Ok, so this is the second time I have seen people taking pictures of our house. Who knows if there are more than that when I’m not home or not looking? The first time I witnessed this was about a month ago. A silver Impala drove past the driveway a little bit, stopped and the passenger stuck a camera out the window and took a picture of the house. Then today, not ten minutes ago, a green Murcury Sable (had to be from the early 90′s) did the same thing except that it was the driver and he was talking on his cell phone while he did it. They are definitely aiming at the house, not the fields around us and then they drive off like nothing.
Should I be concerned about this? Are we being “cased”? I mean seriously, what the hell? The house is not for sale and we haven’t done anything interesting to the outside yet. We’ve only been here 7 months!!! But two people within two months? That’s kinda odd, right? How many times does anyone else drive by someone’s home and take a picture? Is our house just that interesting to look at? I didn’t think it was THAT unique! PLUS, they are not taking pictures of all the houses on the street, they never stop for the one across the street from us.
Noone that I know of ever took a picture of our house on Alsace!
It could be appraisers doing Comps for other homes for sale in the area… our appraisal included snapshots of 3 other houses. You’d think they could use the original listing photos or something, but maybe they aren’t easy to find after the house sells or maybe the appraisers probably need to do SOME verification themselves.
Could be something totally different, but I can’t think what.
Actually, the first thing that came through my mind is the people who might have lived in the house before are suddenly nostalgic. I know I drive by my old house where I grew up especially slowly when showing someone like Mark, etc….maybe that’s it????
I admit, it’s odd. I would probably go up to them and say “can I help you?” But of course, this is what I would want the people who own my old house to do when I drive by.
Well, since there are only a half-dozen or so homes in the town of Holland (I should know, I grew up there) perhaps the uniqueness of a house amidst the farmland is something those passing by want to capture for themselves!
Are you SURE they weren’t photographing the cow grazing next door?
BBD
@BBD – No cows as neighbors, just pigs.
@Jennifer – We drive by our previous house occasionally too.
@Sara – This is probably a likely explanation. As BBD said, there’s not a lot of houses in our area, and the selling season is starting to kick into gear. Amanda found the same explanation on another site as well.
The people taking photos of your house are almost certainly doing appraisals on nearby homes, using your home as a comparable sale. I know this because I run Appraisal Services of WNY, a residential real estate appraisal business. I’m also a Real Estate Broker.
If you’re in the t/o Wales, Holland, or Sardinia there are probably very few recent transfers of homes similar to yours, particularly if it is something other than a ranch-style residence. Appraisers must inspect the subject property and take current photos of comparable sales (sort of proves you actually drove the properties). While the MLS photo might often be an accurate representation of the property at the time of sale, there are many things you can’t determine from an MLS photo or the Listing agent’s comments.
When you buy a house, you should be aware that there will likely be appraisers taking photos of it for up to a year. I always let people know what I’m doing when they see me taking photos of their home, particularly if there are kids out in the yard.
While you may think 7 months or a year is a long time, I’ll bet that the value of property you bought hasn’t changed measurably since last fall – so it is probably still a reliable indicator of value (“comparable sale”) for nearby homes of similar size, age, condition, style and appeal. Lets face it, there just ain’t that many “comps” of any kind in the t/o Wales, or Holland or wherever you are.
So many types of appraisals require comp photos (refi’s, Purchase Mortgages, home equity loans, appraisal reviews, assesment challenges, matrimonial issues, estate valuation, etc). While there are lots of appraisals being conducted all the time, there are a limited number of comps. So Rest assurred, it is appraisers taking photos.
This does make me feel better! It would have been a nice thing to know from our Realtors. I really don’t mind if people take pics, I just wanted to know why! New Mother paranoia kicking in, I guess!
Thanks, everyone for alleviating some of my fears! Now what can you tell me about Epidurals or C-Sections?
Hi Amanda !
I was very happy when I goggled this complaint and found your messages ! I too am going through the same problem. I just moved into the house in December and have seen about 8 people (all different cars) drive by and take photos ! It is kind of freaky and annoying especially when you have no idea why ! Thanks to your post – Im beginning to believe it is appraisers. Thks ! Wouldn’t it be nice though if they could knock on the door and let us know what they are doing !!
As far as Epidurals and C-Sections – I have had two and have no complaints !!
Dee
What about pictures being taken in the middle of the night? We have been in our house almost 2 years and have had a dozen or so people take pictures in the last 3 weeks. Our neighbor came over today to tell us there were at least 3 people who came by after 11pm last night and the flashes were going directly into his bedroom. Why would appraisers be working at that hour??? Anyone else with this problem? I am afraid our house has accidentally been listed as a foreclosure but I cannot find it on any websites although another house on our street is listed.
Yes today I saw someone drive by my house, turn around, then drive by slowly, passenger rolled down the window and took a picture. Last time I saw them do that was a few months ago, I went outside and started to take pictures of them, didn’t even bother to tell me what they were doing.
thanks for the appraisal info. I was seriously thinking that my house was being cased for an armed robbery.
We’ve also been having people take pictures of our house — and we’ve been in it for 3 months. We talked to realtors and knew they didn’t take pictures — just get them off the internet. But appraisers makes sense. Usually the cars they are driving are not “realtor” cars, if you know what I mean.
this sounds like your mortgage company’s doing, I work for safeguard properties and we get upwards of 40homes a day we have to visit, all we do is snap a few pics and leave occasionally leaving a contact card, If your late on your payments than dont be surprised, if not try talking to them and they will/are supposed to stop according to our policy. Keep in mind if your home was previously owned by someone who failed to pay and sold theproperty their mortgage company could still be staking the home for foreclosure although they must make contact before doing anything
I have some homes that I rent out . I was told by my tenants a man stopped and took pictures of 2 of my homes in past 2 weeks . The man told my one tenant I was refinancing the house. I have owned these homes for about 3 years now and do not have any mortgage loans on them. I cannot figure out what’s going on.
Well im freaking out now.I have seen 3 different cars in the past 3 days. when i saw the first one i though she was taking a picture of my van on the grass cause here in florida you can get fined but in brevard county you dont. So when she made the u turn at the end of the street and i made a sign for her to stop she lowered her passenger window only half way and i asked why is she taking pictures of my van and she said she was taking pictures of the street, It was kind of odd but i left it at that, now yesterday another car and today a mini van with 2 people in it. the weird thing is that when i told my husband my daqughter heard me and said she saw a flash throught the living room window but thought it was lightning until the dog began to bark then she saw a man run in a car and take off. This is really scaring me because i think if an appraiser is going to take pictures they should do it in the day time and atleast announce their presence but at night this is scary cause i have lived here for a year and never seen something similar. Now is there someone i can call to find out whats going on?
Glad I found these posts. My family and I just rented a house in pretty nice suburban area and my new neighbor just mentioned that his wife saw a guy on a Harley stop a couple of times and take pictures. He said the guy didn’t look like a hardcore biker or anything but he thought he should tell me. My first thought is that he was “casing” our house but we just moved in, we don’t have particularyly nice cars and someone is almost always home so I can’t imagine our house would be an ideal one to burglarize.
Also, it seems that if you were “casing” a house doing it on a motorcycle would be kind of stupid because you can be so easilize identified. It still has motivated me to reactivate our landlord’s security system though…
today, some guy was taking pictures then , my dad went out to see and the guy just pulled off. its kinda freaky i guess were bieng followed. but dont know the reason why?>