Kansas City couple have their million-dollar ranch listed on Zillow for just $10,200 for ‘first-time buyers only’ by scammers as hordes of prospective homeowners knock on their door
A couple is fending off house hunters who flock to their door after seeing their $1.6 million home for sale for $10,200.
But Jamey and Lauren Bertram never occupied their 5,000-square-foot, five-bedroom home Kansas City on the market.
Instead, it was a brazen scam on real estate site Zillow that took them almost a week to solve, as people knocked on their doors to take a look.
The scammer explained the crazy low spot by making it sound like the owner was so rich he could afford to practically give it away for charity.
A couple fends off house hunters who flock to their door after seeing their $1.6 million home listed for sale for $10,200 in a Zillow scam
“I’m selling my house because my family and I own a lot of houses in the US,” the scammer wrote.
‘Once a year we sell one or more of our houses to first-time buyers for less than € 25,000. This is done to bless a family or individual in need, but also as a tax write-off for us.”
The house was only available to first-time buyers, it said, and did not require any real estate agents, lenders, investors, wholesalers or lawyers to inquire about it.
Excluding this list of savvy real estate buyers was likely because it was essential for the scam to work.
Buyers had to call ‘Mandi’ and then send $200 to the owner’s mother via an online banking app, which would of course be refunded.
Jamey and Lauren Bertram never put their 5,000-square-foot, five-bedroom Kansas City home on the market — and didn’t even know about it until friends asked if they were moving
Jamey Bertram, a senior vice president at architecture and engineering firm Burns & McDonnell, said the couple had no idea until friends asked Wednesday if they were moving.
“We have spent the last three days trying to pacify the person who took over my house online,” he told the newspaper Kansas City star.
“I haven’t had any help from Zillow. They’re unresponsive… It’s a hot mess.
‘I’m a bit stuck here. People want to see the house. It’s just a complete scam.”
The house was finally taken off Zillow this weekend.
