How Homeowners Get Free Property Fraud Alerts

Author Keith Connors

February 27th, 2023 5:00 AM

How homeowners get free property fraud alerts. You’ve seen it all over the news recently. Yes, I purchased Title Lock for $20 bucks a month to protect our home a couple years ago. Property fraud is a growing concern in Pinellas County, and all of Florida. Property fraud occurs when someone illegally transfers ownership of a property without the owner’s knowledge or consent. The most common form of property fraud is through identity theft, where the fraudster uses stolen personal information to gain access to a property’s title and make changes to the ownership status. It’s a one page forme, and easy fr the bad guys. Ver, very easy.

Pinellas County has taken steps to prevent property fraud through its free Property Fraud Alert program. This program allows property owners to sign up for email alerts that notify them of any changes to their property’s title. If a change is made without the owner’s knowledge or consent, the owner can take immediate action to rectify the situation.

You can sign up for alerts in other counties too:

Hillsborough County: Hillsborough Link Fraud Alert

Pinellas County: Pinellas Link Fraud Alert

Pasco County: Pasco Link Fraud Alert

Polk County: Polk Link Fraud Alert

Additionally, property owners should be cautious when sharing personal information, both online and offline. They should only provide personal information to trusted sources, such as government agencies or reputable businesses. By signing up for the free Property Fraud Alert program, regularly checking their property’s title, and being cautious with personal information, property owners can help prevent property fraud and ensure that their property remains secure. News Channel 8

Florida Cities Where Homes Are Selling Below Asking Price

It’s a tough market to become a new homeowner. But on the bright side, there are some Florida cities where some homes are selling below their asking price. Some are even a quick drive from the Tampa Bay area. We got the list from Stacker, who analyzed data from Redfin. Their data shows sales from the month of December 2022.

The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage sits just above 6%. Even if it trends a half of a percentage point, it can have an outsized impact on the monthly payments required for a mortgage. Before mortgage rates started spiking, homebuyers were able to lock in rates that are far more affordable than what’s suddenly on offer in today’s environment. It also doesn’t help that sellers aren’t exactly coming down on price. In a lot of metro areas, home prices are still increasing.

And yet there are still metro areas where homebuyers are finding homes selling for below asking price.

One thing that could skew this data is something that’s happening here in many parts of Florida. People are ‘first listing’ at a ridiculous price just to see if they get lucky. If they don’t, 2 weeks later they lower the price. The point being, if you’re looking to buy you should be very skeptical of that ‘first listing’ price. After viewing the home, see if you can make a reasonable offer, who knows, you could get lucky!

Our list just includes the cities in Florida where homes are likely to sell under asking price. If you’d like to see how they match up to other metros in the country, click here for the full study.

Here are the Florida cities where homes are selling below the asking price.

Pensacola, FL Metro Area
– Number 36 on Stacker’s list
– Average sale-to-list ratio: 0.97
– Median list price: $337,900
– Median sale price: $318,950
– Total homes sold: 692

(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Ocala, FL Metro Area
– Number 35 on Stacker’s list
– Average sale-to-list ratio: 0.97
– Median list price: $299,000
– Median sale price: $269,000
– Total homes sold: 638

(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Palm Bay, FL Metro Area
– Number 34 on Stacker’s list
– Average sale-to-list ratio: 0.97
– Median list price: $357,000
– Median sale price: $349,870
– Total homes sold: 959
Orlando, FL Metro Area
– Number 33 on Stacker’s list
– Average sale-to-list ratio: 0.97
– Median list price: $399,989
– Median sale price: $385,000
– Total homes sold: 3,010

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Tampa, FL Metro Area
– Number 30 on Stacker’s list
– Average sale-to-list ratio: 0.97
– Median list price: $375,000
– Median sale price: $369,990
– Total homes sold: 4,215

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Crestview, FL Metro Area
– Number 29 on Stacker’s list
– Average sale-to-list ratio: 0.97
– Median list price: $480,000
– Median sale price: $449,098
– Total homes sold: 639
North Port, FL Metro Area
– Number 28 on Stacker’s list
– Average sale-to-list ratio: 0.97
– Median list price: $508,327
– Median sale price: $450,000
– Total homes sold: 1,547
Port St. Lucie, FL Metro Area
– Number 24 on Stacker’s list
– Average sale-to-list ratio: 0.97
– Median list price: $399,995
– Median sale price: $385,000
– Total homes sold: 710
Cape Coral, FL Metro Area
– Number 17 on Stacker’s list
– Average sale-to-list ratio: 0.97
– Median list price: $430,000
– Median sale price: $384,945
– Total homes sold: 1,400

(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Jacksonville, FL Metro Area
– Number 16 on Stacker’s list
– Average sale-to-list ratio: 0.97
– Median list price: $430,000
– Median sale price: $384,945
– Total homes sold: 1,400

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Panama City, FL Metro Area
– Number 15 on Stacker’s list
– Average sale-to-list ratio: 0.97
– Median list price: $385,000
– Median sale price: $359,429
– Total homes sold: 409

(Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images for IRONMAN)
Deltona, FL Metro Area
– Number 13 on Stacker’s list
– Average sale-to-list ratio: 0.97
– Median list price: $354,495
– Median sale price: $339,900
– Total homes sold: 1,023
Fort Lauderdale, FL Metro Area
– Number 12 on Stacker’s list
–Average sale-to-list ratio: 0.97
– Median list price: $395,000
– Median sale price: $380,000
– Total homes sold: 2,057

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Punta Gorda, FL Metro Area
– Number 10 on Stacker’s list
– Average sale-to-list ratio: 0.97
– Median list price: $399,999
– Median sale price: $365,000
– Total homes sold: 348
Miami, FL Metro Area
– Number 7 on Stacker’s list
– Average sale-to-list ratio: 0.96
– Median list price: $530,000
– Median sale price: $455,000
– Total homes sold: 1,879

BBGI
Naples, FL Metro Area
– Number 4 on Stacker’s list
– Average sale-to-list ratio: 0.96
– Median list price: $799,450
– Median sale price: $580,000
– Total homes sold: 687

(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
West Palm Beach, FL Metro Area
– Number 2 on Stacker’s list
– Average sale-to-list ratio: 0.96
– Median list price: $465,000
– Median sale price: $415,000
– Total homes sold: 1,907

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