I think there are more scams out there now then when the market was hot. Every day I get a call from a buyer or seller who has come into contact with some amazing opportunity. Usually it is buyers and sellers who are not working with a Realtor and are searching the internet on their own. Of course, doing online research is important but at some point, people need a trusted advisor before making important decisions such as some of these "opportunities" I have recently heard about:
1. An online ad reads--$286,000, 3BR/2BA single family home, 1660 sq. ft. with a family room and formal dining room in Long Beach. Buyers only. (Can we all say..."bait & switch.")
2. An online mortgage broker tells a young couple they can't qualify with less than 10% down but he can refer them to a company that will buy the house for them and then they can rent to own. (I wonder how much money the mortgage broker will pocket after the company takes the couple's lease option money.)
3. An online mortgage broker tells a homeowner to refi into a jumbo ($1,000,000 loan) 5-year ARM at 4.78%. He swears that it's not a negative am loan, balloon payment, no prepays...just a clean loan that only they can offer because they are wholesale lenders. (Read those loan docs very carefully.)
4. A credit-repair company will help a family in default cut their house payments in half for a small fee upfront fee of $1500. (A reputable company does not charge a fee and there are many non-profit programs.)
5. An investor offers take over all the mortgage payments for a small fee upfront processing fee of $5000 and the homeowner just signs little piece of paper called a grant deed. (I know a woman who recently bought into this incredible offer and of course the "investor" never made a single payment and is still living in the house as it's going through foreclosure. Other than $5000 and free rent for a while, I'm not why a con artist would go to this extent.)
Does anyone know of any other current scams we can warn people about?
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