agent and noted that the buyers should not have had the keys and definitely should not be moving into the house. (There are several legal, insurance-related, and ownership reasons for this.) The buyers told their agent that they thought it was all right to move in before closing. While the buyers did not get to move in early, they did transfer the utilities to their name well before closing. The agents worked together to explain that the buyers could not turn on the utilities in their name until escrow closed. “I don’t think they ever really understood why, but they did comply,” the seller’s agent said.
FRAUDULENT BUYERS
A real estate agent was working for sellers whose house had sat unsold for several months. They were thrilled to get a cash offer for the $400,000 house from a couple. The buyers offered a proof- of-funds letter from a brokerage firm. The buyers’ extended family turned out for the home inspection. It was like a holiday open house. Later, the brokerage informed the agent that the proof-of- funds letter had a forged signature. The would-be buyers vanished, but the agent reported their extended family verbally abused her, the sellers, and the buyers’ agent. The agent now makes sure she verifies proof of funds and prequalification letters.
HOMES NOT RESEARCHED
In a transaction without the involvement of real estate agents, a woman purchased a rural home. She found out two years later, at the time she went to list the home, that it had once belonged to a person who was in jail for producing methamphetamine onsite! The revelation also obligated the home owner to take the necessary steps of decontaminating the home and ensuring it was fit for resale, in the process costing her a whopping $16,000.
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