Earlier today a gentlemen called asking if I wouldn't mind sending him some "comps" for his home on 123 Smith Street. As usual, I asked my routine questions:
1. Why are you selling?
2. Will you be buying a home, and if so are you pre-approved?
The man on the phone whom I'll refer to as BUD said he was an investor and that he was looking for an agent to to "appraise" his home. He then said that the agent who impressed him the most might have the good fortunes to work with him at an up and coming auction here in Houston. He went on to ask if I would provide him detailed assessments on 15 different homes and that he'd be happy to pay me $10.00 for each evaluation.
Without laughing I asked if HE was going to be buying these homes and he said "NO, I've got buyers and I am going to be pointing them in the right direction at the auction." Later in the conversation BUD admitted that these buyers would then be paying him a percentage of the sales price both BEFORE and after closing.
BUD is not a Realtor or attorney in the State of Texas. This makes him and his practices very, very suspect. You cannot practice law, or real estate without a license. When confronted with his efforts BUD hung up on me, but not before saying.... "I'm helping people and they pay me lots of money to do so!"
I forgot to mention that Bud said he believed his home was worth about 85k, in reality, it's worth about 35k.
Facts:
You don't have to use a Realtor or attorney to buy a home at the local auction. If you do, YOU DON'T have to pay any Realtor fee's. This is the sellers responsibility.
It's in every buyers best interest to seek the advice of a "professional" before buying investment property. Paying some guy BEFORE closing who isn't licensed to do anything but drive his pick-up truck is like me eating cookies to lose weight and charging you to watch before it happens. Very stupid idea.
Sad thing is.. he wouldn't be doing this if he wasn't making money off of it!
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