I recently received a question on Trulia (I monitor buyers questions and inquiries for Salt Lake and the surrounding areas) from a buyer interested in townhomes. He was asking for an agent to help him negotiate on a property in a golf course community, ok, right up my alley! I looked at the listing referenced in the post, and I realized that Trulia was incorrect, as they sometimes are, about some of the information they gave him. Great! True textbook stuff.... Buyer has a problem, I have a solution. A match made in heaven!
So, I put on my trusty Buyer's Agent Hat, and emailed him. I told him that the area he was looking at was not in Salt Lake, but actually in Orem (about 45 minutes south of Salt La
ke), talked about the area, asked whether he was looking to move here or looking for a vacation home, etc. In true Buyer's Agent style, I was going to help this man. I was amazed at the speed and efficiency of my email, words flowed from me with lightning intensity: valuable information to prospect, check...probing, open ended questions, check,... call to action and ask for the business...check. I had it all.
I want to back up here and tell you that we actually do get a lot of inquiries from all over the country and internationally because, well, we Do have 7 ski resorts within a 30 minute drive of Salt Lake, and we Do have the Greatest Snow On Earth. I know this not only because the Tourist Bureau tells me so, but I actually have skied in the past, B.C.(before children), and when I had a few less pounds following me down the slope.
But, I digress. After this magnificent piece of salesmanship (blushing shyly), I received a reply from Mr. John Cole. But rather than try to paraphrase his reply, I will simply let you read it as follows:
Yep, it was the dreaded Nigerian letter, the beginning of the ultimate scam to relieve me of money. I was almost curious enough to go further with him just to see how he intended to get me to put my funds into his hands. However, when Steve (my husband and partner) threatened to take My New Moon tickets away if I did, cooler heads prevailed.
And so ends my first and hopefully Only foray into the deep intrigues of The Nigerian Real Estate Scam. Anyone have any similar experiences?
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