Housing Pain: Broker Allegedly Swipes Pills
The national housing bust has put real estate agents in a world of hurt; as business has slowed dramatically from its once-booming clip. In the face of such misfortunes, one broker has allegedly found a creative—if questionable—way to take the edge off.
From the Associated Press, via the Real Estate Bloggers:
A real estate broker is facing charges after he allegedly stole pain medication from houses he had claimed to be showing to clients.
One homeowner told police he came home Tuesday to find his dog locked in the garage and pain medication missing from his kitchen cabinet.
The 64-year-old real estate agent was in the Hennepin County jail awaiting formal charges.
Minnetonka detective Sgt. Dave Riegert says police have linked the real estate broker to the theft Tuesday as well as to one in June. Police believe they'll find many more homes involved.
According to a police report, the man had a sock containing 85 pills in his car. He was arrested Tuesday at a scheduled home showing.
I'm with you, man. I mean, have you seen the Case-Shiller index recently? It takes a lot more than a Scotch and soda to make those numbers look good....
Tags: real estate | housing market
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People wandering through your home
We always tell our clients to secure all valuables, and prescription medications, when their home is on the market. In theory this is to protect the seller from potential buyers with "sticky fingers", but yes there are also agents out there who may steal things.
It's especially important in open house situations where there may be multiple people walking through your home at the same time. There is no way an agent can keep an eye on everyone (and this is just one of several reasons we don't advocate holding open houses).
This broker apparently has an addiction problem, which is sad. That doesn't excuse his actions of course. But it can be prevented. Keep your meds with you, or lock them up.
One more reason
Med-stealing by a real estate agent is pretty extreme and probably fairly rare.
But we can add it to the otherwise long list of reasons to avoid using a realtor altogether if you possibly can. Yes, these people advertise and "show" your home. But if you can somehow lasso a potential buyer and convince him/her that you will sell the house at appraisal minus 6% (giving all the commission savings to the buyer), you have a leg up. Not only that, the buyer will bend over backwards trying to work with you on closing and details if you do this TRUTHFULLY. In this buyers' market, the agent is going to pressure you to be "flexible, competitive, aggressive, etc. etc." on price anyway. The 6% lasso-a-looker fee is the place to start, if you can. The buyer needs it more than the agent does.
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