You're not the only one working from home: so are thousands of government workers. And as a result, Uncle Sam's office needs have changed dramatically.

Now, the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, has called on the government's property manager to help numerous agencies consolidate their office needs. This could save millions of dollars -- and perhaps provide an opportunity for the private sector to revitalize any vacated spaces.

Use your imagination to consider what a savvy developer could do with a 17-acre former government site in Menlo Park, California. It has 17 buildings that could be converted to apartments or condos. Or consider a 14-acre former missile site in Gaithersburg, Maryland, where there's great demand for housing of all types and the zoning is flexible.

Some 17 major federal agencies have already made limited changes to their leased and owned office space because of the pandemic and the uncertainty about how their employees will work going forward. A majority expect to reduce the number of leases or square footage in their real estate portfolios, primarily in response to teleworking.

The General Services Administration -- the independent agency which, among other things, is responsible for the feds' office space -- has also expanded its space-planning and data collection efforts. And 20 of the 24 agencies polled by the GAO are collecting similar data on their own.

The majority of the agencies believe that the information gathered by the GSA would help them better understand their own future space needs. But the GSA initially had no plans to distribute the data, which the GAO's latest report called a costly mistake.

"By not planning to more broadly share this information," the GAO report said, "GSA is missing an opportunity to provide a clear understanding of how the potential cost of collecting such data could be outweighed by the long-term benefits, including potential cost savings from reductions in future annual rent, maintenance and other operational costs."

Known as the government's watchdog, the GAO says the GSA should develop a plan to distribute what it learns with federal agencies, including those that don't use its real estate services.

The GSA has agreed, and has stated it will communicate "lessons learned" from its pilot programs and data collection activities. But this is your government at work, so no one -- especially builders, developers and investors -- should expect to get their hands on excess property anytime soon.

Like most governments, Uncle Sam works slowly. How slowly? Well, the government is woefully behind on another effort to reduce the federal footprint: a pilot program enacted by Congress in December 2016 to expedite the sale of unneeded and underutilized federal real estate.

It's now been six years since Congress passed the Federal Assets Sale and Transfer Act (FASTA) to create the Public Buildings Reform Board (PBRB). It took time to get the board up and running; then the pandemic hit, and then two of the five board members resigned. In July, President Biden appointed Jeffrey Gural to chair the panel, but he has yet to be confirmed.

Disposing of federally owned real estate has always been a challenge. Indeed, the process has been on the GAO's high-risk list for nearly two decades. The 2016 law was supposed to change that, but so far, it has not worked as planned.

"It is probable that the FASTA process will not meet expectations or provide insight into ways the federal government can more effectively reduce the federal real property portfolio," the GAO said in a report late last year.

It wasn't until December 2019, three years after the board was created, that it finally identified 11 "high-value" properties for sale in what was to be a three-round process. As of January, only one sale had actually closed. But now, 10, including the two mentioned above, have changed hands at auction.

The GSA does not reveal the names of the buyers or what they paid. But according to press reports, the largest bid for the old Veterans Affairs medical center in Denver was $41 million. In Sacramento, the city paid $12.3 million for 80 unused acres at a Job Corps Center to build housing for people who are currently homeless.

Last December, meanwhile, the PBRB moved ahead with the next round of offerings, which included 15 properties. But the second phase was shot down by the Office of Management and Budget, which didn't like the board's methodology. OMB gave the board 30 days to respond. But since the PBRB doesn't have a quorum, it couldn't -- effectively canceling the second round, at least for the time being.

The first round was expected to generate $500 million to $700 million in proceeds that would be plowed back into the program to keep it moving. The second round was expected to net up to $2.5 billion -- resulting, the board estimated, in $275 million in long-term savings to taxpayers.

By law, meanwhile, the third and final round cannot occur until at least three years after the second round, effectively pushing it until 2025 at the earliest.

Confidence games come and go. But some seem to go on forever. Con artists are apparently still selling building lots in Florida, sight unseen, that turn out to be underwater swampland.

But some real estate cons are worth remembering, if only because how successful they were.

For example, Darren Berg, a Seattle man dubbed the "Mini Madoff" -- after Bernie Madoff, who ran the largest Ponzi scheme in history -- is still at large after escaping prison in December 2017. Berg had been convicted of wire and bankruptcy fraud stemming from his own Ponzi scheme, which involved real estate contracts, mortgage-backed securities and other loans.

He bilked more than 800 investors out of $120 million -- small potatoes, compared to the $64.8 billion raked in by Madoff, who died in prison last year. Decades before these guys fleeced their flocks, though, the man for whom these ruses are named was indicted in Florida.

In 1926, Charles Ponzi was found guilty of fraudulently selling swampland. He was sentenced to a year in prison, but appealed and was freed on bond. He then tried to flee to Italy, but was captured and sent to Massachusetts -- to serve out his prison sentence for his other investment scam.

In that scheme, Ponzi took in an estimated $20 million by convincing thousands of people to invest in international postage stamps. He used the money from new clients to pay the existing ones, all while pocketing significant funds for himself. That's the basis for all Ponzi schemes: Pay the old guy with money from the new one.

But real estate cons go back even farther: Erik the Red, the murderous Viking explorer, pulled off one of the first, in the year 985, when he convinced several hundred of his fellow Icelanders to move with him to Greenland. He called the barely habitable island "Greenland" as a way of enticing settlers.

Back to the present day, real estate rip-offs are more prevalent than ever. According to the Detroit law firm of Maddin Hauser Roth & Heller, cybercriminals have "ramped up their attacks on the mortgage and real estate industries, taking advantage of the multiple entry points available in every transaction, the lack of coordinated security efforts among the parties, and the abundance of personal and financial information that awaits them after a successful breach."

