Selling a Home For Sale By Owner or Even With a Real Estate Agent? Beware of Craigslist Scams
Many people who want to sell a home for sale by owner use Craigslist.com to advertise their home for sale. This site has even begun to become popular with Realtors® looking to provide additional advertisements for their clients. Unfortunately, there are some bad people out there who also use this website to try to steal money from people who view this site looking for a home to rent.
One of the scams I’ve seen before has come up again for one of my clients. Today I was contacted by a person looking to rent a home. They saw an ad on Craigslist for one of the homes I have listed for sale on the MLS covering Rock Hill, SC and also on the Charlotte Region MLS. They liked what they saw on Craigslist so they decided to drive by the home to check out the home and the neighborhood. When they saw my sign in the yard, they were a little confused, so they called me.
The home rental price that was being advertised was very attractive for the value of the home. That is one of the first signs that something may not be right and it’s a potential scam. The scary thing about these scams is that the scammer goes through the effort of making many of the things with the house look correct…. They have a correct front picture, they have the correct address, and even the correct name of the owner in the fake email address that they have created. All this is in an effort to get the potential tenant to believe they are dealing with the owner.
What I understand happens when the potential tenant contacts the scammer is that the scammer comes up with some reason why the potential can’t see the inside of the home right away. They somehow try to con the tenant into giving them a deposit, in some cases, it’s a “key deposit” that will allow the tenant to get a key to see the inside of the house. Meanwhile, the scammer gets the money and is never to be heard from again.
The main lesson of this is to be careful when you have your home on the market. If you are selling your house for sale by owner, consider hiring a Realtor to advertise your home and help be a guard against potential issues. Even if you have hired a real estate agent, it doesn’t mean you can completely relax, as you should still be on the lookout for potential scammers and other criminals who are looking to take advantage of the situation.
– Don
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Don is the Owner and Broker of Don Anthony Realty. Over the last two years, Don sold more homes than 99.3% of the real estate agents in the Charlotte Region, while saving those clients thousands. He has perfected a low cost yet full-service home-selling program that is revolutionizing the way people get their homes sold. His hybrid approach and Flat Fee MLS Listing Service combines the best of a Discount Realtor and Full-Commission real estate agent with the freedom of a For Sale By Owner (FSBO). For more information please visit our website, www.DonAnthonyRealty.com.
Don Anthony Realty helps clients buy and sell real estate in the entire Charlotte, NC Metro Region. Counties served include Mecklenburg, Union, Cabarrus, Iredell, Lincoln, Gaston, Rowan, Catawba, and Alexander Counties in NC as well as York, Chester, and Lancaster Counties in SC. Some of the cities served include Charlotte, Huntersville, Mooresville, Matthews, Concord, Weddington, Wesley Chapel, Waxhaw, Monroe, Marshville, Pineville, Gastonia, Cramerton, Belmont, Statesville, Hickory, Claremont, Kannapolis, Salisbury, Union Grove, Lincolnton, Mount Holly, Fort Mill, Tega Cay, Rock Hill, York, Clover, Catawba, Indian Trail, Mint Hill, Davidson, Sherrills Ford, Cornelius, Troutman, Harrisburg, Midland, Mt Pleasant, Terrell, Crouse, Wingate, Maiden, Denver, Lancaster, Stanley, Dallas, Newton, Cherryville, China Grove, Indian Land, and Chester
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