Refused entry to open - for not giving details

[Peter_Tersteeg]

I don't think that the agents marketing motivations are much to be concerned about. I've given my name and number at hundreds of inspections but I don't recal ever having an agent use my number for marketing purposes.

The only calls I've ever received was a rare polite follow up if I expressed interest, or if there was no interest and they were scouting for a buyer. That in itself flags an opportunity.

 

[wylie]

Anyone who thinks that the RE agent's list of names at an open for inspection will be followed up by the police in the event of a burglary is living in a fairy land and/or has not many burglaries. Police do not investigate burglaries, they give police report numbers for your insurance.

Having been involved with Neighbourhood Watch for many years, this just doesn't ring true to me. Police DO investigate burglaries, but I don't know if they would follow up from an "open for inspection" list. Better chance of it happening if there IS a list though .

 

[Pushka]

Anyone who thinks that the RE agent's list of names at an open for inspection will be followed up by the police in the event of a burglary is living in a fairy land and/or has not many burglaries. Police do not investigate burglaries, they give police report numbers for your insurance..

As I said earlier, the Insurance company will follow these details up, not just the Police. From personal experience. If the theft occurs during an open then you will have problems; in our case it was a break-in a week after the auction so not a problem for us to claim on Insurance.

 

[poppy]

Having been involved with Neighbourhood Watch for many years, this just doesn't ring true to me. Police DO investigate burglaries, but I don't know if they would follow up from an "open for inspection" list. Better chance of it happening if there IS a list though .

I guess it depends on what you define as "investigate". Once, the police knocked on my elderly neighbours door late at night to ask if she'd "seen anything" after a burglary. She didn't answer the door as it was very late. This is the only investigation I'm aware of that has occured out of all the countless burglaries, acts of vandalism, theft etc I've experienced over the years.

Police might try to reduce the total number of reported burglaries but they do NOT investigate individual cases unless a criminal is so stupid as to virtually leave their name and phone number on the door saying I did it. (plus a signed and witnessed confession!)

 

[poppy]

As I said earlier, the Insurance company will follow these details up, not just the Police.

Hi Pushka, just curious as to what the insurance company actually did? Did they call everyone on the list and question them? Did they require you to hand over the details before paying your claim?

 

[Pushka]

Hi Poppy, unfortunately I didnt have a list, but the Insurance company, when they came out to assess, saw the Auction sign and asked if I had any names from the open. They said that security checks were a great idea as inspections requiring ID put potential offenders off. If this didnt, then they would certainly followup with the people and if they considered something was amiss, they would then hand this info over to the Police for further investigation. I think they would look for pecularities - like frequent visits, etc. to filter them a bit. Security checks are not required to process the claim, the Insurance company were great. But they did lament privacy provisions that mean the Insurance companies and police can no longer share info. The clearance rate of burglaries has dropped appreciably as a result.

 

[evand]

Great post poppy. Kudos to you.

Your post emphasises the ridiculous notion that RE agents collect names for security purposes. The police don't have the resources to go through a list of people and investigate each one regarding someone's missing DVD player.

Even if they did have the resources they wouldn't bother.

As always with RE agents when a bit of thought is applied to the situation you realise what they are doing is deceptive and self serving.

And as always the public falls for it (even 'experienced' investors on this forum).

Anyone who thinks that the RE agent's list of names at an open for inspection will be followed up by the police in the event of a burglary is living in a fairy land and/or has not many burglaries. Police do not investigate burglaries, they give police report numbers for your insurance.

Further, the vast majority of insurers won't cover theft when the criminal was invited into the home. It doesn't matter if you can give the insurer the name, DOB, address, photograph, passport number and fingerprints of the offender. Even in the extremely unlikely chance that the thief/burglar was caught and convicted (you would be better off betting money on the horses), you aren't going to get any of your property or money back from the criminal, and they probably won't go to jail, so taking details is completely pointless unless you are going to get 100 points of ID and do a police check.

If an agent insists on taking people's details at an open inspection it is for their own reasons, and nothing to do with the home owner's interests (though they might be presenting it in this way to the home owner). If someone wants to protect their home from criminals then do not have opens and have the agent screen each buyer to ensure (as much as reasonably possible) that they are legitimate. At the very least, criminals at a private inspection will know that the RE agent may remember them after they have pulled off the same stunt a few times, and send them packing.

 

[Perp]

Police do not investigate burglaries, they give police report numbers for your insurance.

poppy, I agree. But it's the insurance company who require the collection of names and addresses, whether it's useful or otherwise. Even if the home owner's contents insurance still doesn't cover them, it's a requirement of the agency's public liability insurance.

As always with RE agents when a bit of thought is applied to the situation you realise what they are doing is deceptive and self serving.

