When someone begins the process of selling their home, they usually focus on trying to understand how to get it ready to show, how to figure out the price and, most importantly, how to get people in to see their home.

Sellers need to be cautious when showing their home to prospective buyers. Most people wouldn’t think of inviting guests, or even friends, to view their closets, bedrooms or bathrooms. That would be extremely uncomfortable or embarrassing.

So why do sentiments change when opening up a home to a complete stranger who says they want to buy their home? Are they really someone who wants to buy their home or just someone snooping around or even worse?

This isn’t meant to scare people, just to recognize potential problems before they arise. This occurred to me when I was thinking of an interaction that I had this past year.

I received a call from another real estate broker who was working with an out-of-state client. The conversation was fairly rushed as she was obviously busy when she asked for my assistance.

I agreed to work with her client, whom she didn’t know very well. I called the buyer. That conversation was also hurried, but she insisted she was serious as she had just sold a home in another state. She needed to buy a home quickly.

She was in town and wanted to buy something right away in a very remote area. I gave her my office address and we set a time to meet the next day. I immediately went to work arranging properties to see and doing research. I was getting excited as I truly enjoy the challenge of helping someone find a great property.

And she seemed appreciative. When I asked for her email, she said the other agent had it with her information. I wasn’t sure why she didn’t just give it to me, but I contacted the other broker and she sent me everything. My first red flag was the email address. It didn’t look like one I had ever seen before, so I put that in the back of my mind.

The next morning, a Saturday, the buyer called and said she couldn’t find my office. I asked her to stay where she was and I met her in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant. She had two dogs and her teenage daughter in the car. She was standing outside her van with the door open sipping coffee out of a ceramic mug. I wasn’t being nosey but I couldn’t help but notice big piles of stuff inside the van covering the dashboard and windshield.

That was red flag two. They looked like they had been living in this van for a period of time. Her license plates didn’t match the state she said she was from or where she had just sold her property. I started a polite, chatty conversation to get to know her better and, frankly, to continue assessing this situation before we headed into the hills. I asked her where she stayed the previous night and she seemed forgetful until her daughter gave me the name of a hotel. I knew the hotel but asked them where it was and they seemed confused. Again, in the back of my mind I was going to check with the hotel when I got the chance.

My mind was racing, as I was all ready to show homes. I had spent hours setting up showings and talking to agents and prospective sellers. But ignoring red flags, besides a huge waste of time, can allow a bad situation to get even worse. I told her that I was not prepared to take two people and two dogs in my car all over

Montana. That’s what I said, but I was thinking that it wasn’t a good idea for other reasons. What she said and what this looked like were not the same story. I politely told her that we weren’t prepared for the day and would have to reschedule. She was agitated and not understanding at all. She asked me to send her all the property information or give her my files before I left. I haven’t done either since.

I immediately called the sellers of the homes we were going to visit. One home was being sold by the sellers personally. I cautioned them but also told them I did not give out their address or information. They said they hadn’t even thought about the possible dangers of selling on their own.

When I called the brokers and real estate agents for the other homes, they all thanked me. It is always better to cancel a showing if there are reasons to doubt the authenticity of a buyer. One of the agents told me her client was quite elderly and this would have upset her or could have caused untold problems.

When I think back on this incident and other interactions I have had over the years, I can summarize some red flags to be aware of before letting people enter your home:

• Think about how you came to know these people – from the Internet or from a closer source?

• Get their contact information, including home address, email and phone number, and verify them somehow. If they get upset, they are not worth working with.
• Get their lender information and contact them. If they say they are paying cash, then get their banker’s information. If it is the weekend, then wait until Monday. If they get upset, they are not worth working with.

• Meet them in person in a public place and spend time there with them and observe body language. If they are uncomfortable, they are not worth working with.

• Make one or two phone calls, in front of the buyers, to people who will know where you are, and again watch the buyer’s body language. If they are uncomfortable, they are not worth working with.

• Finally, try hard to forget that you really want to sell your home. Ask yourself if these people seems to be who they tell you they are. Are their words matching their actions? If you are uncomfortable, they are not worth working with.

Nice people – I am assuming that is you – don’t want to hurt people’s feelings, so you may be uncomfortable saying you won’t let them in your home.

People with ulterior motives will take advantage of that behavior. If this seems like overkill, I seriously advise that you use a professional to assist you in understanding a true buyer versus someone with other motives. After years of experience working with people in this manner, it becomes obvious most of the time.

Most people don’t sell homes very often in their lives. They assume that calls from buyers are serious people looking for new homes. Most of the time, this is true. However sellers can get so excited that they overlook the obvious signs of problems or something more serious. This is exactly the time when danger can strike.

Be sure to pre-approve buyers before they come into your home. I remember that morning with this buyer, her daughter, two dogs and who knows what else in their van. It was a Saturday morning and I still had time to enjoy a stroll at the farmers market. I was enjoying my coffee when I bumped into a friend who I had met years ago as a home buyer. We chatted and swapped stories. I was instantly reminded of what a true buyer sounds and looks like. It turned into a perfect morning and perfect reminder to trust my instincts and spend more time enjoying Missoula.

***

Joy Earls is a broker/owner of Joy Earls Real Estate. She can be reached at 531-9811 or joyearls@joyearls.com.