Back to scammers. We had a guy call up, said he is battling cancer, and needs to sell his waterfront home, here in Granbury. Well it is within walking distance of the square, built in 2023. We ran comps and were going to list it at $1.75mil. We had walked the outside of the house, and it is absolutely a killer place. This guy even goes as far as to sign a listing agreement, as the owner of the property using the real owners name. The owners live in Littleton, CO, we asked if there was a key hidden. The scammer said he needed to ask his wife, she said she couldn't remember, so he told us to just call a locksmith and have him change the locks. My broker (Mom) said that we wouldn't do that, that he needed to call a locksmith and give them his credit card number and authorize it himself.
Things got real quite suddenly. On a hunch, Mom found the wife's phone number online, and when she called the lady answered. The lady was blindsided, she said her husband is fine, and that they have no intention of selling. The Granbury PD is involved now, they have the guys number and real identity, he is in Houston, so I don't imagine anything will come of it.
So, beware of people that are wanting to sell their out of state vacation property, and are not willing to come meet you face to face. There have been other scammers trying to sell people's vacant lots around town as well. County records departments are going to have to come up with a game plan to keep this from happening. Maybe require the seller to go to the courthouse and verify ownership, and the sale before issuing a deed. At least on property that is not their primary residence.
CHIEF