Is it illegal to tease real-estate buyers?

March 22, 2015 3:46 PM

My neighborhood is in a crazed real-estate frenzy. Every other house is for sale. Every other house is being torn down and rebuilt. It is like a nonstop construction zone around here. Would it be illegal for me to put up a phony "For Sale" sign to tease the manic speculators?

I have an odd and strong desire to make a phony FOR SALE sign, complete with a phone number that goes to an answering machine which records incoming messages, to mess with the bandwagon that's racing around my neighborhood, so many FOR SALE signs that it is dizzying. I wonder who will remain in "my" neighborhood when the dust settles, or if it ever will settle. Would it be illegal, for me to make my own FOR SALE sign and pretend to put my house on sale?

posted by shipbreaker to Law & Government (17 answers total)

I don't think it's illegal to make a for sale sign for your yard as "For sale by owner," but I'm unclear what you expect this to accomplish.
posted by Linnee at 3:50 PM on March 22, 2015 [21 favorites]

It doesn't need to be "phony." You can put up a real sign, have realtors over, show the house, etc. There is nothing to require you to actually accept any of the bids you might get.

This is fairly common and expected in some markets. I once spent a whole afternoon hiking a 10-acre property with an agent only to be told, upon making a bid, that the owner wasn't really interested in selling. I was given to understand that this is quite common and there's not much you can do about it.
posted by localroger at 3:51 PM on March 22, 2015 [1 favorite]

You'd have to check the laws in your jurisdiction but if you're in the US, there's a pretty wide ranging right to free speech and this would tend to fall within it. However, your locality might have sign ordinances and you would have to check those.
posted by ftm at 3:53 PM on March 22, 2015

You can always post a make me move price on Zillow. Make it like 1.5 -2x what your house is worth and see what happens.
posted by asockpuppet at 4:35 PM on March 22, 2015 [2 favorites]

I suppose you could always post a sign that says:

THIS HOUSE IS NOT
FOR SALE
posted by Faint of Butt at 4:39 PM on March 22, 2015 [16 favorites]

Could you design up a sign that didn't claim for sale at all? Just a name/logo and phone number in the style of the realtor signs and hung on that distinctive post with crossbar in the front yard would probably get you some calls of people asking for a call-back at least.
posted by ctmf at 4:58 PM on March 22, 2015 [1 favorite]

Mod note: Please let's keep it focused on the 'is it illegal' question. Thanks.
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 5:29 PM on March 22, 2015

Best answer: On a first principles contract law basis, a FOR SALE sign is an 'invitation to treat', that is, an expression of a willingness to negotiate (as opposed to a concrete offer that may be accepted to form a contractual relationship). Such a sign doesn't create an obligation to accept any offers that may be made.

So you could put up a sign, and then decline any and all offers made, and it would not be illegal.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 5:37 PM on March 22, 2015 [6 favorites]

What His thoughts were red thoughts said. Also, you may be in for false advertising.
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 5:40 PM on March 22, 2015

It wouldn't be false advertising if you were willing to take at least the largest part of a million.*

If it sells, take the money and run!
*Assuming your place isn't worth 2 mil
posted by BlueHorse at 5:56 PM on March 22, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: What if they ignore the phone number on the sign and come up and knock on your door instead? You have the potential to actually annoy yourself more than them.
posted by MsMolly at 6:21 PM on March 22, 2015 [14 favorites]

I should probably have been more clear. The answer is no, it isn't illegal to tease buyers. I was told that it is quite common for "sellers" to put their properties up just to see what the current market valuation is, with no intention of actually selling. I won't get the afternoon I spent crawling that property back and there's nothing I can do about it. Fortunately or otherwise the housing market collapsed and I didn't have to figure out what to do about it as a buyer because the whole idea of what I was trying to do became untenable.
posted by localroger at 6:22 PM on March 22, 2015

Also, you may be in for false advertising.

I mean, anyone can sue anyone for anything, but I don't see what a plaintiff could reasonably claim as damages here.
posted by ftm at 6:28 PM on March 22, 2015 [1 favorite]

FTM, I'm in Canada, but you could get stuck dealing with the consumer protection office here and so on. Or the real estate board, depending on what goes on. I didn't catch where OP was.
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 10:01 PM on March 22, 2015

What if you legitimately need to sell your house a year from now? You are risking alienating both the real estate agents and the potential buyers in your area. If you don't have a clear cut goal that you are trying to accomplish here, I vote don't do this.
posted by vignettist at 10:20 AM on March 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

Yeah, having recently been through the house-selling process, there are a LOT of people who will knock on your door and expect to be able to look around. What you want to do is not illegal, but it is not going to annoy prospective buyers nearly as much as it is going to annoy you.
posted by rabbitrabbit at 11:35 AM on March 23, 2015

Is it legal? Yes. But don't do it. My neighborhood is similarly RED HOT right now and I have a (rare) double corner lot that is zoned for multiple residences. Developers are sending me unsolicited snail mail and cold-calling me with (insultingly low-ball) offers. It's annoying as hell, and I don't even have a for sale sign up.
posted by caryatid at 11:58 AM on March 23, 2015