FACEBOOK MONEY SCAM HITS SPRING HILL, FLORIDA

I posted this on my regular blog site this morning, but I feel it is absolutely necessary to post here on my real estate site because this is happening to people everywhere, and you do not want to be a victim.

Yesterday I woke up to find three urgent messages in my personal email inbox all purporting to be from a friend of mine with a business here in Spring Hill, Florida.

All 3 were identical and asked me to reply to the email to send money because my friend was in London and had lost her wallet, her credit cards, and her cash.

All I needed to do was to reply to know where to send the money.  The problem is for the hackers is that I had seen my friend at about 1130AM on Friday and I knew she was not in London.

Most of are probably aware this is a scam that has had publicity before.  I immediately sent my friend an email and told her I had gotten these emails and that her Facebook account was  hacked.  The problem is the emails went to the hacker.  They now had control of her email account.

I finally reached her by telephone and she was very distressed.  She had over 1000 names in her email contact list and everyone was receiving these emails.

While we were on the phone I saw she was in my chat box, so I told her she was online.  Wrong, Carole, these were the hackers trying to send even more messages to anyone with an open chat box to send money.

I decided to chat with them.  At first they were very excited, they thought they had a believer.  When that happened I blasted them calling them every bad name I knew and having worked in the ER in my career, I know a lot of them.  It got nasty of course and I photographed the entire chat exchange.

At the end they said “America is now poor.  China will chain your asses.”  Nice, huh?

This devastated my friend because she has over 1000 people receiving fraudulent emails from some jerks pretending to be her.  Her entire business was compromised and she now needs to do some major damage control.

Facebook let’s us down.  There are 13 year old hackers getting into people’s Facebook accounts.  I had my own phishing attempt last week on Facebook by people using the Facebook logo to send me a Facebook message in my notification box.  I wasn’t fooled.  I know when Facebook wants to put a message out, they do so by posting it at the top of your wall and usually in pink.

When I investigated this phishing attempt through the Facebook help category, they had addressed it but only as warning to disregard a chain email going around stating “Your account will be closed unless you let us know that this is an active account.  People have been complaining about Facebook running too slow, so we are closing accounts not being used.”

Facebook makes it so difficult to report a violation.  You have to know to got to the help section to look for it.  Personally I think it should be on the main page with a link. 

The message that showed up in my notification box read “Your Facebook account is going to be closed”.  That will get your attention. That’s phishing and that needs to be addressed by Facebook.  They have left a wide open hole in their web site that allows all of us to be under what I call Hack Attack.

Here is what I think Facebook should do for its users.  When you sign up, they could say that they suggest you open a free email account to use as your sign in to Facebook.  You should never use your personal email account, you should NEVER use your business account.  This email account should be for Facebook only. 

Next should come a huge warning that your password should be chosen to that account only.  It should never be the one you use for banking, bill paying, to order things on-line – never.  Your password should be tied into that free email account and you should choose 2-3 and change them every 30 days.

If you were  hacked into the hackers would get nothing but Facebook as a contact and your life would not be seriously damaged.

This is a hard lesson for my friend to have to learn and I hope everyone who reads this will pass it on because you could be next.

We also need Facebook to tell people about protecting yourself more than they do.  My friend may lose business over this, cash she needs, and Facebook isn’t going to send her a check to cover her losses or yours.

Protect yourself and it’s time to let Facebook know we need their support!

Carole L. Sanek, Licensed Florida Realtor

Chinese Drywall – the Dog’s Nose Knows

Several years ago bed bug sniffing dogs made the news here in Florida after mattress infestations started showing up in top hotels in Florida, many in the Orlando area.  Again I point out, these were top hotels, not the flea bad variety of hotels found along the way.

We also have all read about dogs that can sniff out cancer in the human body before it is detected by medical experts.

Now we have dogs that can sniff out Chinese drywall allegedly faster and better than man.

The dog is brought into the house and goes on it’s nose happy way.  Most often the drywall sniffing pooch stops in front of an electrical outlet where the scent if often the strongest because the outlets contain fresh-cut drywall.

This method also stops a house from being totally torn apart looking for contaminated drywall.

