Some advice please regarding permission

[OregonMike]

Hi, and thanks for taking a couple minutes to read this.

My question has to do with getting permission from realtors or real estate agents. I am zero for everytime I have ever asked them, which is probably not that many times, since I got discouraged by their negativity or just plain failure to respond to calls and even letters.

Right now I have my eye on a field where for many years a dance hall and restaurant once sat. The field is vacant except for a big sign with a realtor's phone number.

Since I feel a bit "snake-bit" by the past, I'm hesitant to cold-call them. I'm wondering if anyone has had pretty good luck with realtors and wouldn't mind sharing some tips about how to get through their defenses.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[gitterdug]

First off, the realtors aren't likely to grant permission, as there is a legal liability for doing so, in case you get injured, and they are contracted to represent the seller in the sale of there real property only, and they do not have the authority to grant you permission to be on the property unless you are looking to buy.

You might consider talking to any neighboring properties and asking if they know the owner and have any contact information on them.

What I do here in Texas, where all property is owned by someone, I go to the online appraisal district for real property, and perform a search for the owner using the address. Then, equipped with the owner name, I will use Google, Bing, or whitepages, or any number of other sites to locate the owner. I will then contact the owner, preferably in person, and seek permission.

Half the battle is finding out who the owner is....the other half is presentation of yourself and their overall mood/perception of allowing a total stranger on the property to detect.

That is my two cents worth.....

HH

Dennis

 

[Elton]

n/t

 

[mudpuppy]

Super great info Dennis!

We aint talking about nothing here but swinging coil over a patch of for sale dirt, so how could anybody realistically say no?? Would you say 'No' if You called and asked yourself if you could hunt your for sale ground??
If you would say 'No' to yourself, the problem may not be with the askee but the asker....

I know if I rang my own doorbell and asked myself if I could detect, I wouldnt let myself hunt any of my property for sale or otherwise! I'd tell myself to get the hell off my porch! Now a complete stranger, I probably would, on account of a guy might be entertaining an angel unawares.....Anyway, be relaxed and have some fun with it, you dont have anything to lose..people like to be around other people that seem friendly and are having some fun...
Mud

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Well, perhaps you could call to ask if you can go take a closer look at the place. I mean, that's not unusual, right ? Like if it were a house (instead of vacant land), presumably a potential buyer would want to see inside the house, if considering to buy. So in the case of naked land (unfenced? Nothing to stop someone from stepping off the sidewalk there?) they'd be ok with you going to "take a closer look".

Yes I realize that's not the same as asking to detect, but ... it's a better "ice-breaker" that diving in straight to the question. Once he's said ok to simply walking around, then you call him back the next day thank him, and morph it into the detecting question.

Another possibility (although a stretch) is to need to look for property markers. A friend of mine once was going to put in an offer on a home that was vacant. And before doing so, he wanted to confirm the corner boundry, so he'd know how his driveway was or wasn't shared with a neighbor. So he asked me to help him come find it with my detector. Which I did. No agent was there with us at the time. They'd just told him "knock yourself out", since we were only looking at the yard, not needing inside the structure. Theoretically there'd have been nothing to have stopped me from walking over to the grass, and likewise detecting there too . But it's possible if you tried to ask to detect for that purpose, that they'd say they have the plans, or that "there is no markers", etc...

 

[ChicagoJohn]

I did ask one time and he also own that very old house.....he said no! Other time I asked other realtor about one old house with big land and again tell me no! Bulldozer tear down whole house! What a waste and why not let me metal detecting before they tear down house and whole land messy up. Greedy! Build 2 large houses to sell for big profit!

 

[sweepdog]

you're fr getting the key factor. they don't want the hassle of somebody they don't know on the property and digging. these days everybody sues for anything and they know that.

 

[OregonMike]

Good advice! It's pouring rain here today so it might be a good day to do some more research and make some contacts.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Altamaha]

you're fr getting the key factor. they don't want the hassle of somebody they don't know on the property and digging. these days everybody sues for anything and they know that.

So true, Ive been turned down quite a few times for this very reason. The owners related to me (true or not) that they had experienced instances when someone who had been given permission to hunt their property sued them after getting injured. What can you say when an owner gives an answer like that? In these cases I've even offered to sign a liability release/waiver but still, same answer, No! Oh well.

 

[Mike Hillis]

If it's a vacant foreclosure just ask the neighbor if they think anyone would care. If they say anything half way acceptable, go do it. Then if another neighbor says anything negative, you can say you asked the other guy and he didn't think there would be an issue.

You could always where a orange vest and a hard hard, too, and tell folks you're from the county and doing an earthworm survey

HH
Mike

 

[marcomo]

I've been following and learning from Mike Hillis posts for many years. He is one of the few people I consider a forum guru. I've corresponded with him and consider him a forum friend.

So Mike, I hope you don't take offense when I disagree with you.

To me, getting owner permission to detect private property isn't a gray area. A neighbor saying he doesn't think anyone would mind is not getting permission. And it's not likely to impress the property owner or a cop if confronted.

I recommend against detecting private property without owner permission. And I strongly recommend against suggesting someone do so on a public metal detecting forum where it's important to remember that not everyone that reads these posts is necessarily pro-detecting.

 

[OregonMike]

After reading all the posts, I decided not to contact the real estate people at all. Instead, I went downtown to the courthouse (fortunately I live in the town where the county government is) and found my way to the assessor's office, where they told me who owned the property in question and gave me their address. It belonged to a trust, so I thought it might be an office, but it ended up being a private home and I didn't want to disturb anyone so I went home and wrote a letter. Two days later, I got a call granting permission but telling me that the old-time restaurant I thought was there was now under concrete...a number of years ago the highway department moved the highway right on top of the restaurant site. However, the parking lot was still there, and a good-sized grassy area with some trees, so knowing that, off I went.

After all that work, the finds for the day were one wheat cent and some 1960 license plate date tags. Add in a few stray clad coins and that was it.

So, a lot of work for a poor result, but it felt good to do it right and know that permission had been granted.

Thanks to everyone for their answers. Now that I know where the assessor's office is, things should get easier.

Mike

 

[Mike Hillis]

No offence taken, Marcomo. I get out of line sometimes.


HH
Mike

 

[tarajudy]

THE BACK OF MY SHIRT SAYS STAFF. AND I'M SEARCHING FOR A LOST CLASS RING FOR THE FOOTBALL COACH. REALLY I DON'T EVEN GO TO SCHOOL YARDS ANYMORE AND PRETTY SOON EVEN KIDDY PARKS WILL BE OUT.