Sep. 12, 2006 - Seller Beware

It's pretty much a fact of real estate life. When you put your house on the market you are going to have a number of people traipsing through it. Your REALTOR® will tell you that the more eyes you get looking at your property, the better your chances of getting the best price. You will also be told that when your house hits the MLS every REALTOR® in the area (in some areas that's thousands) will see it and call their buyer clients to see if they would be interested in seeing your house. The flat fee listers and other paid "by owner" helpers will tell you that your phone should begin ringing off the wall with potential buyers wanting to make appointments. Those of you who are determined to go it alone with a newspaper ad and a for sale by owner sign will be hoping for the same thing.

How ever you decide to market your house, you need to keep one important fact in mind. The only people you need to have walking through your house are people who are actually qualified to purchase your house. The only people you want to have walking through your house are people who are actually qualified to purchase your house.

Why is that? Don't you think that maybe someone who is not actually qualified to purchase my house might have some friends or relatives that might like it? Didn't you say that the more eyes that see it, the better my chances?

Well no, I didn't say that. I said your REALTOR® might say that. If I was your REALTOR®, I would tell you that the more qualified eyes that see your house, the better your chances. I only want buyers who have been qualified going through your house because I want to protect you, your family, your personal property, etc. There are scam artists out there. There are thieves and scoundrels who use real estate listings and unsuspecting real estate agents to gain legal entry to houses and then work their skulduggery. Perhaps they will filch that gold ring  you left laying out in the open. Maybe they will notice that the basement window does not lock tight and they will return another day to cart off your plasma TV. Don't think for a minute that this doesn't happen everyday. Maybe not lately on your block or in your city/town/village, but somewhere, sometime, everyday it happens to someone.

That is why, no matter how you decide to market your property, you need to make sure that there are safeguards in place to prevent this from happening to you. I may be biased, but I believe that using an experienced REALTOR®, like myself, is the safest way to go. That is because I, and others like me, would always prequalify buyer clients before they ever set foot in your, or anyone else's, house. When another agent calls for a showing appointment, the experienced agent will always determine whether or not the showing agent has prequalified his or her buyer client. Believe me when I tell you that not every person in possession of a real estate license prequalifies their clients. Taking prequalification for granted can be a costly mistake.

Should you decide that the cost of the commission to a good, prequalifying type of agent just isn't worth it, and you decide to use a flat fee lister or a buy owner helper or just do it all by yourself, I don't know what to tell you. I guess you'll just have to ask each and every caller if they have spoken to a lender. If they say they have, then I suppose it would be a good idea to find out who they spoke to and if they have some documentation to back it up. It probably wouldn't hurt to get in contact with whoever they said they spoke to and verify the fact that the contact person has indeed at least heard of the prospect. I realize it seems like a lot of hassle but it's better to be safe than sorry. You know how it is with scam artists, they love to prey upon the unsuspecting and the unprotected.

As always, if you have found yourself receiving my blog postings via e-mail, it is because I have either blogged about you personally, blogged about something I know is of interest to you, or I consider you to be a person of deep thinking and intellect and I would love to have you occasionally commenting on my blog. If you would like to be removed from the list simply send me an e-mail saying so.

Mar. 2, 2007 - re: Seller Beware