This is also a very cost-effective approach to discovery as a human inspection can cost about $1500 while doggy drywall sniffers cost under $400.

I can tell you this, I am encouraging my buyers to go the doggy route and include a canine inspection in all contracts I write along with the traditional home inspection. 

Yes, that means taking a $400 risk maybe several times but overall the peace of mind in knowing your home is not contaminated is priceless, right?

Carole Sanek, Licensed Florida Realtor

TeamSanek can get you started down the road of your real estate adventure. We can get you started, walk you through everything, hold your hands through the process and be there when you are handed the keys to your new home. That is why we are TeamSanek–and this team will be there for you all the way because we want you to Capture The Dream.

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I am NOT Your Average FL Realtor

This month’s issue of “Florida Realtor” arrived last week and true to form since I am spending  a lot of time on line studying for my Broker license I did not open the magazine until today.

I was greeted on Page 5 by the “UPFRONT” page and a survey entitled “Who Are You?”

It seems the National Realtor’s Association Research Division compiled a profile of the “typical” Florida member.

The “typical” Florida Realtor is a woman, 55 years old and maintains a home office.  OK 2 out of 3 ain’t bad.

She has been in business 10 years – I am a little short here.  16% have at least one personal assistant – not me, and 75% maintain a home office – right on!

63% have a website for business purposes – I am way out in front of the pack as I have 3- aha!  92% use email daily – count me in right down to my iphone.  80% use a cell phone daily and 41% use a smart phone – hmmm some of the Realtor’s need to get on the wagon here.  I am way above average it seems.

32% have a professional designation – nope I am a member of NAR and I attend every required class plus extra but I don’t need letters after my name that make people scratch their heads.  I am HUD certified, that’s more important than e-pro any day of the week.  90% believe they will still be in the business in 2 years.  Again I am ahead of that pack I know I will be in business – I am a damn good Realtor.

OKAY I am very comfortable knowing I am above average.  I will be taking my test before the end of this year to be a licensed Broker and I will specialize in the referral side of our business.  Other Realtors will want to know me – I can line their pockets.  Better than that though I I can make your dreams of home ownership come true. 

What are you waiting for?

Carole L. Sanek, Licensed FL Realtor

TeamSanek can get you started down the road of your real estate adventure. We can get you started, walk you through everything, hold your hands through the process and be there when you are handed the keys to your new home. That is why we are TeamSanek–and this team will be there for you all the way because we want you to Capture The Dream.

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Hey Real Estate Customer “You’re Fired”

I am sure there are people thinking is she crazy?  In this market she would fire a customer?  You bet your bippy I would-in a heartbeat.  Relationships end – couples break up, work relationships end, many relationships end and what do I have with a customer-a relationship albeit a business one.  Business relationships can turn bad and in real estate they can turn bad in a nano second.

I don’t have the energy to deal with a business relationship that is headed downhill so I will share with you the 5 reasons I will fire a customer.

1.  The Obsessed Perfectionist – these are buyers that are obsessed with finding a perfect home, in a perfect location and at a perfect price.  They can also be sellers who insist on selling their homes on their terms and conditions which they consider perfect.

Perfection is rare in our world to begin with, not even every baby born is born perfect.  It is my job to give customers good service and to help them find the best deal possible.

Last week I fired a customer because 25 houses later and a feeling that there was some BS going on, we were at a stalemate.

2.  Lack of trust – this goes both ways.  I can no longer trust them or they no longer trust me.  Trust is the key element in any relationship, once the trust is no longer there, we are over.

3.  Miscommunication – it can be accidental or inadvertant and sometimes it is deliberate.  When miscommunication becomes an issue it represents a problem that needs to be addressed.  If it cannot be fixed, adios.

4.  Conflicting advice – we all have trusted people in our lives who offer opinions and suggestions to help us make a decision.  Trained advisors are qualified and informed.  When Aunt Susie enters into the picture with her opinion which 9 times out of 10 is based on hearsay or from her best friend, problems happen.  If a customer starts to listen to Aunt Susie rather than to a professional (me) it is time for me to back out.  I have people who want my professional opinion.

5.  Indecision – certainly change happens and when it does it can impact a customers wants and needs.   I cannot help a customer who has not figured out what they need or want.  It exhausts me physically, emotionally and it exhausts my gas tank too.

