BAHAHAHAAA! Yup. Most understand when it is explained to them, however.
I firmly believe that some folks are just too butt-dumb to deal in real property.
I can deal with a-holes, slave drivers, and I love engineers, LOL. But dumb? I just can't.

Sounds like a good buyer to send on to someone else.

Not only fake foreclosures but also properties that have sold or no longer available and still showing available in those unreliable websites.

I used to get those calls all the time. Not so much for a couple of years... I think it's because there's not much foreclosure activity in Charlotte area right now.

You've done your due diligence to educate this potential buyer...let the 'buyer' go and wish him or her well!

I've come across this many times Fred Griffin !  Unfortunately many buyers think that we are not doing our job while actually we are doing the best we can to educate them. If they don't have a realistic expectation cut them loose.

Remember the wise words...

Some consumers do not understand that a notice of default is not a foreclosure.

And it doesn't say you're the listing agent but they insist you have it listed. Then they call their Realtor who calls you demanding to know why you have it listed but it's not on the MLS

Used to be that inflated property values were the biggest issue with Zillow. Now that our fine boards & MLS have given them the run of the park there are countless problems with Zillow. Their feeds don't work- I had a listing go straight to Zillow & the cover shot was one of the Bedrooms. They also have us as the contact on multiple listings that were either sold or expired years ago. I have people calling me thinking I have the listing & am not putting it on MLS when Zillow just doesn't maintain the information. If you're not going to update it then let us!

Let him go and smile as you do it, Fred! 

I get these calls all of the time - from July (ish) through the January. In NC, we pay our taxes in arrears and RealtyTrac does searches of the tax sites to find that over 1/2 of our owners are in pre-foreclosure. They sell this list to unsuspecting buyers who are on a mad search for a foreclosure (for which we have less than 2% in our market). 

OH and the sites they post these 'fake listings' on? Z & T.

We get our tax bills in September and they are late on January 5, or thereabouts. Homeowners hold onto their money until JAN 5 - why wouldn't you? Mid-January is when the calls stop!

You can almost mark your calendars with this knowledge in the Charlotte area, Fred!

Good riddance and good luck. Nope, hasn’t happened for a while. You did the  righ thing

I had  a buyer asking about about similar properties a few months ago. I helped them rebuild their credit the past 18 months, dealt with their tadiness, their schedule missing out on potential homes, and in the end they drove past a home and bought with the listing agent. I'm half happy they are out of my life, the other half pissed a formed classmate did this to me.

No cure for dumb, dumber and dumbest!!!

Obviously he has not schooled himself in all the finer details of going into foreclosure in FL. I have had also calls & questions in Trulia when these pop up but not in a long time. People just don't get the lispendens thing. 

Yup!  You gave them the RIGHT info.  Now let them call the other agent.  NEXT!  ;)

Yes, it happens. And it is usually the cheapest, most run down houses that won't qualify for a loan and the caller doesn't have cash. Next!

Never had the experience. Let him go! He is a waste of time! 

He sounds stubborn!  Most of the time once I explain the home is not for sale as of now people are unhappy but I haven't had anyone that pushy.  Let the next agent deal with them..

Better you than me. I do get asked about foreclosures but I just don't get involved with these "clients". Unless they have already bought or sold with them, then I'll track it down.

Of course, I have calls like this for years. Who does not? Than they also go to actual auction websites as well and get excited about super low starting bid. Yep, keep dreaming. 

Yes, a lot of people visit these websites. RealtyTrac made a business out of publishing bad information to suckers willing to pay for it.

You did the best you could explaining it to the caller. Some people are convinced they can catch lightning in a bottle. I don't think you can.

Yes, it happens on a regular basis that a client asks about these.  I don't know that I would call them "fake" foreclosures, in reality, they are "pre" foreclosure.  In NJ, it means that  Lis Pendens (essentially, a notice of intent to foreclose), has been filed.

I advise my buyer that it is unlikely that the individual wants to sell, they usually hold on to the house as long as they can, and if there is a foreclosure auction, you have to be prepared to pay cash with no inspections.  That usually ends the interest in the pre-foreclosures.

Another internet education at work.

Count that as a blessing ... let him call another Realtor ... problem solved.

Come on gang.  If it's on the internet, it must be true!  

Yes, I do get these calls and need to explain as well. It's good this caller went to call another agent - if he doesn't want to listen to facts regarding this listing, he won't listen to market pricing facts either.

another reason we focus on listings and not buyers....you can have every one of them.... 

Ha, ha... let them call someone else and waste their time Fred.

I don't get those types of calls, but I get them for regular resales that are not on the market.... or I get calls on houses under contract that still show active...

OR maybe, just maybe re-direct them to.... YOUR WEBSITE IDX for accurate listed houses they can actually buy!!

Good luck to that "buyer"

Fred Griffin In the past, a few buyers contacted me on fake foreclosures.

Yes, Ihave been seeing this pop up for a while now.  TOtally annoying. 

Many calls just like that has been received.

Instead of spending time talking about the misreprestation of the Dominion of Evil Intent, I ask if they have an agent? Yes - you need to call them.

No - Are you ready for my representation?

"Blah, blah,, blah!"  

Ok, have a nice day.

I have cancelled listing because of faked for sale ads in Z. Why list for so low. Z says one is listed or sold so much higher.

Actually there were lots of charges against these sites for fruadudent ads before.

Fred Griffin Bottom line is he isn't going to listen to the other REALTOR® either. You're good to get rid of him. Life is too short.

Before the Internet, people believed newspapers & radio without facts too

It happens all the time although most buyers are more understanding once you explain the process. 

I'm with you on this.

Let him call. Many agents are as in the dark about how these things are handled as buyers that are chasing them. Just because it may be listed as foreclosure, doesn't mean it actually has been sold and the owner still has rights until the sale goes through.

Plus they get upset when you tell them "no we cannot go see this property".

This has been going on for years.

Fred Griffin I had a GA real estate agent who texted me about a condo in PCB he had seen on Z. He was interested in it for a client. My client who I listed his condo in that complex also asked me about that unit. However, in the decription it did give the date that it sold (actually a true foreclosure sale sold through the clerk of court's office) which was a couple years earlier. Neither of them read the description closely but I, like you, showed them the papertrail demonstrating it had already sold quite awhile back and that it was not currently for sale. 

Candice A. Donofrio nailed this one!

Fred,

We should apprecciate that they are giving out false information.  It lessens their credibility...day after day!!

Yes I have!

Yes.

That is NORMAL for many buyers to do so.

Fred, yes, when Z says Pre-forclosure, buyers THINK they will get a deal.   We have maybe 10 foreclosures in all of Denver.   

This happens quite frequently. The general public does not undertand how the process works, and it is frustrating that such properties are being "marketed." 

I listed a property for sale recently. It had been a foreclosure in the past and Zillow continued to list it as such even though it was now owned by someone else. I had to contact them and get it corrected.

We listed my father's townhouse and under the Price/Tax History it shows a foreclosure back in 1993. He lived there from 1971 to 2014, paid off his mortgage and owned it free and clear since 1989. Zillow needs to fix things like this and also the Zesimates. Don't give me false information

First off, when we receive a call from someone on T or Z we try to set them straight. If unsuccessful, then we have them call you

All the time !