Question

[synaptik]

Any of you know why someone would come by and take a picture of my house



i bought a house in may and today my neighbor said someone came by in an old raggedy car, pulled in to the drive way across the street, got out and took a couple pics of my house with a digital camera and got back in their car and left.

it was during the day time ....

is this something i should be concerned about?

[MiataMike]

Maybe he is casing the joint... Either that or it could be someone working for google maps

[synaptik]

i thought it may be the county appraiser but why just my house?

didnt make sense to me got my girl all freakin out .....

[Treibenschnell]

Perhaps they used to live there?

[synaptik]

nah we know the PO, their mom lives next door to us ..... we see them all the time ...
i know all 4 of their cars and so do my neighbors ... it couldnt have been them they drive lexus, bmw, a navi or a vette

and before they lived in the house some other relative of theirs

[Treibenschnell]

Well, I'd write it off to strange occurrence... but still making note of the vehicle and description of the person involved.

Mention it to a trusted neighbor that may be around when you are not so as to keep an eye on the place and it's surroundings.

[Titus]

You miss a payment?

[synaptik]

no way man lol

we have been past the "due date" a time or 2 but not past our 2 week grace period so not officially late never incurred any late charges or anything

[Dave04]

Since you just bought it, it could also be someone working for a realtor and they are going to use your house as a "comp" to get values on other houses for sale in your area.

[onething]

Insurance agent? If not, then if I were you, I'd:

1. Call your local PD with all the info you have. Write it all down incase something happens in the near future.

2. Pay a little more attention to security around your home.

3. Sit up all night with a shotgun across your lap.

4. Build a wall around your house.


but seriously, folks. I'd take the first two steps listed above and move on with my life.

[jrj512]

Maybe you won Yard of the Month and they needed a picture for the newsletter.

[XM_Rocks]

The fact of the matter is it probably was not someone "casing" the joint.

Most people give criminals too much credit. Most criminals are lazy, most criminals do not completly think through their plans and most criminals are stupid. Besides what would they do with a picture of your house?

The fact is anyone can break into your house at anytime and you are powerless to stop them. Period. If someone can open a gate latch, jump a fence, use a claw hammer or kick in a door they can gain access to your house at anytime they so desire.

Usually these crimes are crimes of opprotunity, not well thought out Oceans Eleven's type heists.

Just make sure you do everything in your power to deter criminals. Put up home security signs and decals, warning dog signs and locks on your gates. Anything to make them think twice and move down the next house.

Also dont get drawn into the hype of the media. Crime is down and has been for quite sometime.

McKinney in 2006 only had 481 burglaries and 29,462 housing units. So break in % is 1.6% or 1 in 61.2. In other words you would have to live in McKinney 61.2 years to get broken into. Assuming all neighborhoods and residences are equal and crime is stagnant and houses cant get broken into twice. A bunch of assumptions... I know. Also worth noting McKinney was the 4th safest city in Texas in 2005 and the 64th safest city in America.

it could be someone working for google maps

hahahaha I hope they have more sophisticated methods. BTW Microsoft Live Maps online Birds Eye view is pretty cool as well.

[POS Racing]

I had a buddy that had a similar situation even down to his gal freaking out...

Shortly after he was broadsided with divorce papers from his gal.

YMMV see dealer for details.

[Rotgirl]

More than likely, it was a real estate agent doing a BPO (Broker's Price Opinion) for whoever is holding/servicing your note.

We get orders to do these for a couple of reasons:

1 - most common - your note is one of hundreds or thousands in a large portfolio to be sold on the secondary market. Before the note(s) can be sold, they need an updated value on your home to make sure it is worth what is owed on it.

2 - Some lenders and/or PMI/MIP companies routinely have an annual BPO/valuation done on the property, again, to make sure the value of your home is equal to or more than what is owed on it. I have a couple of houses that I get an order to do the BPO about the same time each year, year after year.

3 - a property is starting to go into delingency or is to the 60- to 90- past due status and again, the lender wants to know the value or condition of the property.

4 - As someone stated previously, an agent or appraiser is doing a BPO and is using your property as a comp. However, we usually don't use comps that sold more than 6 months ago, so unless you live in a very rural area, this is unlikely.

If you are current on your note, don't worry about it.

However, if you have ANY concern, call whoever is servicing/holding your note and make sure that they show you current. It's not unheard of for a borrower to be making payments but the servicer/loan holder isn't getting them because the note has been sold and payment isn't being forwarded to the new noteholder, they're doing a poor job of recordkeeping or your payments are getting misplaced or mis-credited. It happens.

[Darron65]

Those are all good points, Rotgirl. I've had 2 mortgages here in the last 10 years and both were sold within 3 months after closing.

[synaptik]

well --

i very seriously doubt we got yard of the month lol esp since some moron hit our fence up front and i have not fixed it


our account is through countrywide and they have a lot going on right now -- we didnt have the greatest credit so they put a fat PMI payment on it lol
i can check the account through countrywide and it shows we are current but it may be a good idea to give them a call ...

a real estate broker in a crappy 15 year old s10 ... lol ... i thought they all had nice cars

we live in princeton which is a pretty small town ... but not one of those population 200 towns lol

POS -- my girl and i arent married yet lol so i dont think it will be that she is free to come and go as she wishes ... esp since she isnt on the house note ......... but if she goes she better leave my damn jetta LOL