sales taxes, for example.

In most places, sales tax is not levied on the sale of a house. (There are transfer taxes and other fees, just not a sales tax, usually.) But furnishings sold with a house are considered tangible personal property. As such, says Carter, they are taxable.

If the contract, or an addendum to it, mentions the personal property remaining in the house, the seller may be responsible for collecting and remitting the tax, Carter points out. In Florida, that's 6% of its value. Some sellers' agents "unknowingly create a taxable situation when they attach a written inventory" to the contract, he warns.

But whether there is an itemized list or not, the value of the furnishings could very well become part of the property's assessed value. Consequently, the buyer's property taxes could be higher than they need to be. More important, the buyer's lender is probably going to look askance at the deal, and the appraiser will want a say, as well.

Carter points out that lenders lend funds for real estate, not personal property. So if the contract includes furnishings, the lender is going to either send back the borrower's application or deny it altogether.

Why? The house is a permanent structure that stands as the collateral behind the mortgage. "Houses and condos usually stay where they were when purchased," he says, "which is not always the case with couches, beds, dressers and lanai lounge chairs."

It's OK to list items like ceiling fans, light fixtures and draperies that are attached to the property and staying put. Ditto for major kitchen and laundry appliances: Even though they are removable, they usually convey unless the contract states otherwise.

But if the contract lists wall hangings and a golf cart, "the buyer's lender will red-flag the contract and make everyone start over," writes Carter.

"Even when specific or itemized value is not given to the personal property, mentioning it at all in a written real estate contract artificially raises the inferred property value," which lenders won't allow, Carter says. The result: unnecessary delays that neither party wants.

There's also going to be an issue with the appraisal. Appraisers are trained to remove the value of any personal property mentioned in the contract when coming up with a valuation. That is, they must subtract personal property from the agreed-upon sales price -- which, of course, means a lower appraisal.

If the house doesn't appraise for enough, three things can happen: The buyer will have to come up with more cash for a down payment, the seller will have to lower the price to make up the difference, or the buyer and seller can throw up their hands and walk away.

The better way to handle selling a furnished house is to sell the house separately from the furnishings. Place a price on each that will add up to what you wanted for them together. Then the buyer can either pay cash for the furnishings or choose to finance both -- the house with a mortgage and the furnishings with a personal loan.

"The check is in the mail" is one of the great lies of all time. Another is, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help you."

Real estate has its own set of lies, especially among agents who want to list your house for sale. One is, "I can get you a higher price than anyone else." Another: "I have a pool of buyers in my hip pocket who want to buy your house right now."

These and other deceitful statements were laid bare recently in a post on the Inman real estate news service by Carl Medford of Benchmark Properties, a Keller Williams agency in Fremont, California. "There are many more lies out there," he says, "but these are the most common ones I encounter regularly."

Let's dive into them.

-- Higher price. Medford says this tactic, also known as "buying a listing," is complete hooey. Many agents promise to land sellers a high price -- higher than any other agent can bring -- just to obtain the listing. But this is usually just false hope.

A few weeks later, when the property hasn't drawn much, if any, attention from buyers, the agent will say the price has to be lowered. But lowering a price often stains a listing: It tells savvy buyers and their agents that you need to sell, and that you might even go lower.

The better way is to price the house realistically in the first place. In a hot market, if your house is any good, buyers will flock to it -- and probably bid up the price anyway. "The truth is, buyers are the ones who actually determine prices, not sellers or their agents," Medford says.

So ask the agents you're considering to prepare a comprehensive market analysis that shows what similar houses in your area sold for and what others are currently listed at. You can price your place at the top of that range if it is sure to sell, or shoot for the middle if your house is just so-so.

Then, after you find an agent you like, reevaluate the market just before your listing goes live and price it accordingly.

-- Pool of buyers. Agents telling sellers they have a pocketful of buyers just itching to buy your house is another common tactic that has been used through the years. But it does not serve your interests.

Even if this promise were true -- and it's probably not -- it's better to offer your house to the entire homebuying universe by entering it into the local multiple listing service. Says Medford: "You will usually get the best offers by going live on the market and letting everyone out there compete for your home, not just one buyer whom the listing agent controls."

He also makes another important point: If the agent does, indeed, have a buyer lined up, then he or she will be representing both of you. But it's almost impossible to give both sides an even shake. Better to have an agent who represents your interests and yours alone.

-- Better access. Similarly, listing agents like to brag that because they belong to a regional or national chain, they have great access to buyers. But the chances that your eventual buyer comes from that network are slim. Besides, it's not really an advantage.

According to the latest National Association of Realtors report, more than 9 out of 10 recent buyers used the internet to search for homes. For almost half, this was the first step. In contrast, contacting an agent was the first step for only 19% of buyers.

The typical web search entry is something like "houses for sale in (the desired area)" -- not "houses listed on (a particular realty chain's website)." Most franchises do allow visitors to their sites to search for listings anywhere they have offices, but whether buyers use their sites or the MLS, it's likely they will see everything out there.

-- No. 1. Some agents like to boast that they are the top-selling agent in their market. And it's not a bad idea to list with a top seller: He or she is likely getting the job done for clients.

But it's worth asking: top-selling, according to who? Are they the No. 1 agent at their office? In the neighborhood? In the metro area, the state, the country? Document their claims and check out the references.

