People on property without a Realtor (agent, sale, Realtors, state)
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House next door to me is empty and for sale. A few times there have been people on the property without being accompanied by a real estate agent.
On Thanksgiving there was 3 shadey looking individuals doing this, walking around looking into windows opening sheds... all this right at the time people likely would be sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner. I called the cops but nothing came of it.
Would you have called the cops in this instance?
Should people be snooping around a for sale home like this without a realtor with them?
I feel like some of these people are not perspective buyers since I don't see them coming back with an agent to see the inside.... I feel they are casing the house and my house. Paranoid? perhaps.
They were likely window shopping. They may call an agent to see the house, it was Thanksgiving and they probably didn't think the agent would be working that day. They shouldn't have opened the sheds, that's not cool.
I'm not sure what time you think people sit down to Thanksgiving. That's one of those meals that people eat anywhere from 1 PM to 8PM, so I doubt that's the reason for the timing of their being there. It's more likely they had finished eating and were just finding something to do after dinner and before it got dark.
One likely scenario is that they were visiting family or friends that live nearby. The friends/family mentioned the house for sale yesterday or previously. They took this opportunity to take a look. Looking in the windows--probably okay since they probably knew the house was vacant. Opening sheds and stuff wouldn't be possible if they were locked.
I understand your discomfort, but it happens with empty houses.
When the property was for sale next to me (raw land) it was very common for people to walk it without a realtor. The problem was they would often park in a manner that blocked access to the other property behind the for sale place. It didn't bother me but a couple of times the guy living in the back property had to wait for them to come back to their car and move it.
It would have been best for them to at least call the realtor and ask; they would have been told not to block the access.
Do you think contacting the listing agent and telling them whats happening and that the PD has been on the scene is worth the trouble? After all, they want people to see the property and hopefully call them for a showing.
Maybe it will stop if one of these "window shoppers" kicks in the front door and wheels the appliances out on a dolly!
Do you think contacting the listing agent and telling them whats happening and that the PD has been on the scene is worth the trouble? After all, they want people to see the property and hopefully call them for a showing.
Maybe it will stop if one of these "window shoppers" kicks in the front door and wheels the appliances out on a dolly!
If/when you see that happening - THEN you call the police! Simple.
It would be disconcerting for us as well. Especially since we are in an area where people don't just walk on other people's property and poke around like that.
I could see a couple on a holiday visiting and considering living near their friends and family. But not happening several times.
There's a risk there now for neighbors and a risk for the owners. What if the people poking around hurt themselves or damaged something or broke in.
You can't get in touch with the owners? Or a realtor? Someone needs to take some form of acting like an owner for now.
Perhaps it's a situation where it's pretty much abandoned and the owner can contact the police department and let them know that and they can drive by every now and then.
I think this is why realtors don't put "For Sale" signs in front of some very high-end homes. In those cases, it discourages a lot of lookers who have NO intention or ability to buy.
House next door to me is empty and for sale. A few times there have been people on the property without being accompanied by a real estate agent.
On Thanksgiving there was 3 shadey looking individuals doing this, walking around looking into windows opening sheds... all this right at the time people likely would be sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner. I called the cops but nothing came of it.
Would you have called the cops in this instance?
Should people be snooping around a for sale home like this without a realtor with them?
I feel like some of these people are not perspective buyers since I don't see them coming back with an agent to see the inside.... I feel they are casing the house and my house. Paranoid? perhaps.
I would err on the side of caution and go with my paranoia. There was a time when house hunters would do this. One house we bought when I was a child was an empty house we noticed as we drove by. We looked around the outside and in the windows. Now I would be hesitant to approach an empty house.
I would also make it obvious to people wandering around an empty property next to me that I was aware of their presence and maybe let them see me taking down their license plate number.
I think it is nice when the realtor puts out one of those boxes with pertinent information about the house.
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