Your first thought might be the perceived crime of the rising cost of housing, but we are referring to crimes that affect real estate. Before we break down some specific examples, let us emphasize that ALL crime affects real estate values. People want to live, shop, work, and play where it is safe. Nobody says to themself, I like living cheaper even at the expense of risking my life. Hence, people in the hundreds of thousands coming to the USA daily in 2022. But let’s highlight a few more specific examples that may concern you where you live or work now.
Criminals in rising cases have been following people home or to work sites and then forcing their way in to commit robbery or assault. If it were us, we would recommend cameras attached to your destination that record the coming and going of anyone. Also, if you can park in a garage and close the door before exiting a vehicle it may be safer. We always try to enter or leave in pairs of people if possible. Last but not least, if it were us, we would be watching over our shoulder if you feel someone is following you and if necessary, don’t stop, just keep going until you lose the fallower. This includes those who are showing homes. The key here is to be aware of your surroundings.
Another crime on the rise is theft from job sites. If it were us, we would install cameras where possible, guards if possible, and have good insurance. If it were us, we would not leave anything valuable unlocked or laying around if possible. When costs are on the rise and there is a lot of job openings on the market, then there is often a rise in these types of often low risk crimes. The key here is an ounce of prevention pays.
Among the many crimes that are being advertised on television is title theft. In my experience, these criminals are forging your signature and in some cases forging the notary signature as well on a quit claim deed. That is all it takes to transfer ownership of your property at the courthouse. This is only a genuine problem for those who have property that is free and clear. Any property with a mortgage is going to have other lenders in a more senior position and the thief would have to contend with that issue. So, we believe this is a smaller problem than may be represented in ads, but we admit it is a growing problem.
Although there are many crimes that could influence your ownership or pursuit of real estate, many of them can be avoided through due diligence, awareness, and use of professional services. We hope this helps. We can not and do NOT provide tax, accounting, financial, investment, nor legal advice.