And as always the public falls for it (even 'experienced' investors on this forum).

evand, did a RE agent bully you at school or something? Are you Neil Jenman's love child?

Hang on, forget love child, are you Neil Jenman?

 

[evand]

No, i bullied the agent at school. He was 9.

evand, did a RE agent bully you at school or something?

 

[Pushka]

Can I just repeat, from someone whose house was burgled a week after an open inspection, it is not the Police who will go through the list but the Insurance company - where is the head banging on the wall smilie! Why are people dismissing this concept by using flawed assumptions?

But the idea is to preventthe crime from happening in the first place!

Whether or not you believe the RE Agents have their own agenda is one thing, and whether you have an Agenda with RE Agents in general is yet another, if an owner didnt want an ID check then it wouldnt happen!

 

[wylie]

And as always the public falls for it (even 'experienced' investors on this forum).

I really don't think anybody is "falling" for anything. But having a list of who has traipsed through your house DOES serve a purpose, either with police who may have time to follow up (I know it DOES happen) or with the insurance company, as Pushka is trying to say.

Tape a pillow to your head before doing any more head banging Pushka. You could be in for a looooooong day .

 

[Pushka]

Tape a pillow to your head before doing any more head banging Pushka. You could be in for a looooooong day .

It's hurtin already Wylie!

 

[evand]

The goal posts continue to move in this post. First its security purposes, then police investigation, then public liability or something, then insurance claim.

Now you're saying the vendor is able to stop the agent doing his (so called) marketing. I don't think that's gonna happen.

The constant goal post movement just proves the tenuous claim that agents take names for purposes other than marketing. Guys, its a crock and its naive to think any different.

Whether or not you believe the RE Agents have their own agenda is one thing, and whether you have an Agenda with RE Agents in general is yet another, if an owner didnt want an ID check then it wouldnt happen!

 

[evand]

Why a long day? You can turn your computer off.

Tape a pillow to your head before doing any more head banging Pushka. You could be in for a looooooong day .

 

[Perp]

Pushka, the police don't have time to go chasing up everybody who was at the open for inspections, no way are they going to -





OK, I can't keep it up any longer...

 

[Pushka]

The goal posts continue to move in this post. First its security purposes, then police investigation, then public liability or something, then insurance claim.

Now you're saying the vendor is able to stop the agent doing his (so called) marketing. I don't think that's gonna happen.

The constant goal post movement just proves the tenuous claim that agents take names for purposes other than marketing. Guys, its a crock and its naive to think any different.

Public Liability?

Are we reading the same posts I made? Ok, lets do this again.

When a house is listed for security checks before entry, it states very clearly on the Ad that proof of identity will be required before entry to the property. Well, it does in SA anyway. It is quite clear that this is not for marketing, but to ensure that only genuine buyers enter, or people who are not concerned about their identity being known.

1. It is up to the owner as to whether or not Security checks are taken at the time of inspection. I am not talking about jotting down a name, I am talking about showing ID. If you dont want to show ID then you dont get in.

2. The idea of this is that genuine buyers will most likely be fine with this; it is hoped that this will deter potential burglars from not even bothering and will go elsewhere.

3. If the security checks dont deter the burglars and they break in anyway, you have a list of names, which the Agent will be required to give to you.

4. You will call the Police and they will take a report for Insurance claims. You can give them a copy of the list and they MAY investigate. Then the Insurance company will come in and Assess. If you have a list of names, they WILL investigate; if they find something of interest in that list, they will hand this to the Police, who will check further because they have something to go on.

Capiche?

Pushka, the police don't have time to go chasing up everybody who was at the open for inspections, no way are they going to -

OK, I can't keep it up any longer...

Errggh, I tried to give you kudos but apparently I have to share the luurve!

 

[wylie]

Obviously we all have different experience of what the police will do. I certainly believe there is more chance of SOMEBODY investigating names on a list if there is a list. Not much chance if there isn't a list.

And as for marketing.... rarely do I get a call back from an agent when I look at a house. So the marketing angle is (in my opinion) not the major reason agents take names. I reckon it is covering their backsides.

My mother used to call back EVERY person through an open inspection, but she certainly was in the minority back then, and nothing seems to have changed.

 

[evand]

Sorry no. Adelaide is not the rest of Australia.

Capiche?

 

[Pushka]

Sorry no. Adelaide is not the rest of Australia.

Of course, the old Adelaide dismissal. You are right and I am wrong. Feel better?

 

[BoatBoy]

Sorry no. Adelaide is not the rest of Australia.

Nor is Sydney

Why cant there be a grey area, why does it all have to be so black and white to you evand?

Why does everything seem to be a grand conspiracy to you?

Dave