Gentle friends, today I write a plea that I hope resonates deeply within you. Perhaps this has happened to you. Maybe you know someone who has been a victim. Or, lord forbid, you're one of the criminals I'm writing about. My request?
Stop stealing keys and lockboxes from listings.
Seriously.
Here are the top three scenarios repeated within the past year in my area. Do any of these criminal types ring a bell?
Shady Sam, the Key Kopper. This is the agent who shows property and finds a good deal. No, a great deal. No, the deal of the century, the only house he's ever going to sell this year! His clients must have it! So he removes the keys from the keybox and walks away, jingling them in his pocket as he walks to his car, confident that no one else will be able to show this house and write an offer... Wrong! In the past six months or so, it isn't uncommon for the following to be in the MLS confidential remarks: "If the keys/lockbox are tampered with, there is a 48 hour hold on all offers until replaced. Agents, be ethical. Don't steal our keys!" The fun part of dealing with Shady Sam is that he is the one whose offer comes in, right before the phone starts ringing to let you know the keys are mysteriously gone. This makes him easy to spot, by the way. I once had a conversation with a Shady Sam type. I told him that sadly, someone wasn't playing fair and the keys had gone on walkabout, so there was a hold on everything until the keys were replaced, plus additional market time after. Shady Sam did some quick thinking; that meant that there would be perhaps 5 days before his offer would even be presented, as the weekend was coming up and the property was bank owned. Oh no! What to do? About an hour later, Shady Sam called me and admitted he had the keys... but not on purpose. He kind of sort of forgot (yeah, that's the ticket!) to put the keys back.
Lilly Lightfingers, Lockbox Lifter. Lilly is kind of fun to deal with, once you chase her down. She's the person who actually removes your lockbox from the house. After all, why stop with Shady Sam's modus operandi? If the lockbox is gone in its entirety, maybe agents will think they're at the wrong house and they'll go away! Yes, that's it! They'll go away and buy something else! Meanwhile, like Shady Sam, Lilly's offer comes in right before the calls reporting a missing lockbox. And of course, Lilly now has a lockbox to use, as she's too financially strapped to get her own... Sadly for Lilly, I now engrave even my combo boxes with an identifying code, and they're photographed, much as you inventory your posessions for insurance purposes. It's pretty embarassing for Lilly when you find one of your lockboxes at her listing, and she explains (complete with big Bambi eyes) how she has no idea how it got there, or how she was able to use it in the first place. Oh, the drama of it all!
Crafty Chuck, Combo Changer. This particular criminal is slick. Why lift keys, like Shady Sam? So elementary. And why take a lockbox, like Lilly? That just makes life inconvenient for him. My boy Chuck, he's smartsy. If he has the combination to your box, he just slides right in and changes the combination on you. The key is still there. The lockbox is still there. But now only he has the code, so he controls the access until his buyer can get off work to come view the house with him. When the calls start coming in to the listing agent, the agent is confused. After all, the box is still there. If you shake the box, they keys are still there. The agent trying to show the house clearly doesn't know how to work a lockbox, right? Wrong! Chuck has been there, with shenanigans a-plenty.
I have news for Shady Sam, Lilly Lightfingers, Crafty Chuck, and all their progeny and ilk: What you are doing is THEFT. You are stealing. You are also violating any number of MLS rules and regulations, plus a few nice onces associated with the Realtor Code of Ethics. You're also creating stress for other agents -- not just the listing agents, but the agents with buyers in the car who are at the property and trying to show it. You're stealing from them their time, and their peace of mind. On top of that, you're creating a whole pile of embarassment for yourself when you get caught.
Trust me. You'll get caught. It's an immediate tip-off when your offer comes in and you gush about how your buyers loved the room with the floor to ceiling fireplace, and how the bedroom facing the west is going to be a great nursery for the buyer's future kids. Come on, you stole my keys or lockbox, not my brain.
Speaking of being caught, you will also be prosecuted. Don't believe me? Check it out. Being convicted of theft can cost you you license, which means no more real estate commission checks for you, bucko. You don't get a do-over for larceny. It's petty larceny, usually valued under $250, but it's still the F-word. You know... FELONY.
So please, dear agents, my sweet peers named Shady Sam, Lilly Lightfingers, and Crafty Chuck, I'm trying to do you a favor here.
Listen to me.
Listen carefully.
STOP STEALING KEYS AND LOCKBOXES!
Much love, hugs and kisses,
Theresa Grant, The Grant Group
Coldwell Banker Sky Ridge Realty
California
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