Category Archives: Safety

Beware of Craigslist

Posted on 10/16/2010 | Leave a comment

Craigslist started out as a good thing. But over time, as with so much of the Internet, the nasties are ruining it. It used to be an additional option for real estate agents to gain exposure on their listings. I used to use it to provide an extra way for potential buyers to be made aware of the homes. To protect my sellers, I’ve stopped using it.

In the past year, the scammers have found another way to bilk money from unsuspecting people. They are taking all the info from the legitimate for-sale listing that an agent has entered, including photos. They then post this home in the ‘homes for rent’ portion of Craigslist. When a potential renter emails the scammer, the scammer emails back, pretending to be the owner, that they were going to sell but decided to rent instead since they had to move to Nigeria or England or some other foreign country. The “renter” will be sent the keys to the home after they mail $XXX to the scammer. Of course, the “renter” never receives the keys and are out whatever money they foolishly mailed to the scammer.

This past week, I received a call from a woman wanting to rent a home. She had found one on Craigslist that she knew was for sale, but she also found it in the ‘for rent’ section. She had already had a couple of email communications with the scammer. The scammer used the real name of the home’s owner (available on the county auditor’s website) and indicated he had moved to Nigeria. She was to send $500 to get the keys. The woman had also found another similar home where her instructions were to send the money to the United Kingdom.

Our Board of Realtors keep us advised of these events. There have been some reports where the potential renter actually went to the home and approached the seller/owner.

This scam is not just a local problem … it’s nationwide. Just as the police, sheriff’s offices and the news media indicate … DON’T SEND MONEY to someone you don’t know.

Copyright © 2010. Elaine Reese, Real Living HER. Reproduction of any portion of this blog post or the images is prohibited by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If this post is being viewed on any site other than www.ReesesPiecesOfRealEstate.com then the material has been stolen without permission. Violators will be reported.

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Posted in Advertising, Central Ohio, Home selling process, Homes, Homes for sale, Internet, Safety, Sellers, Sellers

Tagged central ohio real estate market news, Craigslist hazards

Realtors® take Stranger-Danger seriously

Posted on 09/30/2010 | Leave a comment

gunman You may have heard in the news that two northeast Ohio real estate agents were murdered last week, and a third one was held at gun point and robbed – all separate incidents. All were in the process of showing homes to supposed buyers in the cities in which they worked.

It was ironic since September is deemed to be Realtor® Safety Month. Our various associations have chosen that month to remind us of the steps we need to take to be safe on the job. One might not think that being a Realtor® could be a hazardous job, but we’re easy prey because we often are showing homes to people we barely know. The welcome screen on our MLS system alerts us to suspicious behavior or crimes so we can be on the look-out.

In the years I’ve been in the business, I’ve noticed agents have been changing the way they do business.

Fewer open houses are being held. With most Internet sites allowing us to post many photos and the use of video tours, there is less need to subject a seller’s possessions to potential theft. Serious buyers can get a good idea of the interior of the home and if interested, can set up a showing with their agent. Agents are also less willing to expose themselves to the personal risk of holding an open house where total strangers are coming through the door. If you drive around Delaware County on a Sunday afternoon, have you noticed how few open house signs are on the corners of intersections (other than builders’ models)? A few years ago, those signs sprouted like spring dandelions but not anymore.
Don’t expect an agent to be a “pop-tart”. Pop-tart is the name we give to agents who will rush to show a home to a buyer with a mere phone call. It happens when a buyer calls to say they want to see a particular home “right now” or in an hour or two. The eager (desperate) agent pops-up to go show the home without even knowing whether the buyer is qualified to purchase it. Most agents just aren’t doing this anymore as it’s too risky and can be wasted effort if the buyer hasn’t even talked to a lender yet.
Expect to be asked to CITO. When a buyer first contacts an agent about buying a home, the professional agent will require the buyer to Come-Into-The-Office for a preliminary meeting. The agent will gather all key info from the buyer, discuss their criteria and goals, inform them of the buying process and set-up for them to meet with a lender so they know what price of home the buyer is apt to be approved to buy.
You may be asked to drive your own car. Fewer agents are loading buyers into their own car to view homes. They ask the buyer to follow them in the buyer’s car. There are several reasons for this, one of which is the agent’s safety. There are two other economic reasons for agents. One is that it can reduce the amount of car insurance and the liability if there is an accident. The other is that it doesn’t require the agent to buy an over-sized car in order to carry additional people.

