How to Spot 10 Common Real Estate Scams

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How to Spot 10 Common Real Estate Scams
Julie 14

Real estate scams are a big problem in today’s real estate market thanks to homeowners desperate to stave off foreclosure and con artists who are eager to rip off those looking to buy or rent. It can be hard to know a legitimate opportunity when it comes along, especially if that opportunity seems to good to be true. Working with a reputable real estate agent can be a great way to avoid the most common types of real estate scams but there are other things you can do to protect yourself. Let’s start by identifying the most common real estate scams you may face while either searching to buy a house, rent a house or buy income property and then let’s talk about a few ways you can protect yourself from being scammed.

Common Real Estate Scams

Phony Seminars

This is a big one and often seems entirely legitimate but this one also falls into the “if it’s too good to be true, it probably is” category. The problem with this particular scam is that initially, there is often no cost to you. You’ll be offered free tickets to a seminar, usually offered a free gift for attending and promised that you will not be subjected to high pressure sales tactics. When you arrive at the seminar though, you almost always learn the “free” gift is only offered to those who purchase tickets to additional seminars. That’s not a big deal if you have the money to shell out for additional seminars because they’ll make these additional seminars sound amazing. The problem? Most often, they’re not. They’re a waste of money that will teach you nothing of any valuable, aside from teaching you to be a little more careful about how you spend your money.

“Renting” Empty Houses

This is a disturbing, but not uncommon, real estate scam that makes victims of homeowners and renters alike. In this one, enterprising con artists will look for homes that will be abandoned for an extended period of time – often while the actual homeowner is on an extended vacation or is working in another state or even country – and posts listings for the home online. They’ll sometimes claim to be the owner of the home but will also sometimes claim to be someone authorized to rent on behalf of the homeowner. Sometimes the con artist will break into the home and change the locks. Other times, they’ll just access the home using a spare key they’ve discovered somewhere on the property. It also isn’t unheard of for an especially enterprising criminal to pay a locksmith to let them in. Many people who run this type of scam will forge official looking documents for the renter to sign and will then collect rent until the scam is discovered. The end result is always the same. A well meaning renter will contact the con artist about the home listing, will “rent” the home, usually paying in case, and then the real homeowners will return finding someone they don’t know living in their home.
“Renting” Foreclosed on Houses

There are a few ways this one works. Sometimes the perpetrator is a con artist who works the scam much the same way as the scam we talked about above with vacation or seasonal homes. Other times, the homeowner themselves are the perpetrator. Facing foreclosure and feeling there are no other options, they’ll rent their home to an unsuspecting family and take the money to get their own home somewhere else. When the eviction date arrives, the new family will have no choice but to leave although in some cases, the bank will allow the new family to stay in the home for up to three months so they can try to find another place to live.

Continued: http://homeestates.net/how-to-spot-10-common-real-estate-scams/

Had some of these things happening around here lately. Time for a headsup.