A $1.6 million home in Kansas City put on the market for, wow, $10,200. Is it a scam?
Heck yeah it’s bogus.
No matter what it said on the real estate site Zillow, Jamey and Lauren Bertram — who in 2019 bought their 5,300-square-foot ranch home in Kansas City for close to $1 million — are not suddenly selling it for a measly $10,200.
In fact, they are not selling their five-bedroom home at all. Nor are they moving.
“It actually is a scam,” Jamey Bertram said, responding to an inquiry Friday from The Star about the “for sale by owner” listing.
“Our house has been hacked on Zillow,” Bertram continued, “and I’ve been spending the last three days trying to unwind this person that has taken over my house online. I’ve had zero help from Zillow. They’ve become unresponsive. … It’s a hot mess.”
Bertram, who is a senior vice president at Burns & McDonnell architecture and engineering firm, said he became aware of the scam on Wednesday.
“My wife and I both started getting emails from our friends saying, ‘Hey, are you selling your house’? Of course, we’re not,” Bertram said. “I didn’t know what they were talking about.”
Bertram checked the Zillow website and saw his home listed as “for sale by owner” at market value. Jackson County tax rolls place the value at about $1.2 million. Then Thursday night, the price suddenly dropped to $10,200. The explanation made it sound like a charity deal.
“Selling my home because my family and I own many houses across the U.S.,” the listing said. “Once a year we sell one or a few of our homes to first time buyers for under $25,000. This is done to bless a family or individual that needs it, but also as a tax write off for us.”
The listing said it was not open to Realtors, lenders, investors, wholesalers or attorneys. “FIRST TIME BUYERS ONLY!”
It requested that anyone interested to call “Mandi” at a number with a Las Vegas area code. The Star called the number and received a response, saying that interested buyers should send $200 through an online banking app “to the owners mom. … Then we can move forward.” There would then be a home walk-through on Sunday. It claimed that the $200 would be refunded to those not interested.
“We have people showing up at our house, knocking. They want to come in and see our house,” Bertram said.
Bertram said he’s also been working through their previous Realtor to contact Zillow. Their home is not listed on the Realtors’ MLS, multiple listing service. When Bertram initially contacted Zillow, he did get a response asking him to send them proof of homeownership. He sent them a copy of his most recent Jackson County property tax receipt.
“I’ve heard nothing since,” Bertram said. “I’m kind of stuck here. People want to see the house. It’s just a complete scam.”
After The Star tried to contact Zillow via phone and email on Friday, Zillow responded that afternoon. “Thank you for reaching out,” Zillow communications representative Gina Cole wrote. “We will look into this immediately.”
The listing was subsequently taken down.
So don’t go knocking.
