Even though the real-estate is thriving, there are still many property developers out there who operate in an unethical manner, they have no compassion for the hard-earned buyer as these property developers scam these prospective buyers in order to earn a quick pay-day and then disappear with the buyers hard earned money. Make sure you do not be a victim to these scams by being aware of these common scams that are happening in the real-estate industry.
1. Scams in real-estate that go after renters: This scam targets the people who are to looking to rent a house and the seller of the home. The con artist will take up pictures of the house from any builder’s website and post these pictures on rental websites to draw prospective renters. And you must be cautious when the rents of these homes are going for very less in a prominent location. These are all tell-tale of the fake real-estate agent looking for a quick pay day. Sometimes the con artists use this scam to acquire your identity. They even go to the extent of handing you fake house keys. It is advisable to conduct an effortless google search to check customer reviews if the property is genuine and listed every where with same price. Also enquire to the landlord to visit the property. Above all don’t not rush into things like these, as this type of scam needs to be done quickly so the con artists can take your money and run quickly before they get caught.
2. Scams in Mortgage Finance: This type of mortgage scam affects both homebuyers looking to get a mortgage to buy a home and homeowners who may be looking to re-finance their home. These fake mortgage lenders at times advertise on social media groups to help people obtain loans who have low credit or even no credit at all. Part of the scam involves charging the customer an application fee. They best way to tackle this scam is to use licensed mortgage loan providers as they register with the National mortgaging license system. Another tell-tale sign of the scam is the contact e-mail address will be from a public account like Gmail, Yahoo etc. It is better to get the advice from your friends and families, talking to local banks and realtors to ensure to work with legitimate lenders.
3. We purchase home for cash scam: There are only a few honest companies out there looking to buy homes for cash. Beware of this scam as it may involve you transferring the deed for your home but you are still left to pay the mortgage debt and other tax debt present in the seller’s name in the deed. To best to tackle scams like these to hire a lawyer to review the contracts and documents before you sign. If the buyer is adamant in not bringing in a lawyer then you might want to reconsider the offer.
4. Scams which target, sellers, realtors and homebuyers: This scam is much worse than the other as hackers hack into the e-mails that are sent by the seller, buyer, Title Company or realtor to use that information against the buyer of the seller. The con artists will advise you to wire the money as part of a transaction fee. Wire transfers are rarely done during a real-estate closing. If in case you do get an e-mail to wire money regarding a real-estate transaction. Then call the company to confirm the e-mail being sent.
So beware of these common scams and it always advised to get in more information from sellers, legal agents and banks before making a well informed decision.
