Greg's Corner

$200K property almost sold out from under owner

By Greg Collier

A man from Raleigh, North Carolina almost had a $200,000 plot of land he owns sold out from under him. The man has owned the property since the 1980s, so he’s probably not in the market to sell it. You may imagine his surprise when he received a message from a realtor, asking him if he was selling the property.

The realtor contacted the owner because the realtor had been contacted by someone claiming to be the owner. The impostor was even said to have presented a North Carolina driver’s license in the owner’s name. The reason the realtor contacted the true owner of the property was because the impostor’s story didn’t add up. The impostor allegedly said he was selling the property because he needed quick cash to buy a home in Michigan.

However, that apparently didn’t stop the scammer, as they were able to convince another realtor to list the property on Zillow. A listing on Zillow with a realtor’s name behind it makes the listing look as legitimate as possible. That realtor even started receiving offers for the property. Thankfully, the owner got the realtor to take down the listing.

If a fraudulent sale had gone through, it could have been a legal nightmare for the owner. Even though the man can show proof that he is, in fact, the owner of the property, there could have been a long and drawn out legal battle to evict anyone who may have moved on to the property.

As we have shown previously, this is very similar to the rental scam, where scammers have listed properties for rent they do not own. While Zillow is a great resource to help determine if a real estate listing is a scam, it is not infallible.

The best way to prevent your home from showing up as for sale or for rent on Zillow is to claim the property on Zillow yourself. This applies to other real estate platforms as well.