There you have it – my top reasons for saying “You’re Fired!”

Carole Sanek, Licensed Florida Realtor

TeamSanek can get you started down the road of your real estate adventure. We can get you started, walk you through everything, hold your hands through the process and be there when you are handed the keys to your new home. That is why we are TeamSanek–and this team will be there for you all the way because we want you to Capture The Dream.

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Hello New Disclosure Form – Thank You Chinese Drywall

As a Realtor – I do not mind filling out forms – throw more at me and I will continue to fill them out.  Forms protect me and more importantly they protect buyers and sellers.  Here in Florida our state association has recently developed new forms to assist us with potential Chinese drywall properties.

In my beautiful state there is an estimated 36,000 homes that are believed to contain Chinese-made drywall.  There is an estimated 60,000-100,000 homes nationwide that may have this drywall.

As a Realtor I am not educated on home inspection nor do I know how to recognize the signs that a home may contain this material.  If you are thinking of selling and know you may have tainted Chinese drywall you must disclose it.

 

Not all Chinese drywall is defective and not all defective drywall is from China.

Florida law does not require me to use this addendum, however I am going to print some out and keep them handy.

Carole Sanek, Licensed Florida Realtor

TeamSanek can get you started down the road of your real estate adventure. We can get you started, walk you through everything, hold your hands through the process and be there when you are handed the keys to your new home. That is why we are TeamSanek–and this team will be there for you all the way because we want you to Capture The Dream.

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Appraisers Are Running Scared

Hello – a while back I had a post regarding the fact that we were going to sell our own house.  We had every intention of putting it on every MLS and every list on the internet and seeing what would happen.  We also were planning on doing this without packing up and scaling down and without a for sale sign in the front yard.

We also considered doing a re-finance and decided to look into that.  We contacted two lenders – Third Federal and B B & T.  No lender can choose any certain appraiser, that is against the law.  It is not either lender’s fault that our re-fi did not happen but I think both of them could have done more and helped us with their individual underwriting departments.

The first appraiser came out and the only thing she was concerned with was if she would get home before it rained.  She mentioned that three times.  She never asked any questions and when we received her appraisal it was a duplicate of what any of us can find on zillow.com.  We would have needed to put a hefty down payment into the re-fi and we did not want to do that.  She never asked one question about any upgrades and was gone in under 30 minutes.  Her appraisal came in at $190,000.

Who is monitoring their work???

The second appraiser came out and my husband was here for it.  He had also done a lot of homework for this appraiser.  He performed our own appraisal – 3 different ways as he was taught in Broker’s classes.  On average based on the three homes that had recently sold in our neighborhood our appraisal should be coming in at $202,000.  We could live with that number even though we would be “in the hole” so to speak.

Larry showed him all his facts and figures.  He went with him into every room pointing out all our features.  We were really hopeful.  His appraisal came in at a shocking $179,000.  It is wrong.  We know that.  It is what it is though in today’s appraising world, or is it?

Last week I received an email from the President of the National Association of Realtors.  It seems this is happening all over the country causing deals to fall apart. 

He is taking it to task and below my sign off is a portion of the email he sent.  If this has happened to you let the NAR know.  Something is not right here.

Carole Sanek, Licensed Florida Realtor

To:      All REALTORS®From: Charles McMillan, 2009 NAR President Re:     Appraisals Dear Fellow REALTOR®, During the past two months, we have heard from many of you regarding problems with appraisals that are causing deals to be delayed or canceled altogether. I assure you that we on the NAR Leadership Team are experiencing the same problems in our businesses. In fact, VP & Liaison to Committees Steve Brown recently shared his experiences in Ohio on the Voices of Real Estate blog. http://narblog1.realtors.org/mvtype/president/2009/06/all_is_not_quiet_on_the_midwes.html is doing to resolve these problems quickly.NARLet me update you on what On Monday, June 29th, I will be in New York to meet with the Deputy Attorney General and his staff who worked directly on the Home Valuation Code of Conduct. I plan to share our concerns, as well as your stories, and ask for their assistance in resolving any problems related to the HVCC. On Tuesday, June 30th, I will travel to Washington, D.C., to meet with the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency to discuss ways we can work with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and lenders to ensure that appraisals are accurate.

