Belize Real Estate  Links  
Real Estate Information

Selling Your Home - A FSBOs Guide to Keeping It Safe


Sellers need to keep their safety in mind when prospecting potential buyers. The real estate industry has seen a problematic climb in assaults towards realtors, and so is the concern for those who are selling their own homes.

Here are just seven ways designed specifically to protect you, your family, and your home, from being victimized:

1. Fully screen callers before allowing them an appointment for seeing your home. Ask all the questions: name, existing address, and telephone number. Where are they employed? Why are they looking to buy? Do they have a family in the area? Any children? Ask as many questions until you feel comfortable with this person.

2. Do not let unannounced visitors into your home unless you have their information first. If you are alone in the house, have them come back later when there are others home. There is no reason why someone cannot be professional and make an appointment with you. Make sure there is more than one person in your home when showing your property. Remember, safety in numbers.

3. If you must show your home alone keep a cell phone with you. If you are in danger of a potential buyer, you can easily call 911 for help. In the event in needing to get away from someone run out of the house into your vehicle or neighbor's house. Remember, your life is more important than any property. Most criminals interviewed say they do not want to harm anyone when taking valuables, prescription drugs or money. But if the home owner puts up a fight, so will they. Let it go. Property and things in your home can be replaced, your life cannot!

4. Tell your children, even if they are older to not let anyone in the house unless you are there. Even teenage children should not let anyone into the house. More assaults are committed on young people from the ages of 15- 25 years of age than any other age group.

5. Be very aware of virtual tours. If a virtual tour is an option for selling your home, make sure there are no expensive objects in the room(s). Criminals look for opportunities such as these to target homes to burglarize.

6. Let neighbors know you are selling your home. Check with them on a regular basis to see if anyone has been around the house when you are not there. Criminals will use an open house, or a walk-through to pose as a potential buyer to scope out properties to burglarize later.

7. Keeping the curb appeal not only adds value when you are selling a home, but adds to the safety of your home as well. After searching a home during an open house, criminals interviewed say they look for high bushes near windows, not well-lit areas of a home, and concealed entrances to come back and gain access to a home. Keep bushes trimmed low, repair or add higher wattage light bulbs to existing lights, and keep entrances well lit for theft prevention.

Don't hesitate. If you're serious about selling your home yourself, just make sure your safety plan is just as serious to protect you and your family's future.

Michelle Annese is a 3rd degree black belt with 15+ years experience teaching industry specific self defense and safety for women and children. She is author of 'the Realtor Survival Guide", 'Protection for Women', and 'The SafeGuard System for Kids'. For more information on how to protect yourself and your family go to http://www.michelleannese.com and check out other articles and sign up for a free safety tips e-newsletter.


MORE RESOURCES:

Real estate developer says he plans to make cash bid for Philadelphia's 2 ...
Washington Post
PHILADELPHIA — A wealthy real estate developer said Tuesday he and four partners plan to make an offer to buy the city's two largest newspapers, whose downtown offices he already owns. Bart Blatstein said he plans to pursue an acquisition of some or ...

and more »


Data Center Knowledge

Alexandria Real Estate Q4 FFO Rises - Quick Facts
NASDAQ
(RTTNews.com) - Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. (ARE) Tuesday reported an increase in funds from operations for the fourth quarter, as revenues grew. Funds from operations, FFO, attributable to common stockholders for the quarter was $67.8 million ...
Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter and Year Ended ...MarketWatch (press release)
2011 Operating Results And Increased 2012 Guidance Announced By National ...Daily Markets (press release)
BRE Properties 4Q Net Soars As FFO ImprovesWall Street Journal
4-traders (press release) -RTT News -Business Wire (press release)
all 68 news articles »


Los Angeles Times

REAL ESTATE: Refinancing expanding for Fannie/Freddie borrowers
Press-Enterprise
With the changes that are expected to make the program much more effective, the program is being called HARP II by those in the real estate and mortgage industries. Probably the most significant improvement is that it lifts the ceilings on the amount ...
US mortgage giant plans massive auction of foreclosure propertiesA Place in the Sun

all 140 news articles »


MarketWatch

Asia real-estate bull turns bearish
MarketWatch
“Singapore and Hong Kong are two of the freest economies in the world, yet you pay more in stamp duties [real-estate transaction taxes] now than you would in London, because they are very worried about the markets continuing to overheat,” Murphy said.

and more »


Real estate market rebounding
Park Record
The Park City Board of REALTORS shut the book on the 2011 real estate market, releasing their annual report on last year's number of sales, sales prices and number of foreclosures. 2011 sales increased by a total of six percent from the year before ...
Real Estate Market Picks UpKIII TV3

all 2 news articles »


The Real Estate Book Helps Agents Go Mobile in Just Minutes With Free Online ...
MarketWatch (press release)
LAWRENCEVILLE, GA, Feb 07, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- With more and more consumers relying on mobile devices for local information, real estate professionals can no longer ignore this increasingly important channel when marketing properties.
The Real Estate Book Helps Agents Go MobileRisMedia.com (press release)

all 4 news articles »


Apple Valley real estate developer rejects offer in San Bernardino County ...
San Bernardino Sun
By Mike Cruz, The (San Bernardino County) Sun SAN BERNARDINO - Apple Valley real estate developer John Dino DeFazio, who is charged with six counts of perjury related to a county corruption probe, turned down a plea bargain offered by prosecutors ...

and more »


Real Estate Weekly- What is a 203K Rehab Mortgage Loan?
Ukiah Daily Journal
By Deanna Parrish You find this great house that is in the perfect location, it's in a great school district, excellent floor plan and the yard you always wanted. It's the lowest price in the neighborhood. So what's not to like? It's a foreclosure.

and more »


Citybizlist Real Estate

Collins Joins Equity Office Properties in Boston as Regional Director
Citybizlist Real Estate
Collins brings more than 15 years of experience in real estate investment management to this role. Formerly, Collins was a Director at Long Wharf Real Estate Partners and was involved in the group's asset management activities.
Sam Zell "Comes Clean" for Penton's National Real Estate Investor (nreionline.com)MarketWatch (press release)

all 5 news articles »


New York Times

So Eager to Get Foot in Real Estate's Door, They Work Without Pay
New York Times
In past years, becoming a real estate agent was rarely a first-choice gig. For many people, it was a way to pay the bills while trying to break into another field. For some, it was a second career — or maybe a third or a fourth — tackled after the ...
Interns look to NYC brokerages for unpaid workThe Real Deal New York (blog)

all 2 news articles »

Google News

home | site map | Colorado Log Homes | Homes for Sale in Denver Metro
© 2006