With the home sales market as HOT as it is, there are many people holding “Open Houses” on the weekends. Police Detectives ask me to warn you about the fake sales agents who are really crooks.
Here’s how the Scammers (crooks) work. They go to a real estate sales office and swipe some “actual” real estate agent business cards. They say they have a client who is interested in your home, and they would like to look around. You invite them in. One agent asks to use your phone to call his client and tell him about your house that fits exactly what they were looking for. The other agent asks if he could use your bathroom. While you are in the kitchen with the other phony agent on the telephone to his supposed client, the other agent is removing valuables from your bedroom and other areas of your home.
When you show your home it is best for you to have someone with you so that the other person can show the crook to the bathroom and wait for him while you are with the other fake real estate agent in the kitchen on the phone.
Once you realize that you have been ripped-off by the crooks and call the police, all you have is the business cards of the real agents who have never been to your home. These crooks do this over and over again, and they normally know just where to look to find your jewelry and valuables.
Check List:
- Never show your home alone to more than one agent at a time.
- Ask for some identification besides a simple business card that may not be theirs.
- Take down the license plate of the cars they arrive in.
- Call your broker to talk to them.