It Never Hurts to Review Selling Your House in Today’s Market

We all need refresher courses now and then – and now is the time that I feel I need to refresh you on how to be a success in selling your house.

You have to be 100% committed to selling your house.  This is not the time to just throw it out there on the market and wait for the dust to settle.  If you truly want to sell your house then you have a reason.  That reason is the prime motivator, and price is not the prime reason.

Pricing needs to be on target.  Go on line to those sites you see advertised all over the web.  Have a real appraisal done -and then price it to sell.

I stage homes for a living – for goodness sakes read my staging tips here and hire a professional stager to help you – the messier your house is the less money it will bring in an offer.

Don’t say no to a yard sign.  In fact ask for a post sign if it is allowed in your area.  The bigger the better – buyers do drive by and call on the signs they see.  Also don’t say no to a lock box on your front door.  You want to make it easy for people to see your house.

Get feedback from the showing agent.  If you hear the same thing about your house several times attend to it.  Do not have hurt feelings – just change it.

If you have done all the above and you are not getting showings face it your price is too high.  Showings and no offers, again the price is too high.

This is a stressful time in your life.  You are selling, you are buying and you are moving – this all adds up to major stress.  Talk to your agent, ask for their advice and take it.  After all they are the experts.  Ask them what they would do to sell it if they lived there.

Offer comes in and it is lower than you expected now what?  In this market – my advice is if possible take it.  You can make it up on the other end. 

Check with your agent on what the average days on the market is in your area.  You should also ask how much time usually lapses before a seller reduces their price – they have all these numbers in their computers.  Use them to help you make a decision on a price reduction schedule.  I never fool around with my sellers when it comes to pricing.

I tell them that we will look at pricing again at certain intervals when I take the listing.  They know when I leave that there is a schedule for everything – no surprises makes for happy sellers.  And when you as a seller are happy you will refer other people to your me the agent.

Don’t we all like win/win situations?

OKAY that completes the refresher course in selling your house successfully.

Carole Sanek, Licensed Florida Realtor

TeamSanek can get you started down the road of your real estate adventure. We can get you started, walk you through everything, hold your hands through the process and be there when you are handed the keys to your new home. That is why we are TeamSanek–and this team will be there for you all the way because we want you to Capture The Dream.

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Do You REALLY Want to Own Your Own Home?

Yes, I am asking you that question.  So please answer it in your mind.  If the answer is yes, go to the next step and ask yourself why do I want to own a home.  In fact get a pen and paper out and write the following:

I want to own a home because………..”

Done?  OK!  You have your list of reasons so here is another question to ask yourself:

What am I waiting for then?

What are you waiting for – the bottom, forget it.  In many markets the bottom is gone and the trends are moving up the sales graphs.  It is not too late to jump on that train, it is still at the bottom of the hill.

In Florida many areas are showing sales figures in the black for 6 months now over the same amount of sales last year.  We are also seeing builders raising their prices.  Builders do that when sales are happening.

So the bottom may have been reached, you can mentally scratch that reason for waiting off your list now.

Let’s move on.  Interest rates are great and there are lenders who are trustworthy and in good financial shape.  This is not the time to deal with “Joe Blow Home Lending” that you found on line though.   I always tell my customers use a local brick and mortar lender.

You can’t use high interest rates as an excuse so let’s move on again.

You are sitting there thinking your credit stinks.  Do you know your credit score?  If you don’t you can get it free once a year, so go get it now and here is the web site address:

www.FreeCreditReport.com

Even with a “shaky” score there are programs out there that will lend money.  There are also ways to repair your credit and it can be done within months in some instances. 

Now I hear you thinking “yeah but I am embarrassed to have to admit my mistakes to a stranger (the lender).  A lender wants to do business with you, they are there to help you.  They don’t want to say “no” and if they have to they should be offering assistance to you to get things turned around.

If your credit score comes back low, chances are that you already knew that and isn’t it time to get that fixed?

This is Filene’s Basement Sale in the housing market time people. 

Everyone loves a sale-and houses increase in value-they appreciate.  Can you say that about your vehicle?