If you’re a buyer, you may notice a change in the way the agents work now versus years ago unless you personally know the agent. Please don’t take offense with it and certainly don’t take it personally. The agent is doing what they think is necessary to protect their life. You would do the same.

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Posted in Advertising, Buyers, Central Ohio, Delaware County, Home buying process, Homes, Homes for sale, Internet, Realtors®, Realtors®, Safety, Sellers

Tagged central ohio real estate market news

“Stranger Danger” applies to home sellers, too.

Posted on 03/27/2010 | 3 Comments

I advise my home sellers of potential security dangers when their home is on the market. One of the reasons they hire me is all the Internet exposure I give to their home. However, there are also risks in doing that. Not only are potential buyers viewing those photos, but “bad people” may also be viewing. Unfortunately, it’s the world we live in now.

Today, as I was working in the MLS, I noticed something in a photo that I had not thought of previously, even though I’ve seen it before. There seems to be a trend in children’s rooms to place large stickers or wall hangings that spell out the child’s name. All of a sudden it occurred to me how dangerous this could be.

The “bad person” already has access to your home’s address via the listing and the mapping features that most home-for-sale Internet sites include. While it’s fun to look at satellite photos of our homes, those photos give a lot of valuable info to potential thieves or predators. Don’t give the bad guys the additional knowledge of your child’s name as well. If a predator knows your child’s name, your child may think the predator is less of a stranger. Best to remove those stickers or wall hangings when the real estate agent takes photos of your home.

Here’s some other cautions when your home is on the market:

Remove valuable collections or artwork so they are not photographed or in the home.
Remove gun cases.
Place prescription drugs in a safe, secure place so a potential buyer cannot access them during showings.
Put all paperwork that includes account numbers (checks, credit card bills, etc.) in a locked file. Same for jewelry, piggybanks, etc.
If someone drives by your home and says they’re an interested buyer and would like to see your home, NEVER EVER let them in. Tell them to call your agent for a showing, afterall the number is on the yard sign. If they’re a legitimate buyer they’ll do that. If they’re a bad person, you will have avoided a bad situation.
Electronics are such a big part of our everyday lives that it is quite common to see multiple computers and TV’s in a home’s photos. Just be aware that they can be an enticement to thieves and via the photos, the thieves will know what rooms the electronics are in and which window might be the easiest access.
Normally I remove dog food dishes and beds when taking photos. I’m beginning to think that it might not be a bad idea to leave them in the photo as a subtle reminder that there is a dog inside. Even the little guys, like The Murph, can be a deterrent because they bark so much. (OK, so he’s not the threat that my Dobes were, but he is much, much noisier and just as protective of his property.)

As I tell my clients, just because there is a for-sale sign in the yard, doesn’t mean they should let their guard down. Keep your home safe and secure as you would normally do, but use a little extra caution.

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Posted in Advertising, Central Ohio, Home selling process, Homes, Homes for sale, Internet, Safety, Sellers, Sellers

Tagged central ohio real estate market news, Photography of homes for sale, stranger danger

Holiday real estate blogging conversations

Posted on 12/27/2009 | Leave a comment

The downtime the past few days has given me an opportunity catch up on my reading of the blogs of real estate agents across the country. Here’s some of topics and thoughts:

BUYERS: A number of agents were reporting that they were showing homes last week and putting offers in for those buyers. It seemed that many of those buyers were 1st Timers wanting to take advantage of the $8000 tax credit. Except for agents in the WARM states, I didn’t read much about move-up buyers, but perhaps, that segment will increase once the 1st Timers get through the inspection phase of their purchase. If this occurs, then we should see the current homeowner market begin to shop for homes. We really need the “trickle-up” effect to take place to get the more expensive homes moved off the market.

