A few weeks ago, I received a generic lead from Trulia. Here's the text of the message sent me by this extraordinary "buyer":
"I am looking for a real estate professional to buy house from and I came upon your profile on Trulia. Please reply to this email if you are in business and schedule a time for us to talk. Please forward your listing I am interested. Thank, yamada Akitoki Thank you."
"Well," I thought, "perhaps English isn't his first language, and he might not understand how Trulia works. Maybe he viewed a listing, saw my 'Trulia Pro' info at the bottom, and associated me with the property."
I type a response, thanking him for his inquiry and saying, "Please feel free to call or e-mail me to let me know more about the market area and property type you are interested in purchasing."
Fire off that e-mail...
7 hours later... *New Message*
"I am Mr. yamada Akitoki a Japanese origin I need a 4 to 5 bed room single family home to buy and it has to be a traditional sale and it’s going to be a cash buy, with a garage and 2 bath with or without swimming pool price should be $550,000.00 please sends me some listing/MLS to choose from."
I overcome the urge to dump this in my Spam folder. What if he's new to the American real estate scene and needs some help? But I monologue sarcastically to myself, "Wow! A 'traditional sale'- no sticky foreclosure or short sale hurdles to worry about! And cash terms, keeping those underwriters and appraisers out of the picture! Simple property criteria, a hefty budget..."
(This is beginning to sound like one of those fantastic 5-day cruise ship vacation deals that the fax machine excretes several times a week... you know, where ALL the travel and hotel expenses are covered?? I am going on one of those as soon as my jackpot winnings from the African Lottery arrive- should be showing up in my bank account any day now...)
I firmly request "Mr. Akitoki" to call me. He responds by e-mail asking for some MLS listings that fit his criteria. I relent, taking all of five minutes to pull up a short list of properties and send him an e-mail with MLS datasheets... (I'm still trying to give this guy the benefit of the doubt.) I also inform him about the need to have a Representation Agreement in place between us if he decides to pursue a purchase.
The next day I receive another e-mail.
Mr. Aki-hokey is ready to buy! He has now chosen his sight unseen "retirement home" based soley on the "curb appeal" of the property, as depicted in the MLS photos. (This is how most buyers shop- especially when they're spending 1/2 a million greenbacks. It's more thrilling to retire to an enormous question mark in a far-off land.) He gives a list of extremely generous terms: offering just a few dollars shy of the list price, huge earnest money check, quick closing, unicorns and rainbows for all... he just needs some details about the closing office and attorney to whom he can send the money- and then there's something convoluted about using his attorney in Canada, and Mr. Akitoki having to send a check because he will be "out of town" at the time of the closing...
No more time to waste on this one.
Using the name and home address provided by Yamade-it-up, I search for the phantom buyer:
Lead Screening Checklist:
- Google.com - search for the name and e-mail address; no exact results. Just scattered references to anime characters. (But now if you search for Yamada Akitoki, you'll find my colleagues at Trulia.com reminiscing about our mutual fiend!)
- Google Maps Street View shows me his supposed place of residence: a weather-worn apartment building that seems closer to demolition than revitalization. Is this where our distinguished $550,000 home buyer chooses to live? Highly unlikely. (Although the plastic kiddy basketball hoop is included among the development's attractive sports amenities!)
I send him an ultimatum: Call me to explain these irregularities and unverifiable details or I am no longer available to assist you.
...No response.
But maybe he had to leave town on an "outrageously inexpensive WORLD TOUR CRUISE for just $199!!!".
Lesson Learned:
This experience was a great reminder to me: VERIFY EVERY LEAD. Sooner, rather than later. I spent about 30 minutes total on Yamade-it-up, but I could have saved myself the trouble by going through my internet screening checklist earlier in the process.
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"Black Sheep" - Image courtesy of scottchan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
"Dollar Hook" - Image courtesy of Simon Howden / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
