2."I'll Chip In to Make the Deal Go Through."
Agents not only will negotiate their commission upfront but also may take a further cut later if it means saving a deal that is on the verge of breaking up over minor details. Who will pay the points on the mortgage? Why shouldn't the seller have to replace the broken dishwasher? When these skirmishes arise, feel free to ask your agent to pitch in. Most will usually agree rather than see the sale -- and their entire commission -- disappear.

3."You're the Only Bidder on This House."
When you express an interest in a house, the agent will often tell you that you'd better hurry because there are other bidders even when there aren't. If you suspect your agent is pressuring you to make an offer by exaggerating the activity on a certain house, ask to see the other bids. That information is supposed to be confidential, but one former real estate broker says that if another offer really exists, in some cases the agent will show it to you.

4."You Should Be Using More Than One Agent."
Agents will often pressure you to work exclusively with them. If they spend a lot of time getting to know what type of house you want and driving you around to see different properties, they figure you owe it to them to buy a house through them. But there's nothing to stop you from seeing homes with more than one agent. Checking in with a few of the best salespeople in each area is a good way to keep your finger on the pulse of the market. Many times an aggressive agent will show you a home before it appears on the multiple-listing service. And if you're looking in a large geographic area, you'll need more than one agent to make sure that you have access to all of the multiple-listing services in those places.

5."Here's What You Need to Know About This House."
Because real estate agents are, in most cases, paid by the seller, they have a legal obligation to protect any confidential information shared with them, like the seller's absolute lowest price, or the fact that the couple selling the house might be going through a divorce and thus may be looking for a quick deal. Furthermore, while brokers are required by federal law to tell prospective buyers about any structural problems in the house, they won't always tell you about other mitigating factors -- for instance, that a murder was committed there. As a buyer's broker, John Arends, of REMAX Properties North in Colorado Springs, Colo., says he seeks out the owners of properties his clients are interested in so he can find out about any hidden factors that would affect the sale. "We seek out owners now," says Arends. "But when I was a seller's broker, we used to avoid them at any cost."

6."I Might Use Whatever You Tell Me Against You."
Because the brokers and agents are usually being paid by the seller, you have to remember that when you are buying a house, your interest in the deal is not the one being protected. So if you happen to mention to the agent the highest price you will actually pay on a house or that your company will pay closing costs as part of your transfer package, those are details that the agent must disclose to the person selling the house, thereby weakening your bargaining stance. Despite tougher laws in many states demanding that agents disclose their ties to sellers, many people still don't understand how the agent-buyer relationship typically works.

7."This House Is Functionally Obsolete."
Agents have little phrases they share among themselves to classify houses that might be tough sales. This is one of them. Your agent may gush that the house you are looking at is a great deal -- maybe even $10,000 under the market price -- but what he or she probably won't volunteer is that as a three-bedroom home with only 1 1/2 baths, it's an outdated dinosaur in an area where most comparable homes routinely include two full baths. Older homes with closed-off kitchens are also a drag on the market these days; homes where the owner has knocked down a wall and added an island in the kitchen sell better. And when your agent mentions that the house you're about to see is a "handyman special," understand that it may take more than just one pair of handy hands to get this place into shape. This is often real estate code for a money pit. Expect anything from a leaky roof to a shifting foundation.

8."I'm Pushing My Own Listings."
In most home sales, the listing agent splits his or her commission with another agent who saw the house in the multiple-listing service and brought it to the attention of a willing buyer. But an agent who finds a buyer for his or her own listing stands to rake in the full commission. With a windfall like that, you can see why some agents steer buyers toward their own listings, sometimes excluding more appropriate homes. If you're wasting a lot of time seeing homes that you don't like but that the agent is pushing, switch agents. If you are a seller, you'll want to make it clear upfront that you expect the listing agent to accept less than the full commission if you find the buyer. Agree on a discount before you sign the listing agreement and make sure the amount is included in that document.

9."This Is the True Value of Your House."
In order to get a listing, a broker will often give you a price that is well above the market. You put the "for sale" sign up, expecting to make a killing, but the offers never materialize. After a while, the broker says the market has softened and you need his or her expertise more than ever to get the house sold -- even at a lower price. The danger is, the original high price tag often means a house stays on the market for months, getting a reputation as a dud.

10."I'll Do the Footwork for You."
It's mandatory that you thoroughly check out the neighborhoods and houses you like yourself so you know exactly what you're getting into. But there's no reason why your agent shouldn't help. Ask your agent for recent clippings from a local paper that illustrate market prices. What about SAT scores and other school-district information? Any zoning skirmishes that may affect home values in the future? If an agent balks at these requests, find another, more aggressive one. When you do get this information from agents, however, keep in mind that they have their own agenda. It's not in their interest to tell you all the bad news about a place. But they can provide some leads that should make your own investigation easier.