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Vacant Homes for Sale

By Eileen Landau

Real Estate Agent with BAIRD & WARNER, NAPERVILLE

October 16, 2006 10:20 AM

I had a newbie agent call me the other day for feedback. Unusual, no, not really. Until he asked me the following:

"Did I notice anything unusual in the bedrooms?" So, I asked him what he meant. And he told me this:

"I think that someone is living inside the house. The drapes are jumbled up on the floor and there's cigarettes and ashes around the place."

So, I asked if he was aware that he could look up the names of the agents showing the property and the date that they showed. "No," he said. Yup, good old GE has a secure website and you can get all sorts of showing information.

Now, the fact that I had shown the house a month ago...and he was only just now calling. Hmmmmmm. He said that he had just picked up cards. Could this mean that he hadn't checked the house out in a month?

So, I suggested the following procedures:

1) File a Police Report.

2) Change the locks (after getting permission from the owner. And, checking to make sure that the owner didn't say to one of his relatives that he could sleep in the house.)

3) Change the security code on the exterior garage door transmitter.

4) Make sure that the door from the garage is locked.

5) Take down the curtains/drapes. Remove them.

6) Put some lights on in the bedrooms. Keep them on. Set them on timers.

7) Check the property frequently.

What do you do with vacant properties?

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Tricia Jumonville

Bradfield Properties - Georgetown, TX

Texas REALTOR , Agent With Horse Sense

I go by every couple or three days to check things out, if the property is close by, and always after I'm notified that there's been a showing, because it's amazing how many agents will leave a garage door or back door unlocked or things otherwise out of order after showing. I also freshen things up when I do that - air out the house a bit, see if the lawn is showing signs of needing mowing, in the summer replenish the bottled water I leave in the frig with a sign saying help yourself (it's awfully hot down here in August!), generally see what might need attention. I think that also gives the house a bit more of a "lived in" feel because there's the same vehicle coming and going at odd times. I try not to get on a "schedule" so anyone watching the house won't know if someone's going to show up or not.

Oct 16, 2006 10:31 AM

Eileen Landau

BAIRD & WARNER, NAPERVILLE - Naperville, IL

ABR, CRS, e-PRO

Tricia,

Great ideas...I, too, always check my vacant listings. And, try to keep an eye out for stuff that needs doing.

I guess that the Newbie's broker never explained the responsibilities to him. Even though our listing contract specifically says that we are not responsible, I still feel that I'm watching out for my client's best interests. Because if the house is trashed, I'm out a listing and a client!

Oct 16, 2006 10:37 AM

Ann Cummings

RE/MAX Shoreline - NH and Maine - Portsmouth, NH

Portsmouth NH Real Estate Preferrable Agent

I, too, check my listings every couple of days or so. I also go at varied times now that I thnk about it, guess that's a good thing.

I like Tricis's idea of water in the frig.....nice little touch, especially in summer's warm weather.

Ann Cummings
www.AnnCummings.com

Oct 16, 2006 10:43 AM

I actually got that one from one of my sellers who had an extra fridge in one of the two workshops that flanked the garage. And I know a good idea when I see one! The house was vacant, on the market in the middle of a Texas summer. It's just a way to make the house stick in the mind a little bit better, a "tag" with a positive connotation.

Plus, in our summers, it's the humane thing to do!

Oct 16, 2006 10:50 AM

GA-agent.com Georgia Real Estate Directory

GA-agent.com - Canton, GA

I wondering why the agent asked "if there was anything unusual" when he clearly knew something was wrong?

-James

Oct 16, 2006 11:18 AM

Teri Isner

Keller Williams Realty at the Lakes - Orlando, FL

GRI, CRS, CIPS

Eileen we had a similiar story about a couple having sex and someone walked in on them..didn't even have the smarts to remove the key from the lockbox and lock the door from the inside. Sad part one was a realtor who was using it as a rendevous for weeks. It is these types that give us all a bad rep..

Oct 16, 2006 11:25 AM

Ah Teri,

I remember a vacant house back in the late 70's...one closet had some pillows and blankets. And, as a real estate friend of mine lived across the street, she told me who was going into the house together. Turns out that it was an agent in my office!

Of course, this was before Supra keys...but not before neighbors.

You just never know who knows you and sees you. And, yes, this was the talk of the office for many months. And, we wonder why "Desperate Houswives" portrays R/E agents the way they do!

Oct 16, 2006 11:55 AM

Carole Cohen

Howard Hanna Cleveland City Office - Cleveland, OH

Realtor, ePRO

One of the communities I work has a preponderance of homes with stained and leaded glass windows. A little over a year ago we had a rash of thefts when these houses were vacant. They would either cut the windows out if possible, or saw the doors off to to get them (how none of the neighbors heard this is beyond me). All Brokerages were networking about it. And we stopped putting lock boxes on the doors of these homes and started accompanying showings. There was also a request for an increase in police presence (we were lucky, it's a small community so they have the resources to do this). Just another vacant home story.

Oct 17, 2006 04:45 PM

Vacant Homes for Sale

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