In the last month here in Ohio 2 people have been killed in forclosed homes. Another lady yesterday was pushed down the basement steps and her purse stolen while checking on one of her properties. It's getting scary around here and I am now thinking twice about the interior orders around here. I have one today and just found out about this lady. It's not too far from where my order is today...so please everyone be careful!!

Angie

Glock 19 with +p hollow points. Works every time.

It is definitely prudent to be aware of the risks that you may be taking in a daily basis. Thanks for the reminder Angie.

Bingo. If you can carry a firearm in your state I highly suggest it for this business.

The one near Kent was NOT an f/c. I don't know for certain about the house in Youngstown, the third, near Youngstown, was an apartment. All happened in Sept.

Don't go alone!!!!!! And make sure that someone knows where you are going.

For those of us that concentrate on doing mostly BPOs, the OP reminds us about the need of being cautious while doing interiors. I have almost gotten to the point of just not doing them anymore. Beside the crime risk in some neighborhoods, is it really worth the little extra you get for all the access issues that come with them?

Nonetheless, thanks for posting Angie and reminding us of what we already know but have a tendency to forget. Be careful folks, desperate people will do desperate things!

"Bingo. If you can carry a firearm in your state I highly suggest it for this business."

I highly disagree with this statement. The reason is many that purchase a knife,gun,etc. do not practice to use it.

I believe it is a waste for someone to have a gun and then feel SECURE and have no clue and be rusty as a nail when they need it.

It takes time and commitment with any weapon along with maintenance and costs of range time and ammo to train properly.

Having weapons and not knowing how to use them can actually put you in a worse situation with an attacker.


So if you buy a weapon make goals with it and stick to those goals.Your life is worth taking the time to put in the work instead of just BUYING SOMETHING.

I've only been shot at once and it was only a shotgun from about 100 yards. Other than that, everythings kool.

I also carry my 38 everywhere I go that legal. Never out of my back pocket.

Again, please try to keep things accurate. The agent murdered near Kent, for sure was not showing a f/c'd house. It was vacant, yes, f/c'd, no. And I do not believe the agent killed in Y-Town was showing an f/c'd house either.

The murderer of the Kent agent knew his victim. The murderer's wife had bought a home from the agent that later went into foreclosure.

They bought that house land contract. The seller still had a mortgage and quit making the mortgsge payments. The husband was mad at everyone involved but for some reason he went after the agent who was done when the land contract was signed. This could happened to any of us! The agent was set up.

Forclosure, Smorclosure? It doesn't really matter at what state a property is in. There was an agent in the DFW area raped at an open house on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

The fact is if you are going into potentially vacant homes by yourself or even with a partner, you should have something to defend yourself even if it is a canister of OC spray AND HAVE IT OUT READY TO USE.

I perfer my 38 but each person has their own threshhold of comfort.

Police are reactive, not proactive. You need to be proactive.

Just saw this thread, and I have to agree, please be careful everyone. We had a homicide in one of our listings yesterday morning. We believe that we know the perpetrator, it is a squatter that had been sleeping in the house. We got a terrible scare because the detective that called and notified us said that he thought that the contractor that we had repairing the home had been killed. Coincidentally, we did have a contractor working on the home. The victim was actually another guy that had been working on the house before it was foreclosed on. The guy appeared to have been struck in the head with something, and that is what the detectives say killed him. The team owner, and our broker are meeting with the detectives later today. Watch your back when going into these homes folks, you never know who may be in the home lurking about. Follow agent safety rules, don't walk into the home on your phone,(you cannot hear if anyone is in the home moving around), and let someone know where you are, and where you plan to be.

My info is accurate I was not even talking about Kent or Youngstown didn't even know about these. I am talking about Columbus and central Ohio.