It really is the time to get off the fence and take the first step toward the American dream of home ownership.  If that happens to be in the sunshine state of Florida, Castle Dream Real Estate, LLC is ready to help you make that happen.

Carole Sanek, Licensed Florida Realtor

TeamSanek can get you started down the road of your real estate adventure. We can get you started, walk you through everything, hold your hands through the process and be there when you are handed the keys to your new home. That is why we are TeamSanek–and this team will be there for you all the way because we want you to Capture The Dream.

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More on Chinese Drywall

Last week a friend of mine who reads my real estate blogs regularly and lives in Nevada sent me this link on the CNN story about a family living in a house with Chinese dry wall.

I have been reporting on this here and there and find it important enough to continue to talk about it. 

It is not as if the entire state of Florida has nothing but Chinese dry wall in new construction but it is about knowing and educating yourself on the problem and hiring a Realtor who is on top of it also.  (and that would be me of course.

Here is the link from CNN:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/05/06/florida.chinese.drywall.family/index.html

As always we at Castle Dream Real Estate believe in keeping you totally informed with the latest news.

Carole Sanek, Licensed Florida Realtor

TeamSanek can get you started down the road of your real estate adventure. We can get you started, walk you through everything, hold your hands through the process and be there when you are handed the keys to your new home. That is why we are TeamSanek–and this team will be there for you all the way because we want you to capture the dream.

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Author Bio
Carole L. Sanek is a licensed Realtor in Florida and member of the National Association of Realtors. She holds an active real estate license with her husband’s brokerage Castle Dream Real Estate LLC in Brooksville, Florida. She has six years of experience in selling and listing real estate in Florida and enjoys helping families relocate to Florida to Capture The Dream. Visit her website at www.castledreamrealestate.com or contact her directly at 1-888-51-DREAM (37326) or you can email her at her personal email address teamsanek@castledreamrealestate.com
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Look Out Sellers DANGER Ahead

Did that catch your eye?  It was meant to do that.  In the past month I have had a personal friend go through hell trying to close on the sale of her house.  It is technically sold and under contract due to close in early May, and just yesterday she found out that the title company never sent the required papers to her ex.  Her Realtor is dodging her calls – why????  Because her Realtor did not follow through she dropped the ball – and that is something that I can guarantee will not happen in our office.

How can I be so sure – this is a no brainer!  Castle Dream Real Estate, LLC uses a transaction coordinator.  WHOA Nellie – that is a new term to many of you, and sounds expensive. 

Our transaction coordinator is a former title agent with years of experience.  She knows how to dot every i and cross every t.

ANYONE CAN SELL A HOUSE – EVEN YOU.

That is an absolutely true statement.  It is after the final signatures that most deals fall apart.  Did you know that?????  In many states that contract passes on to 8-10 different people and quite frankly I do not want to be chasing after all these people when I am trying to sell YOUR house.

We hire a transaction coordinator and it doesn’t cost a buyer or a seller a dime.  We pay the fee out of our commission at closing.

There are only three things we do here in our office.  We list property.  We sell property.  We negotiate contracts.  That is it.  After that we hand a deal over to our trusted transaction coordinator who knows how to get that deal to closing efficiently and with no errors.

If your house is on the market and your agent is not using a transaction coordinator to close the deal I would be asking point blank why not making sure you remind your agent that most contracts fall apart after acceptance.

People you want your house to close – don’t let one missed happening screw it all up for you ever!

Carole Sanek, Licensed Florida Realtor

TeamSanek can get you started down the road of your real estate adventure. We can get you started, walk you through everything, hold your hands through the process and be there when you are handed the keys to your new home. That is why we are TeamSanek–and this team will be there for you all the way because we want you to capture the dream.

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Author Bio
Carole L. Sanek is a licensed Realtor in Florida and member of the National Association of Realtors. She holds an active real estate license with her husband’s brokerage Castle Dream Real Estate LLC in Brooksville, Florida. She has six years of experience in selling and listing real estate in Florida and enjoys helping families relocate to Florida to Capture The Dream. Visit her website at www.castledreamrealestate.com or contact her directly at 1-888-51-DREAM (37326) or you can email her at her personal email address teamsanek@castledreamrealestate.com
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