Try to determine how close their homes' eventual selling prices are to their original listing prices. Does the agent consistently land deals for more than the listing price? Or are they always under -- and if so, by how much? Past performance will help measure the agent's negotiating ability.

-- "I'll buy your house." An agent's promise to buy your house if it doesn't sell isn't necessarily a fib, per se. Many realty brokerages will do that. But the question is, at what price? Is the pledge in writing? And once that price is set, do they actually live up to their part of the bargain?

Here, ask the agent for references and ask those sellers the above questions. Also ask if the agent nickel-and-dimed them for repairs that were never mentioned when the house was first listed.

As part of Uncle Sam's efforts to make housing more affordable, some lenders are starting to accept alternatives to expensive title insurance. But at what price?

The new products -- which include attorney opinion letters, or AOLs -- are sometimes cheaper. But they may not afford the same protections as more expensive title insurance. Among numerous other things, AOLs don't cover undisclosed tax liens, homeowner's association assessments or liens for unpaid child or spousal support.

Nobody disputes the need to make ownership more affordable. But Steve Gottheim, general counsel at the American Land Title Association, says alternatives to title insurance "might be saving (borrowers) a few bucks on the front end, but costing them a lot more money on the back end."

First, a quick primer. Before closing, all lenders order a search of the property records to determine if there is anything to infringe upon the homebuyer's ownership. And they require title insurance to protect against the possibility that the search failed to uncover something that would place a cloud on the title: Perhaps an unrecorded easement allows your neighbor access to the property, for instance, or the previous owner's long-lost heir shows up with a claim to the property. Or maybe a previous deed was forged.

Title insurance protects the lender, not you, in such cases. But you pay for it at closing as part of your settlement costs. At that time, you'll also be asked if you'd like to purchase an additional policy that protects your rights -- including legal assistance, if it comes to that. Together, both policies can cost $1,000 or more, depending on numerous variables.

Roughly 80% of all borrowers opt for an owners' policy, according to ALTA, the trade group for the title business. That's why Fannie Mae recently joined Freddie Mac in accepting AOLs in lieu of title insurance "under limited circumstances."

Fannie and Freddie are government-sponsored enterprises that buy loans from lenders and combine them into securities that are sold to investors. Together, they touch at least half of all mortgages.

It's difficult to get a handle on what AOLs cost. United Wholesale Mortgage recently announced its new Title Review and Closing system, or TRAC, which removes the need for a lender policy altogether. UWM will review the title and closing docs, make sure the title is clear and help facilitate the closing process. The cost: a flat $350.

Meanwhile, vendor SingleSource offers a standardized AOL that it says is scalable and affordable. It charges a flat fee for refinances, and a fraction of the cost of title insurance on purchase money loans.

A closing platform offered by iTitleTransfer runs about $1,500 for a $411,000 loan -- eliminating the need for $3,085 in title coverage and related costs, says Managing Director Theodore Sprink. This platform also extends law firm protections to buyers, sellers and lenders for defects and related issues affecting clear title, he says.

Making comparisons even harder, it's impossible to name an average cost for title insurance because rates depend on state regulations and local jurisdiction rules -- not to mention the amount of the mortgage and the value of the underlying property.

In Massachusetts, a lender's policy on a $250,000 mortgage would run $625, according to Nathan Bossers of Boston National Title. But if the borrower also bought their own policy, the total cost would be $1,088. On a $250,000 house with a $200,000 mortgage, the approximate combined cost of lender's and owner's policies is $1,700 in Texas, $1,350 in Florida and $1,440 in New York, according to ALTA.

The difference in costs can be striking. But in some states, the seller pays for the owner's policy; in other places, the cost of coverage is rolled into the cost of the loan. In those cases, there's no difference at all, except that you end up paying interest on it for as long as the mortgage is in force.

For example, in Florida, where the seller pays for the owner's policy, the buyer pays only a small amount for the lender's coverage -- sometimes far smaller than the cost of an AOL. Elsewhere, the buyer could lose the benefit of a simultaneous issue rate discount if an AOL is used.

"We support the idea of making houses more affordable," says ALTA spokesman Jeremy Yohe, "but you have to be able to make the payments every month."

Beyond that, though, is the lack of protection afforded by an AOL. "Should a title issue arise on a property covered by an attorney opinion," Yohe told me, "the homeowner would need to prove negligence on the part of the attorney to pursue the claim. If not proven, a claimant would likely need to pay for the legal costs involved to litigate the matter."

On the other hand, owner's title insurance includes legal representation. And it covers numerous items AOLs do not: undisclosed liens and encumbrances, fraud, forgery, defective judicial proceedings, boundary line disputes and numerous other items, according to a list compiled by the Greenberg Traurig law firm.

But here's the rub: According to ALTA, the claims ratio -- claims paid divided by total title insurance premiums -- was only 2.4% in 2020 (the last year for which claims data is available). Most claims involve fraud, forgeries, mistakes in public records and liens overlooked by the examiner.

Moreover, 3 out of every 4 title searches and examinations find no issues -- a fact that "renders coverage unnecessary," argues Sprink. He spent 25 years in the title insurance field and says he believes the business is "a dinosaur ripe for disruption."

The bottom line: If you want to save money, roll the dice with an AOL. But if you want extra protection, opt for traditional title insurance.

And remember, it's the buyer's choice, not the lender's. If you are not offered options, ask for them.