How to Avoid a Growing Real Estate Scam

The scammers are out in full force in the real estate world, but you can avoid them by making one simple phone call.

Want to sell your home? Get a FREE home value report.  

Want to buy a home? Search all homes for sale.

Right now, there’s a big scam happening throughout the country where renters are being duped into thinking that they can rent a property for a much lower cost than what it would appear to be valued at. This is because scammers are taking pictures of homes that are for sale on the market, gathering the information of these homes, and advertising them as if they’re rentals.

The next thing they do is make an excuse as to why they can’t meet face to face but still encourage the renter to look at the property from the outside and send them their information if they’re interested. Of course, the renter is then selected as the perfect fit for the property. Because the scammer is conveniently out of town, they ask the renter to send their deposit to a certain location and/or bring it to a certain location where they are then handed a set of keys to the house. Of course, the keys to the house don’t work. The renter, then, is left with a set of phony keys and no deposit.

Call a real estate agent to verify any information.

My advice for avoiding this is simple: when you see a ‘For Sale’ sign advertising something that is for rent, make sure you call the real estate agent to verify its information.

If you have any questions about buying or selling, just give me a call or shoot me an email. I’ll be glad to answer them for you.

5 Tips to Keep Your Home Safe While You’re Away

Wouldn’t it be nice to go on a completely stress-free vacation and not having to worry about what’s going on at home? We can help you do that. Some of these tips are obvious, but that doesn’t mean they are are easy to overlook. We’ve got five tips to share that will help keep your home safe and your mind at ease when you’re on vacation.

1. Leave a car in the driveway. This will make it look like someone is home.

2. Have lights and lamps plugged into timers. You can even set them to turn on and off at specific times during the day.

3. Inform a neighbor. Let a neighbor or two know that you are going to be out of town so they can keep a watchful eye on your home as well.

4. Make sure all doors and windows are locked before you leave. Studies have shown that 30% of all entries have been through unlocked windows and doors. It’s a pretty obvious thing, but it never hurts to double check.

5. Let the post office know you will be gone, or have a neighbor pick up your mail for you.

We hope these suggestions help you prepare better.

We hope these suggestions help you prepare better when you take your next vacation. If you have any questions for us, don’t hesitate to give us a call or end us an email. We would love to hear from you.