UPDATE! not paranoid!... keeping RE buyers from casing my place?

[eggdd]

Quote:
x2

you make me nervous, not the potential buyer. calm down.

 

[wolftracks]

I had my RE license at one time and you really have to pay attention when showing a home where someone lives. I learned that when I lived in a house that they were selling while I lived there. I walked in on people going through dressers, kids playing in MY kids' rooms with their things. And then there was the lady that had found my jewelry box and was putting on my grandmother's necklace! Same agent came back with another family and I was very bad. Started yelling and screaming and my 2 oldest daughters started screaming and crying (not really) and we thought we had scared them off. She rang that bell so many times I wanted to rip if off the wall. I finally opened the door and she has this huge smile "can we look around now?" I started to open the door and my oldest son who was like 3 or 4 was notorious for mooning and picked that moment to do it. Thought that woman was going to have a heart attack on my porch. She finally turned and quickly got her buyers to leave. Luckily I had let the owner know what had happened the couple of times she got her buyers in the house, so I called and confessed to what we did. Had to mention the moon. That poor man laughed till he choked. He called the listing agent and asked him to keep her from bringing any other buyers. I swear the only ones we had a problem with were the ones she brought.

I don't blame you for being paranoid.

I'm house hunting full force as of 7 hours ago. My oldest daughter is an agent and we've got a list of this area to look at and then we'll be searching outside my area. I want at least an acre and hopefully more. A lot of the houses that we decided to check out have tenants. I hate looking at houses where someone lives. First I don't like to bother them. Second it's hard to see in my mind what I can do if someone else's stuff is there and third, I don't want to have to worry that they'won't be out by the time I want to move in.

 

[Mattemma]

When we sold 2 places the realtor would only allow those to look who had a pre-approval to purchase.In the case of renting or lease the person would be required to submit a photo id and a bill with a current addy...to be copied.Also, they could do a credit check before an offer to see if they are even worthy. I know that does not prevent that person from having ANOTHER person break in,but it is something to start with following a burglary.

Showing by appointment only AND the owner/realtor must be present to walk the person through the home. That and an ID copy would be my rules. Cover/put away everything of value that you can,and if only you are showing it walk with the person.

If you have dogs they are a good deterent.Put them in one off limit room where they can bark away.Shoot you could run a cd of barking in a closed room too.People are less likely to go into a dog home.Now if you have some mini dogs definetly don't let them be seen.They have a huge bark,but that is negated once people see the dog!

I would not display a gun,but maybe you could put a bat or golf club by the doors,lol. There are very few cases of burglarys following showings,but they do happen so just be on guard in the unlikely event that you have to deal with it.

 

[ruthless]

I wonder if you could take of picture of the agent and prospective buyers when they come in. That way they could be IDd if ever needed.

I doubt that in our area with the economy the way it is that there will be more than 1-2 lookers, so maybe it really won't be a problem.

Best of luck.

 

[twentynine]

Quote:
Ding! Ding! Ding!

Winning reply!

Your paying rent, why not pay the same money to a mortgage.

 

[dainerra]

the problem is, you've already agreed to let the house be shown. In some states, AR for instance, the owner only has to give notice when the house is being shown and the renter has no say in the matter. Purposefully scaring off potential buyers or in anyway interfering with the showing could get you in a lot of trouble.

Even if it's legal to carry on your property, walking around with a gun while buyers are there could easily be considered harassment and intimidation - motive would be that you don't want them to buy the house (not that that is the reason, but that would be the case made). I wouldn't just leave them laying around either. What if a kid picked one up?

You're kind of between a rock and a hard place. As far as looking into things they have no business, if it's staying with the property, then they can open it up and look inside. Your medicine cabinet, your closets, storage rooms in the barns, etc Now they shouldn't be going through your personal drawers and dressers, but if the furniture came with the property, then they can even open your underwear drawer.

Even taking pictures or anything else that makes the buyers uncomfortable can lead to a complaint from the agent. How good do you and your landlord get along? How badly does he want to sell this property? Once you've agreed to the showing schedule, then he could try to evict you based on you interfering with that. I'm not sure about your state, but in some states he doesn't even have to ask you. Can just say "house is going on the market. you will be given 24 hour notice before a buyer comes over"


eta: ok, in MO all I've found so far is that if he sold the house tomorrow, the new owners can't make you move until your lease is up.

ETAA: lol ok, MO is one of the only states where the landlord has no right of entry. However, verbal agreements between landlord and tenant are valid there, for 30 days. So, for 30 days you have to let the property be shown as you agreed. I would tell him that you are uncomfortable with people being there and that you don't wish to have them on the property. However, I would first contact a legal services office for tenant rights in your area. Make sure what the laws actually are. You might be able to tell the landlord not to show the house at all until you move.

 

[zzGypsy]

Quote:
because they want 80,000 more than it's worth... they're looking to get a specialty buyer, a pro dog breeder or a dog rescue because it's got a big kennel on it and they're trying to get someone who'll pay the high price because of the building and the fact that it's far enough out to not get neighbor complaints for barking. maybe they'll get it, but if I were buying in that price range, Id want 80,000 more land instead of the kennel.

 

[zzGypsy]

dainerra: we get on ok with the landlord, but he's in a BIG hurry to sell. and yes, there are lots of things I love about MO, including laws regarding honoring contracts for lease even if the owner sells. as I said our lease requires a 3-day notice before entry, so we could make them stick to that, and we could make the owner drive out here if they show it, but really, I'm not trying to be a butt about things, just want *MY* stuff protected.

what's the saying... I may be paranoid but that doesn't mean they AREN'T out to get me?

we've had stuff stolen, and as I said, we've had some experiences to back up some level of paranoia. I took the rose colored glasses off a while back, the world isn't always a nice place. and ask any law enforcement officer, deterent is a good plan, best deployed before you have losses.

for those of you I'm making nervous by wanting to protect my stuff... um... ok. I worked hard for these things, some of them are simply not replaceable, and some certainly not at what an insurance company would pay. if it seems unreasonable to want to protect what I"ve worked hard for, I don't really know what to say to that.

Mattemma: that's an interesting thought, I've got LGDs out with the goats... they're not in-the-house dogs, but I know they'll bark at strangers in the yard. maybe I need to put up a pen close to the house for one of them when we have visitors.

ruthless: you may be right, the protperty next to us has been on the market for most of a year... haven't asked them how much interest they're getting, probably should.

dainerra: of course I wouldn't leave my gun laying around... what if someone stole it?

 

[MamaRoo]

Quote:
Yes. And answer the door with "I've locked up the dogs, but I'll need to be around you in case they get out." Or something like that.

 

[whitejerabias]

The apartment we are in was sold last year. It was a huge hassle and our (ex) landlady was a complete witch about it. But it was her legal right to show it "during business hours at a mutually convenient time". We had to threaten her once when she insisted on showing at a time that my two year old was home alone with a babysitter. I told her that if she showed up at all that day the cops would be called and we would prosecute as fully as possible. She did not show up. But it was very inconvenient and invasive. But luckily the house was sold to a wonderful woman who is currently breaking all rules of convention with us while keep giving notice and taking it back (we are in the middle of buying our own home and having trouble with a shady mortgage broker).

Do what you can to make yourself feel more secure, but know that the likelihood of what you are imagining is so small. I am assuming you have renters insurance?