The age old adage "buyer beware" has been turned upside down in South Florida. These days it's "seller beware". For the many thousands of homeowners who find themselves upside down in their mortgages and unable to either keep up their payments or sell their homes, the scammers have come out en mass as "loan modification specialists", "home savers" and more creative terms to try and trick you out of your money and, in the worst cases, your home!
Here are just a sampling of things our short sale seller clients were told by other "professionals" before they selected Papillon Real Estate, LLC to help them market, sell and CLOSE their short sale property(s):
- "Just let me collect the rent for you as an "advance" on the expenses I will have selling your short sale". (Umm, excuse me, but what expenses would the Realtor have that they wouldn't have with a regular sale and isn't that what the commission is for?)
- "Just pay me $X (insert $1,500 to $10,000) to procure a loan modification for you" (and bye bye money and many wasted months as foreclosure creeps ever closer.)
- "I have an investor for your property, take it off the market and I will take care of everything" (this seller actually lost their home to foreclosure after the "investor" never materialized and the "professional" disappeared)
- "Sure, I know how to market short sales!" (as the "professional" put absolutely ZERO photos or description in the MLS, just a bunch of disclaimers, yeah, that's going to entice a buyer to select your home out of 13,000 others on the market!
Don't let yourself fall prey to these South Florida scam artists. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it may well be. If the professional wants a large sum of money upfront, investigate them; see how long they have been in business by using www.Sunbiz.org and check the status of their license and make sure there are no complaints (www.MyFlorida.com is good for this). Are they an attorney? A Real Estate Professional? What did they do to earn their living before the this outbreak of Short Sales and Foreclosures? Hint: if it wasn't Real Estate Law or Real Estate Brokerage, that smells like an Opportunist, not a Professional.
If your property is even ONE payment behind, you do not have time to spend on snake -oil salesman, you need to find a professional who is truly out to help you navigate this tough time. If you intend to KEEP the home, you can likely try and work out a modification on your own, but if you choose to hire someone to help, interview THREE and really be comfortable with what they are telling you. If you just can't keep the home, give us a call, we are here to help you market, sell and CLOSE your South Florida Short Sale Property. We don't charge you a penny and we only get paid when the property SELLS, and that comes out of the proceeds to the lender from the sale, not your pocket! We are the Owners and Brokers of our real estate firm and we have the experience and knowledge to work on your behalf to sell your property and let you get on with your life!
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Another scam is that some Realtors would convince a seller to sell a house while loan modification might be the best option.