With access to online home tours, the seller's home is already on display to a huge pool of potential criminals surfing for easy targets. Homeowners and sellers need to be cautious about anyone approaching their property claiming to be a REALTOR® or prospective buyer/tenant requesting entry.
Unfortunately, there have been plenty of instances where sellers have opened up their doors to individuals claiming to be buyers thinking that they are helping the process or hoping that this will be the buyer for their home. The fact that they don't know the person, whether they've been pre-qualified and for what amount doesn't matter. The sellers are focused only on the slim chance that this might be the buyer for their home and don't want to let them get away. There have been too many instances where individuals posing as buyers make their way into the home to assault or rob the homeowner.
Recently, we have been alerted to individuals using fictitious identities posing as a County, service or utility worker targeting homes as a decoy. The suspect attempts to lure the homeowner outside using an excuse related to his fictitious identity. While outside, an accomplice surreptitiously enters the home to steal valuables before the homeowner returns. In one case, the suspect lured the homeowner into the basement to look at his washer while communicating with the accomplice on a two-way radio. The homeowner learned after the suspect left that he'd been robbed. That homeowner was fortunate that it didn't escalate to a more serious crime.
For unscheduled service calls, the homeowner should not allow the individual into the home, accompany the individual anywhere or step outside leaving the house unlocked even if the individual shows a badge. Your client should verify the presented credentials with the actual agency from inside the safety of the home with all doors locked.
I urge my seller clients to avoid allowing ANYONE in to the home without an advance-approved appointment registered through my office. I explain that if they are approached by a prospective buyer/tenant without an agent or real estate professional without an appointment, NOT TO ALLOW ENTRY.
The seller can provide my business card to the individual and request that they contact me directly to make the appropriate showing arrangements. This not only protects them, but it will allow me to learn more details regarding their financial purchasing power, whether the home is truly a good fit and have a mechanism in place for follow-up.
If the individual is truly interested in the home, they will make arrangements another time to see it.