The list is unending: mortgage fraud, title fraud, wire fraud, timeshare fraud, collection scams, foreclosure relief scams, credit fixing ruses and investment schemes. Earlier this year, Georgia realty agent Eric Hill was sentenced to 30 months in prison for his part in a scheme that netted $21 million in fake mortgages that ended up in default.

Here's how to avoid scammers:

-- The No. 1 rule in any transaction is simple: If it sounds too good to be true, it most likely is. So be skeptical -- very skeptical -- when someone is trying to separate you from your money.

Before you put your name on the dotted line, and definitely before handing over cash, thoroughly check out the person or company you are dealing with.

-- If you are being pressured to take advantage of a deal right away or it will evaporate, run, don't walk, to the nearest exit. Being pressed into acting immediately is a sure sign something's rotten in Denmark. If the deal is valid, it'll still be there tomorrow.

"Walk away from high-pressure sales tactics that don't allow you time to read a contract or get legal advice before signing," warns the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. "Also, don't fall for the sales pitch that says you need to pay immediately -- for example, by wiring the money or sending it by courier."

-- Don't deal with anyone who wants to be paid with gift cards. They're totally untraceable. Once you hand them over, they're gone. And don't deal with anyone who asks for more than what you will owe with the promise that they will send you back the difference. Don't take any money from someone who asks you to send your money back in exchange.

Don't wire any money without confirming the transaction with someone you trust. Better to use a credit card so you can cancel the transaction if you find out you've been had.

-- Once you've been presented with a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity, ask for something in writing. Then read it carefully to make sure it says what you've been promised. If it doesn't, keep your wallet closed. If you have any questions, run it by your lawyer first.

-- Write down the names and titles of everyone with whom you speak, as well as the time of the conversation and what is said. Next, verify their credentials and make sure they are who they say they are.

-- If you are conversing by email, never give anyone your bank account or credit card numbers. Ditto for your Social Security number.

There are a bunch of ways to get out of your contract if you get cold feet. But failing to show up at the scheduled closing is not one of them.

It's just wrong not to notify the seller, the closing attorney, the seller's agent and yours that you don't intend to go through with the sale. Ask yourself: How would you like to be on the other end of the transaction?

More importantly, you could open yourself up to lawsuits if you go into hiding on settlement day. The seller might ask the court to compel you to live up to the agreement, a concept known as "specific performance." And your agent could demand that you pay their rightfully earned commission.

At a minimum, you will probably be asked to pay the seller's and the agent's expenses, which could be significant. Even so, you may decide that's better than buying a house you've changed your mind about.

Fortunately, as Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman said on CNBC recently, "There are all sorts of ways to get out of a deal if you don't want to do it."

Maybe you lost your job, failed to secure financing or couldn't sell your current house. Or perhaps the home inspection turns up stuff that turns you off, or the seller doesn't uphold their end of the bargain.

Any of these can be used to terminate a purchase agreement, but they all come with restrictions. It all comes down to the fine print.

(Note: I am not an attorney, nor am I a real estate professional. None of what follows should be taken as legal advice; it is based solely on my experience reporting on real estate for more than half a century. Before taking any steps to end a contract, talk to your agent and seek legal advice.)

Use the contract as your road map, advises Luke Babich, CEO of Clever Real Estate, an agent-matching service. The purchase agreement will spell out all the contingencies, conditions and deadlines that have to be met. For example, you might have to apply for financing within a certain period or have the home inspection completed within so many days.

If you want out and the purchase is dependent on selling your current residence, simply stop trying to sell it. Or delay applying for a mortgage, thereby missing the deadline and voiding the contract. You might have to give up your deposit, though.

If you've already been approved for a loan, you can still sink the deal by doing something that will adversely affect your credit score, which your lender will check again just before closing. If something new appears on the report -- a recent big-ticket purchase, say, like a car -- the lender could deny funding.

But rather than spending money to scuttle the deal, consider applying for several new, high-limit credit cards. You don't have to use them. But if, all of a sudden, you have access to tens of thousands in available credit, it may make your lender think twice about lending you money.

Losing your job will affect your ability to repay a loan, too, though obviously you don't want to quit just to sabotage a sales contract. But your lender may back out if you change jobs -- especially if you go into a completely different field.

A better way to scrap a sale is to use the home inspection -- maybe even before it takes place. Most contracts set a deadline for completing the inspection. If the date hasn't passed, you can notify the seller in writing that you've changed your mind, and likely walk away with your deposit intact. You also can walk if the deadline has passed, but you may have to forfeit your money. Of course, you can take your time ordering the inspection, thus missing the deadline and voiding the deal, but again, you are putting your deposit in jeopardy.

Once the inspector has filed a report, you still have a few avenues. Hopefully, nothing major turns up. But if it does -- say the roof must be replaced, or lead paint was found -- you can use that as the reason for changing your mind.

Even if the inspector doesn't find much to complain about, you can use the report to back out. The contract likely calls for a "satisfactory" inspection, but it doesn't have to be acceptable to the seller -- just you. You are not required to turn over the report to the seller, either.

Another way to use the report is to demand that the seller repair everything that's noted, even the little stuff like a broken switch plate or a sticky doorknob. If the seller balks, you are out of the deal. If they agree, set a short time frame in which the work must be done. If the seller doesn't move fast enough, you're gone.

A low appraisal is another way out: If the appraisal doesn't measure up, you will need a larger down payment, which, of course, you don't have. Or use your review of the homeowner's association documents as your exit strategy. You don't need a reason -- only that you've read the rules, and you don't like them.