“It was just a gut feeling of, ‘I think something’s strange,’” says Birmingham realtor Christina Gennari.
She says that gut feeling only grew the more she interacted with the man, who introduced himself as Dr. Alex Snyder, who was relocating from Florida.
We’re not identifying the man because police say he did not commit a crime.
He came to Gennari’s office last Friday wanting her to drive him to view three multi-million dollar homes in the city big enough for his family and hosting lavish parties. Gennari says he says he spun quite the tale about his life.
“This is his second marriage. He has three daughters, twin girls and a younger one. He has a dog, a ferret, and a pet monkey. He is a pediatric oncologist,” Gennari said.
Christina’s staffers tried to look up the man’s information but came up empty. The man’s pre-approval letter was also questionable.
“I called the number on his pre-approval, it didn’t go through, and then we knew, kind of, that something was not right,” Gennari said.
The man left Gennari’s office when she asked for his ID. She called other realtors who said the man stopped by their offices too. Gennari’s next call was to police.
Birmingham Police later identified the man. Turns out he’s no doctor but rather a convicted felon who spent nearly three years in prison for stealing from a home listed for sale.
“I know that he had attempted and was successful at houses before ours, we just happened to be the house that we had a camera inside that caught him in the act,” Chris Perry said.
Perry was the co-listing agent of that home. He says the story the man told Gennari sounds awfully familiar.
“The same exact situation it sounds like, posing as, in our case, an out-of-town buyer,” Perry said.
Gennari says she was terrified when she learned who the man really was. The man in question also has prior convictions for assault, fraud, and drug charges. Birmingham police say they’re stepping up patrols around the homes he expressed interest in viewing—they also gave the listing agents a heads-up.
They’re asking realtors and residents alike to give them a call if they notice any suspicious activity.
