trespassing house hunters (state, sellers, houses, listing)
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And that depends on the MLS code. If it says the home is unoccupied and available for viewing I wil do exactly that. I may even use the lock box and go inside.. I need no further permission. Other codes may require other behavior. But if there is a for sale sign on a house and it is not in the MLS I certainly will ring the bell. And if no answer I may well take a look in the back yard.. No I won't force a gate or such but yes I will take a look. I will also write down the phone number or anything else available so I know about the place for my clients.
And if the code does NOT say it is unoccupied? Want to set off a burglar alarm that is set because you did not book an appointment when the sign says By Appointment Only? Want to risk a dog bite for the same reason? Want to show a home where dishes are not washed for the same reason?
When a house is for sale, people slowly driving by checking out the general appearance of the neighborhood, house, and yard is expected. As is stopping to examine...from the road. Not inside the property. The By Appointment Only and listing agent's phone number is there for good reason. There have been instances of squatters breaking into vacant homes, and of scammers using the listing photos to present the house as being "for rent."
When we looked at houses to buy, there was one for which we went first with a broker, and then got permission to drive back and look at the grounds only without him, plus a third, more detailed visit with the broker. The house had long been vacated, so this was fine. We would never have walked around the yard without permission to do so, even if it were legal.
Just because you *think* people don't have any property rights if something is for sale, doesn't make it true.
A sign does not make it legally OK for you to walk around the property. It just doesn't. You can drive by, or stand out front and look from the road, but I would not go much further than that without permission.
Trespass at your own risk. Better to call a realtor and schedule a showing!
Nonsense. You are suggesting that walking up to a front door to knock or ring the bell is a trespass? Simply nonsense. It is perfectly clear you can enter a property to knock on the door or ring. So we know that all entry into a property does not constitute trespass. Now is a sign a big enough invitation to overcome trespass? I would think it would make trespass practically unlikely. Not polite perhaps but not illegal.
And if the code does NOT say it is unoccupied? Want to set off a burglar alarm that is set because you did not book an appointment when the sign says By Appointment Only? Want to risk a dog bite for the same reason? Want to show a home where dishes are not washed for the same reason?
Again you do what the codes suggest. Simple. And in general the MLS lists the occupancy of the home and warns of things like dogs and alarms. Not always correctly by the way.
But it is generally not wise to wander around the back yard of an occupied dwelling without clear permission and I would knock or ring the doorbell even if I had permission. Never surprise folk.
I make my view reasonably clear. I will walk around a home for sale if I know it is vacant and has a suitable entry code. So. as far as I know would any competent agent. I certainly will not suspend looking for concern over a neighbor. I don't believe you would either.
The question about signs and permission to look deals with the trespass statutes and not MLS rules. I don't think you can claim trespass when you have a simple for sale sign up. We use riders to say shown by appointment only etc. And you?
I would never enter the backyard of an occupied home without permission. I would however not hesitate to ring the bell and ask. This presumes it is not in the MLS.
The major point is that the public is not as polite as agents and may well invade a backyard over a for sale sign. If you put one up don't be surprised. And don't expect the cops to do anything about such an entry other than chase the offenders out.
If it's listed with an agent, it is highly unethical for you to go distub the sellers, unless the listing says to contact seller for appt. That is bypassing the listing agent, and interfering with their listing. Agents are supposed to contact the listing agent with any questions or for setting appts unless specifically told to contact seller.
The people stopping by have seen the house on the internet and are running by to take a look at it, to see if they even want to bother seeing the inside. There is no way of preventing the public from pulling up, walking up to the front door and peering in the house, seeing that it's vacant, and then deciding to walk around the property. Is it rude? Surely, it is.
If there's a shared gate, you may want to considering locking it for a few weeks, to avoid people wandering around. The agent will probably be reluctant to put up a "No Trespassing" sign, because it looks unfriendly -- and if pressed, he doesn't want to say that the neighbors are easily upset. :-)
You may want to call the agent and discuss the problem with them -- they need to know that people are trespassing. If it's showing as vacant on public feeds, that's a HUGE problem, because it's an invitation for someone to break in, steal appliances, etc., or even use it to sleep in the garage, etc.
My neighbors are selling their home and it just went up on the MLS yesterday. They are out of town, but today I have been seeing people pulling up in the driveway, getting out of their cars, and wandering all around the yard. There is no agent showing them around; they are just trespassing. Our houses are only about 20 feet apart, there is no fence, we have a shared garden path on the property line that we both use to access our respective back yards, and it is freaking me out a little to have random people wandering around right outside my windows, no doubt inspecting my back yard as well as the house that is for sale, etc.
Is this kind of trespassing *normal* nowadays? It never would have occurred to me to do anything so intrusive when house-shopping myself; if I wanted to do more than look at the house from the public sidewalk, I would have called the agent for a showing. I don't want to interfere with the neighbors' ability to sell their house, but would a "No Trespassing" sign in that area be useful/appropriate?
OP, this seems like a good way to filter out bad future neighbors. You don't want inconsiderate people moving in next door. Hang a "No Trespassing" sign out front. If you catch someone trespassing, call the cops. Or confront them, take pictures, and tell them you won't tolerate them setting foot in your yard again. Or have your lawyer write a polite letter to your neighbors informing them that you don't tolerate trespassers. Bunch of stuff you can do.
Or not do. You can also just ignore it. With luck, it'll all be over soon.
As I've said before, the neighbor's house is NOT vacant. The photos on the MLS listing clearly show this.
FWIW, I haven't seen any trespassers today. One of the other neighbors that shares our common driveway has a contractor in doing some work on their house today, and I'll bet the extra cars and activity out there are giving the would-be trespassers second thoughts about trying to sneak around the property without an appointment.
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Originally Posted by dr.frog
As I've said before, the neighbor's house is NOT vacant. The photos on the MLS listing clearly show this.
FWIW, I haven't seen any trespassers today. One of the other neighbors that shares our common driveway has a contractor in doing some work on their house today, and I'll bet the extra cars and activity out there are giving the would-be trespassers second thoughts about trying to sneak around the property without an appointment.
You are exactly right. No one has the right or can claim privilege to walk the property without an appointment.
If that sort of license to abuse a listing is common in your area, at minimum, the listing agent should have a sign rider stating "By Appointment Only" installed on the sign.
Violators should be prosecuted for trespassing.
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