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Zillow Scams Rampant

By
Real Estate Agent with Florida Homes Realty & Mortgage

So Zillow made the local news again. This time right here in Jacksonville. Some dirtbag posted a listing for sale in the Jacksonville golf and country club and thankfully stating that he was selling for a nearly $900,000 discount. Yes a 5 bedroom 5 bath home in an exclusive gated country club for $24,500 it came to light and the post was removed, hopefully before anyone fell for it and lost money. I can’t imagine someone being niece enough to fall for this one but nothing surprises me anymore. The scam come when anyone naive enough to send the $4500 required deposit to see the inside of the house.

Unfortunately real estate is one of those industries that is ripe for fraud and Zillow is a preferred platform for scammers. Since Zillow allows honest people to list their own properties on the site  Anyone, anywhere can post fraudulent listings for sale or rent, rent to own, owner financing, foreclosures and whatever else they can come up with for the purpose of getting money out of the pockets of unsuspecting, hard working people. And because Zillow is so big you can imagine monitoring all the listings in the system must be a massive undertaking.

I understand Zillow means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. In my opinion if you feel like you must use it, just know it’s merely a place to start when gathering information if you’re looking to buy, sell or rent a property. When it comes time to get serious you would be well advised to get with a trusted real estate agent if you want to avoid falling victim to one of these scams.

Most Realtors have a web site that has the most accurate information because they are linked directly to their local MLS system. If you must use a platform other than your Realtors web site I recommend Realtor.com. No it’s not owned by Realtors as the name might suggest. It’s just a private company that was forward thinking years ago and purchased the best domain name ever for real estate. Dang it…. I missed it by that much. You won’t find for sale by owner listings there or on most Realtor web sites but hey if you’re open to buying from a FSBO you are a risk taker anyway.

Links mentioned in the video 

First Coast News Zillow Scam - 

Consumer Affairs article on rental scams

Mike & Cindy Jones, Jacksonville Real Estate Agents, REALTORS
904 874-0422
MikeAndCindyJones.com
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices
Florida Network Realty

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