Fraud Alert from NAMAR
by Craig Miller on May.16, 2010, under All Posts, For Agents
Agents, be careful when dealing with International Real Estate Transactions. Make sure you cross all your t’s and dot all your i’s. The following article is copied from an email I received from NAMAR. NAMAR’s official website is http://www.namar.org/.
Straight from NAMAR:
We received the following Fraud Alert and wanted to share with our membership.
AGENT: I have written a contract that ended up being a “fraud”.
It started with an email from a man in China who wanted a cabin with a view and stated that he was going to move here with his family. I emailed him approximately 10 listings that fit into the criteria he stipulated. He picked one cabin and labeled it “My Choice”. Then he wanted to know a lawyer who could handle it, that his stock broker would be mailing a cashier’s check to the attorney, wanted a contract sent to him, and that it would be an all cash offer. He would be in town on June 5th. The contract was written, full price offer of $649,000, and when I emailed the Contract to him, he stated that the earnest money would be $330,000 instead of the $6,000 as I had filled in. I told him we needed a “wire transfer” and his reply was “Please, a wire would take a long time due to restrictions as it relates to foreign transfers…my broker will send you a cashier’s cheque instead. Don’t want to miss out on my choice of property.”
Several emails went back and forth and then he said that the “cheque” had already been sent according to the instructions I had emailed him. (Law Office name, address, etc.)
The law office did, in fact, receive the check, and after checking the Bank on which it was drawn, they were told that it was a fraudulent check, and that this was the 3rd time this man had tried this.
Android Apps for Realtors
by Craig Miller on May.01, 2010, under All Posts, For Agents, Knowledge, Misc.
More and more mobile apps are becoming available for Android devices. Grab the app, ‘Barcode Scanner’, for your Android Phone, which will enable you to scan QR Codes. QR Codes are square barcodes, like the ones you see below, which can contain data for a website, URL, URI, plain text, SMS message, full contact information and more.
Here, try out this QR Code, which takes you to FMLS’s Mobile Login screen:
I have found a few Android Apps on the Google Marketplace which I’ve found helpful during real estate. Below are the “MUST HAVES” for Real Estate Agents…
| The Flashlight app: | |
| Karl’s Mortgage Calculator: | |
| Offiviewer: Lets you open MS Office Docs up to 2 MB.. | |
| Real Estate Droid: Good for quickly pulling up CMA info for buyers.. |
Wordpress Official App for Google Market
by Craig Miller on May.01, 2010, under All Posts, Misc.
The Google Android Market has an Official Wordpress application. As one of the 50,000 apps you can find on the Google Marketplace, I put it among my top 20 apps for Android users who maintain a blog.
The Wordpress app allows users to add media (pictures), create tags, write and publish posts and comments. Your seeing this message here which was created on my T-Mobile G1 with Google’s Android OS.
Just search “wordpress” within the Market App of your Android device to find and install! Or scan the following QR Code with ‘Barcode Scanner’ on your android device.
There’s an App for Realtors
by Craig Miller on Apr.27, 2010, under All Posts
Dan Burrus, a technology forecaster and creator of real estate-based applications for smart phones, believes iPhone and iPad applications may soon replace the traditional multiple listing service. He makes the following predictions on how smart phones will change how Realtors will communicate with buyers:
The iPad and other smart pads will be the Realtors tool of choice when working with a client–having access to information in the palm of your hand is transformational.
Smart phone or smart pad applications will take over as the tool for buying and selling homes, dubbing the MLS as fragmented and old fashioned.
Realtors will enhance their communication and relationship-building skills through video conferencing on smart phones.
Location-based and presence-aware apps (which allow for instant connection to others) will help Realtors and homebuyers to work more effectively together.
For more information on real estate apps for homes, foreclosures, home rentals and more, visit completerealtysuite.com
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