One of my seller clients called me to say they had an unannounced potential buyer knock on the door. He claimed his Realtor hadn't told him about the house but he was interested in it after driving by. After a short conversation, my client went ahead and let him look at the house. He said he was interested in it and came back the next day with a letter saying he wanted to buy the house for cash and he would pay with a check. My client took his name and number and said I would call him back. I called him and of course he did not call me back. Before telling him to call me, they had considered taking his "check". Thank goodness they didn't agree to a deal on the spot!
There is a scam going on around the country where people get a copy of the deed to a person's house. They make a new deed and either get you to sign the house over to them in exchange for a bogus cashier's check, or forge a new deed and record it at the county courthouse. Then, they go take a large loan out on the property and take off with the money. They are long gone by the time your realize the cashier's check they gave you is a fake or see that someone has borrowed $300,000 against the house. Then you are stuck trying to fix the problem. If you sign the house over in exchange for check, there is a chance you will have to pay the loan back, a loan you did not take out. Don't let this happen to you.
Not enough people know about this scam. They target people who have lived in their home a long time and have a lot of equity or own it outright. Spread the word!
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