Real Estate or Fake Estate?

About once a week I get a call from a client who wants to see a house they found on craigslist. At first I am ecstatic! Is this is the house that they have been looking for? Is it everything and more then my client wants? All I have to do is show it to them and write the deal. What a good day this turned out to be. Then reality sets in.

The reality is that my clients found a ghost property. Ghost properties as I like to call them are properties that are advertised for sale or lease but do not really exist. These properties are often advertised well below market value. Realtors are using craigslist to drive traffic to their site by advertising deals that are too good to be true. Sounds like bait and switch if you ask me.

definition bait-and-switch ☆ bait·-and-switch (bāt′’n swic̸h′) adjective of, related to, or employing an illegal or unethical sales technique in which a seller lures customers by advertising an often nonexistent item at a bargain price and then attempts to switch their attention to more expensive items

This is not the fault of Craigslist. This problem resides in the hands of the Realtors. Most Realtors advertise like they are desperate. Just yesterday I called on a house that was advertised on craigslist. The ad showed a nice 3 bedroom, 2 bath, blue house with white Corinthian columns all for around $1650 a month, in west campus. Sounds to good to be true right? Well, it was. The agent who was advertising the property does not know where that nice blue house is. He told me about some other houses in the area at that price. None of which looked like the little blue house. I knew the little blue house was not really listed for that price. I had already done that search. I really just wanted to hear what the Realtor said.

I confronted the Realtor about what he was doing and pointed out that it sounds like a bait and switch. I have not heard from him since. Shady Realtors, like this guy are giving the rest of us a bad name.

So next time you find yourself on craigslist looking at property, there are a few things to look out for.

• If the advertisement does not have an address for the property, it maybe a ghost property.
• If the property advertised is the best you have seen for the money, it maybe a ghost property.
• If the advertisement says anything about seeing all the listings in the MLS, the property maybe a ghost property.

Craigslist is a great tool. I do suggest going to their site to look for property. However don’t be surprised when the property can’t be found. I know most of the listings on craigslist are not fraudulent but a few of them are. So protect yourself and don’t except a bait-and-switch.

If you can’t find what you are looking for on craigslist please feel free to search on my website. www.neuhausre.com You can search all you want and we will not contact you until you are ready. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to post them below.