Beware of Con Artists Who Pose As Buyers of Real Estate
Posted by
eli
on 1/08/10• Categorized as Real Estate
John, new real estate agent who sells subdivision lots, had a sad story to tell when he came to our office last week.
He accompanied a supposed couple to a subdivision because the couple told John they wanted to buy a lot to build their house on it, since they are starting a family.
image source: classifieds.portlandmercury.com/portland/View.
The sale did not push through, but John lost his cell phone and money to the couple.
In reality, there are many con artists on the loose today who prey on people just to get what they want. If you are a real estate broker or real estate agent of a broker, be careful of con artists who pose as lot buyer or house and lot buyer just to fool you.
To protect the new brokers and real estate agents from nuisance buyers, con artists or swindlers, here are the tips to remember:
1. Do not meet with a potential buyer or buyers of real estate in a restaurant. Meet him at your office. If the meeting is in a restaurant, it is assumed that you will be the one who must pay for the food and drinks of your prospective buyer(s). In the beginning, it is hard to know if the buyer is genuine or just after a free lunch, at your expense.
2. If the prospective buyer requests to borrow your cell phone supposedly to call his/her friend who are also prospective buyer of the property that you are selling, be sure that you are beside your buyer all the time. The “buyer” of John borrowed his cell phone supposedly to call his friend who also interested to buy a subdivision lot. That buyer went a few meters from John and before John knew it, the swindler had boarded a taxi and went away.
3. After the tripping of the prospective buyer, do not expect any sales if he will tell you that he will just text or call you anytime. The interested buyer will request for another meeting with you to finalize the sale, and he will give you the schedule, venue, date and time.
The foregoing tips are necessary to forewarned the unsuspecting newbie real estate brokers and agents to protect themselves against con artists and swindlers who, after all, will not buy the property.
What a great resource!
Sad to hear that type of con is going on, Eli. Back in the States, female agents had to be very cautious about meeting prospective buyers alone due to possible assaults by male predators posing as a buyer.