OPEN HOUSES: For some reason, there were several bloggers discussing the benefits of holding open houses in today’s world. It’s pretty much equally divided. Most say it depends on the home, the price, and the location. The security risk to both the home and to the agent are being cited more and more as a reason to not have an open house, especially given all the photos that can be posted on the Internet for serious buyers to view. Almost all agree that an open house seldom sells the home being held open, but rather provides a new source of clients for the agent. No surprise there!

POLITICS: Because the real estate business is so closely tied to the economy, agents seem to be stepping up their political commentary. Agents are also self-employed so all the heath care issues are a hot topic as well. Generally the commentary is of the ilk to “throw the bums out” for those who vote without having read a bill.

NEW TECHNOLOGY: Real estate bloggers LOVE their techie toys because often our cars are our offices and our smart phones are our lifelines. Bloggers tend to be the “early-adaptors” so being quick to try new techie advances is not surprising. Lots of discussions on the pros & cons of the I-Phone, Blackberries and Droids, plus, actual reports of the Verizon vs AT&T service. My summary of the conversations: IPhone is cool but glass breaks; AT&T drops lots of calls; Blackberry is better for business but less-cool; Verizon is best for service & coverage; Droid is still too new for many opinions.

2010 BUSINESS PLANS: Many agents are working on their plans, trying to sort out what’s going to happen with (1) jobs, (2) inflation vs interest rates, (3) banks, TARP funds and tighter/looser lending restrictions, (4) home buyer Tax Credit impact, especially after the credits expire Apr 30, (5) whether the final language in Cap & Trade will penalize home sellers, and (6) increased government spending and regulation.

Now wasn’t that exciting? Not sure I have anymore answers for my 2010 Business Plan than when I started reading. Let’s see …. where did I put that crystal ball?

Copyright © 2009. Elaine Reese, Real Living HER. Reproduction of any portion of this blog post or the images is prohibited by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If this post is being viewed on any site other than www.ReesesPiecesOfRealEstate.com then the material has been stolen without permission. Violators will be reported.

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Posted in Buyers, Central Ohio, Home buying process, Home selling process, Homes, Homes for sale, Realtors®, Safety, Sellers, Sellers

Tagged central ohio real estate market

Mailbox litter – how do we stop it?

Posted on 11/20/2009 | Leave a comment

How do you feel about businesses attaching their self-promotion flyers on your mailbox? I think it is a violation of USPS rules, but that doesn’t stop people from doing it. Don’t know about your area, but my neighborhood gets the flyers from landscapers, deck builders, maids, churches, driveway sealers, and yes, even a dentist.

I personally don’t care for these flyers as they make the neighborhood look messy, especially when they blow away into our yards and streets. Similar to these flyers are the “free” newspapers that are thrown in our drives.

As a Realtor®, this “litter” creates real problems when the home being sold is vacant. To keep the home looking presentable – and NOT look vacant – I do frequent drive-bys to remove the papers and flyers. I know the days the newspapers are delivered, so I time my schedule to do the pick-ups then. The other business flyers are random, so they are harder to monitor.

In my previous career, I traveled frequently. I would make arrangements with the P.O. to hold my mail while I was gone. There was nothing I could do to stop the incessant flyers other than ask my poor neighbors to toss the junk around my mailbox when they saw it. There was one real estate agent who habitually left flyers, so I called her to explain my situation and asked her to please not leave the flyers at my address. Apparently my multiple requests to her fell on deaf ears, as it didn’t stop. When it came time for me to sell that home, guess which Realtor® I DID NOT call.

With the issues we have today of thieves entering vacant homes to steal copper, these flyers have become even more of a concern because they are a bold advertisement of an empty, unoccupied home.

I would like to make a plea to to the businesses using this form of advertising and to the newspaper delivery folks. If you see a “For Sale” sign in the yard, please don’t tack your flyer to the mailbox or throw your paper in the drive. You might just be contributing to a burglary.

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Posted in Central Ohio, Commentary, Home selling process, Homes, Homes for sale, Safety, Sellers, Sellers

Tagged central ohio real estate market news, mail box flyers

Are Open Houses in central Ohio going the way of the dinosaur?

