Avoiding Trespassing in Real Estate Purchases
- Adam Garrett
- Jul 13, 2023
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 7
Above: Image by Adam from a Former Listing of His Where He Requested that the Seller He was Representing Not Keep the Sign Up
If you as a prospective buyer arrive at a house you are considering purchasing (whether for an initial showing, home inspection, walk-through inspection or otherwise) before your real estate agent/broker, please don't explore without their authorization. Here's why:
My Buyers Were Already in the House!
In 2022 there was a case where I arrived on time for a walk-through inspection and when I arrived I saw an empty car in the driveway but couldn’t initially locate the buyers. The buyers and their family were already in the unlocked home without me alone. They had found that the back door was unlocked and took it upon themselves to enter & start exploring alone.
Permission from Listing Agent Necessary if Buyer Wants to Explore Exterior Alone
In some cases (i.e. land, and in more rare cases, the exterior of a home before an agent arrives) buyers may ask me if they can explore a location alone, unaccompanied by an agent. In those cases, it is critical that I receive permission from the listing agent prior to providing permission to the buyers. In plenty of cases the listing agent, or the seller that they reach out to, will deny unaccompanied access requests of private property of any form.
Representation Disclosure & Up Front Preparation
In some cases (i.e. “open houses” hosted by listing agents) buyers also may see a property, such as a home, unaccompanied by me but where a listing agent is present or in the case of a for sale by owner home, a homeowner is present. In those cases where a formal host is present, it’s important that buyers alert the host that they are represented by me on the buying side as long as we have signed a buyer brokerage agreement. In cases where new construction is involved, it’s important to reach out to me first so that I can see if the new construction has rules about agent accompaniment to showings. In some cases, if I don’t show you a home the first tme you go there on new construction, I can’t receive the commission that I would otherwise be owed by the seller. In those cases, if we are under exclusive buyer brokerage agreement, it could mean that you would pay the minimum commission on it in order to purchase the property during the terms of the buyer brokerage agreement.
You never know when a hidden video camera, seller, listing agent, or nosey neighbor who will report to the seller is watching.
I remember an occasion where a buyer I represented went to a home without my knowledge and the listing agent had to call me after the buyers were confronted. Reportedly the buyers were “peeping in the windows” of the home.
If you become in a multiple offer scenario especially, something like that could get you ruled out of consideration even if you otherwise have the best offer because the sellers could perceive you as volatile and more apt to walk due to contingency or be in future breach of contract. One of the most important factors for the sellers to assess are the risks of various parties. Sometimes a solo offer will be ruled out by the seller due to actual or perceived risk. Buyers are also not as familiar with laws as agents are that pertain to real estate. Section 18.2-130 as of 10/2/22 states, “It shall be unlawful for any person to enter upon the property of another and secretly or furtively peep, spy or attempt to peep or spy into or through a window, door or other aperture of any building…” In order to pass the exam to get a real estate license, you don’t actually learn how to buy and sell houses effectively much at all (that typically comes after licensure); you are educated on the law surrounding real estate primarily & must pass a knowledge test based on the law, legal terms, etc.
Safety Hazards, Liability, & Trespassing
In addition to the legal issue & potential issue with the owner, tenant, or listing agent, I have also seen multiple occasions where safety hazards were present & I either identified the hazard so that the buyer could be aware or physically stepped in between the buyer and the hazard. I feel better equipped than typical buyers to deal with those situations. A good friend of mind in real estate has been attacked by a house cat and on another occasion had to report someone who was living in the house who was trespassing, with drug paraphernlia in the house. Here are some examples I've personally experienced:
A pit bull got loose from the occupant who was attempting to hold him and jumped up on me, where I stepped in between the buyer and the pitbull.
I've had close encounters with snakes, including one where a snake was on a shelf near eye level and got far too close for comfort.
A buyer was with me but went ahead of me and got stung by multiple hornets.
A shed had a 1-way door that closed on its own without someone attempting to close it, where once the door closed, there was no way to get out without crawling through the small, higher-than-typical window where the window was broken and refused to stay up.
I showed a house to a family of buyers. By the next day, most of the appliances were gone. The listing agent called me and let me know that the police would likely be calling me. The police never called, but if my buyers had trespassed prior to me being there, it could have been very bad for their case, even though they were innocent of the theft.
For more on agent safety, go to my article on the subject here.
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