Master of Horror,...Me???

It's a dirty job,...............

...but somebody's gotta do it!

Of the 386,000 sites that do come up when searching my name, Bellevue Realtor is the association made with my name on page one and three. There is one article I wrote for another site on mortgage fraud on page two. As long as my name isn't associated with committing a crime or fraud, I'm perfectly fine with it.

Of 28 post I've made, just five were regarding realty scams. Ironically, the one that received the most attention out of all the post was Beware Rental Scams Operating on Craigslist.com which had 1603 views and 1153 clicks despite not being a featured post. That post was made in August, and just last week the MLS finally posted a warning to agents about the scams on craigslist.

So if sixteen hundred people took the time to read that story, maybe the information was helpful to some of them, and maybe it even spared someone from being ripped off. That can't be a bad thing, or construed as a career sacrificing post.

If reporters only bothered writing the stories that they felt might win them a Pulitzer prize, we wouldn't have much to read in the paper. Scams aren't all I write about by a long shot, but I can't ignore the pink elephant in the room. I've dealt with the victims of such activity, and I've seen first hand the devastaion it wreaked upon their lives.

I suppose if there is to be no other purpose for writing than to get clients to call (which of course would be nice) then we may as well go the route so many have and just pay a pro to write for us and view it not as blogging, but as advertising.

Perhaps theres a market for a cottage industry such as the one that college kids utilize to purchase term papers. A team of professional writers will open a site that sells pre-written (never before posted) blog articles. Then we just buy great articles and post them as our own!

I hope it doesn't get to that point, if it does, what is the point?

I feel it can be both fun, and financially rewarding. I suppose time will tell.

Unfortunately I did feel the need to write such a post elsewhere today.

http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/

It can be hazardous out there; certainly moreso for women, but for men as well. I see the publications at the grocery store for real estate, and there crammed full of pictures of women looking their best, and theres a phone number for each one. I think in the wrong hands such advertisements can certainly be utilized for no good.

Stay safe, God bless. I gotta go with my wife to a Chinese New Year dinner party; it's that time of year again.

A good example of the hazards would be this warning just issued by our own MLS:

Potential Dangerous Situation

Feruary 6, 2008. NWMLS has recently received reports of potential dangerous situations regarding a man attempting to lure women agents to homes. A man named Christopher Heath (from Vermont) is trying to get female agents out to vacant properties. Most of the properties he is interested in are vacant and secluded. He has been arranging to meet with several agents in the area (Duvall, Monroe, Kent). Heath claims to be relocating here to work at the Fire Academy in North Bend. He claims to be a widower, retired firefighter, cash buyer searching for rural setting with room and privacy for the 2 search-and-rescue dogs he has for his job here with the Seattle Fire Department. He originally was looking for a house priced between $400,000 and $600,000.

He later changed the price to a million, saying it was going to be a cash deal and that the money would be wired from Merrill Lynch. One agent was feeling uncomfortable with the situation and began a background check. The Fire Academy has never heard of him. He had called from a New York phone number so she did a reverse search -- it was a doctor's cell phone # -- when she called the number the next day it had been cancelled. A 2nd agent called the number she had been given in Vermont and spoke to his wife (he claimed to be a widower). She said there are about 10 different female real estate agents leaving him messages and she found many Seattle area agents on his home computer. According to his wife, he was in the middle of taking out a home equity loan on his wife's (of 4 months) home. His wife just happened to be home and saw the appraiser measuring her home - a 30-acre horse ranch in Vermont. Another agent arranged to meet with him today (February 6).

She told him by voice mail and email that they would be meeting at her office to introduce themselves in person and to go over their tour and initial real estate paper work. She told him it was their company policy to meet new clients at their office, introduce them to their office manager and to make a copy of their driver's license. She has not heard from him since. His wife believes he is now in New York heading to Washington. The situation has been reported to the police. Please be careful! If this man contacts you, contact your local authority.      

"LOL!!!  I'll ask again.  Do you want the word SCAM ARTIST to come up when people Google the name Michael Creel? :)  If the answer is yes...Blog AWAY!!!"

I'm happy to say the response to the scam posting has been quite positive, and resulted in numerous emails, postings, and phone calls from readers that were grateful for the warning (see below).

Message details:
From: Timothy H. Wiley
Email: wiley25785@xxxxxxx
Subject: Craig's list rental scam

Mr. Creel,

Thank you so much for your blog about this scam!!

I got such a response to my ad from a "British Fossil Hunter", a Dr. Farrell, only he could not spell "British" correctly which I thought was odd for a Phd from the UK. He even sent pictures of himself, wife, and daughter. I could not find any reference for the group he said he worked for.

I found the identical letter in your blog, only the name was changed.

You saved me from a scam and I wish to thank you and commend you for your service to the public.

Tim Wiley

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Message details:
From: Julann Carney
Email: julanncarney@xxxxx
Subject: Rental scams on craigslist

Dear Michael,
I am a real estate agent in Sherwood, Arkansas and I received an email that was almost duplicate to your blog post(s) about rental scams on craigslist.

I just wanted you to know that posting this information helped me to not fall for the scam. I was already a bit skeptical to begin with. I did google the alleged company and found your blogsite.
So, this is just a thank you for posting this information, I will be diligent in getting the word out about this scam as others may not be as skeptical as myself.

Regards,
Julann

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Message details:
From: Titly
Email: titly_2002@xxxx
Subject: scam

Hi Michale,

Thanks for your blog. Recently I published an ad for a house for rent. I got similar type of email like yours. Most of them said they live in UK. Among them I got 2 emails from different person with same email body( each and every words are same). Here's the copy of this email:-

"Robertini Darek"
Subject: $2000 / 3br - Beautiful Spacious 3 Beds,2 Baths Single Family House for Rent (Franklin) (map)
To: titly_2002@yahoo.com
Hello,...........

...........................................................One that found it to late!

There's a new comment on the blog entry Beware Rental Scams Operating on Craigslist.com

Comment:

Man I was hit with one of these scams.  I should of went with my gut but my whole mind set was trying to get rid of my apartment without having a broken lease on my record. Now I am even farther set back in bills and payment and my credit history is a lil damaged.  I wish I did some better research about this before hand.  Its good to read and verify that I am definately not alone.

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Comment:

We got this email from Weaser Kent too.... Thank you so much for putting these blogs up about these people!!

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There's a new comment on the blog entry Beware Rental Scams Operating on Craigslist.com

Comment:

WOW!.... The scrammers are good..   Thanks for the heads up --I happen to know alot of people in the UK..  this guy didnt ck out.. nor the company... It is sad that honest people have to put with  people who want take adv. of us.. I appreciate  the inside (thanks to internet)

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