Home sellers and estate agents get much more than they actually bargained for

POLOKWANE – Real estate recently became a nightmare for some home owners when so-called prospective buyers who came to view different homes that were for sale privately, turned out to be thieves and stole the home owners’ cellphones, laptops, digital cameras and in some cases, even the house- and car keys.

One of the latest victims of this scam were Martin and Kobie Jansen, whose home was on show on Saturday, April 18. “We had several people who visited the house to look at it and had some offers. A man who said his name was David Baloyi came to look at the house. He was in the company of another man, who he said was his brother. As Baloyi was talking to us, his brother asked to use the bathroom. I directed him down the passage and he was away for some time. Baloyi said that he and his brother would make an offer the next day, but we never heard from them again,” Martin told Review.

Martin said it was only later the evening that he and his wife discovered that her cellphone and some jewellery went missing from the house. The couple believe that after the man was directed to the bathroom he passed the bedroom and took the items before leaving. “There were no other people in the house after them and before they came we spoke to my daughter on my cellphone,” Kobie said.

The Jansen couple said they would open a case of theft at the Polokwane police station.

Private sellers were not the only ones being targeted. Riaan Hanekom, a real estate agent in the city, said thefts such as these were the reason real estate agents warned their clients not to let anyone unknown into their homes when their property was on the market. “Many times these people will approach the owner of a home without the knowledge of the agents and convince the owner that they will be saving money if they sell privately to them, by cutting out the extra money paid for the agent commission,” Hanekom said.

He said estate agents cleared prospective buyers or renters before they were shown any properties. When they were shown a property while there were people living in the house, an agent always accompanied them, he said. He said the same applied to houses that were on show, with more than one agent being present during showings.

“This is becoming more and more of an issue and it used to be rare in Polokwane, but of late reports and warnings about this have become more regular. This is why we urge property sellers to make use of estate agencies and get clearances on possible buyers to minimise the chances of becoming victims,” Hanekom said.

Polokwane police spokesperson, Capt Ntobeng Phala, confirmed that this scam had appeared in the city recently, with a number of complaints received by the police.

He said residents advertising the private sale of their homes were targeted and easily portable items like cellphones, laptops, digital cameras and even house and car keys had been reported stolen. Phala said no arrests had been made in these cases. He explained that the chances of doing so were very slim as the thieves were not known to their victims and used false names. Fingerprints were also not available because by the time the victims realised they had been robbed, this kind of evidence had already been destroyed, Phala said.

“Prevention is better than cure, which is why we are warning residents,” he said.

Phala said all suspicious activities should be reported to the police.