Posted on 08/15/2009 | 3 Comments

Elaine Reese, Real Living HER Realtor OpenHouse sign Have you noticed fewer and fewer Sunday Open House signs in Delaware County in recent months? I don’t seem to see as many as I used to a few years ago. This Sunday, Real Living HER was holding a “SUPER SUNDAY” ad campaign. Generally, that causes many HER agents to sign up their sellers for an open house to appear in the full page office ad.

I decided to check to see if it was my imagination or “for real” that fewer open houses were being scheduled. I checked the Real Living Open House search page for several different suburbs. Guess what! It wasn’t my imagination.

For Galena and Lewis Center there were NO scheduled open houses. Delaware and Sunbury each had ONE open house scheduled. For Powell, only 5 open houses were scheduled. That’s a total of only 7 homes in southern Delaware County! Amazing!

Franklin County suburbs are still doing open houses, but I’ll bet it’s fewer than in the past: Hilliard – 15 homes, Dublin – 12 homes, Westerville – 8 homes, Upper Arlington – 8 homes, Worthington – 3 homes, Clintonville – 2 homes, and New Albany – 2 homes. That’s a total of 50 homes for these 7 suburbs. Quite a difference from Delaware County.

Why are fewer Open Houses being held now?

There may be several factors coming in to play. While I’m only surmising here, I suspect technology and security are strong contributors. Current market dynamics may also be a factor.

TECHNOLOGY

With most Internet sites allowing us to post up to 25 photos, sellers are beginning to tell their listing agent that a buyer can view the home online and if interested, set up a showing with their (buyer) agent. This ensures the seller that only legitimate, pre-approved buyers are walking through their home. Numerous agents have stopped doing open houses for this reason. We used to be able to only put 6 photos online so it was much more important for the buyer to see the home in person and hopefully, fall in love with it.

SECURITY

Security concerns not only for the seller’s possessions but also for the agent, have become more prevalent. We have no way of knowing anything about the people walking through the front door. They can be a sweet couple or they could be a thieving tag team or a serial rapist. Our MLS system advises us with crime alerts and that’s why we take safety classes. Vacant homes are especially risky because “bad people” know that no seller will be returning home at the close of the open house. Agents and sellers alike may feel that the chance that the home will actually sell as a result of an open house is too small considering the risks associated with it.

MARKET DYNAMICS

First of all, for any given home, there are simply fewer buyers which can equal fewer open house guests (if any) which equals a waste of an agent’s time and needless hassle for the seller. Sometimes the guests have their current home on the market and are out looking while their own home is held open, but until their current home goes into contract, they really can’t act on buying a new home. In past years, these people could put a “contingent-escape” offer on a home and stand a pretty decent chance of having their current home sell in rather short order. Not so anymore. We’re seeing very few CE offers being accepted by sellers. Another type of guest are those people who are simply curious or “thinking” about putting their home on the market. They aren’t yet a serious buyer because they don’t yet have their current home on the market. So of all the guests that might visit the open house, very few are in a position to actually buy it, and those buyers can easily set up with their agent to view it through normal showing procedures.

I have always enjoyed doing open houses and have had my listings sell as a result of the open house. I like chatting with people (no surprise there ) and hearing their perceptions/comments about the home. That’s always helpful information to give to a seller. However, since I take LOTS of photos and they’re available on MANY Internet sites, I’m beginning to question whether the security issues for my sellers is worth the risk.

If you have a different opinion or want to provide further insight, please feel free to leave your comment. What’s YOUR opinion on the value to sellers of holding open houses?

EDITED: To make sure this wasn’t just a Real Living HER occurrence, I also checked Coldwell Banker KT open houses from their web site. For the same 12 suburbs, only 18 open houses were scheduled. So it appears CBKT agents are also pulling back on doing open houses.

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Posted in Advertising, Central Ohio, Delaware County, Delaware Ohio, Dublin Ohio, Franklin County, Galena Ohio, Hilliard Ohio, Home selling process, Homes, Homes for sale, Internet, Lewis Center Ohio, Powell Ohio, Real Living HER, Realtors®, Realtors®, Safety, Sellers, Sellers, Worthington Ohio