Real estate investment is a very good way to make
money. The quickest and easiest way to make money is by Zack
Childress’concept called co-wholesaling real estate investing system.
When you surf for this information, there are many attractive offers but
most of them are just too good to be true.
Zack Childress cautions every real estate
entrepreneurs against the scams. A fraudster has numerous ways to
extract cash. However, there are common ways in which a fraudster tries
to get money from you.
Title fraud
Though this type of fraud is rare, it is the most
scary thing. It has got to do more with your identity than cash. In this
type of fraud, the fraudster acquires the secured loan in your name by
forging with the documents and gets the cash, but it is the real owner
who has to pay these loans.
Title fraud is common with the homes that are not mortgaged under
any individual or party
to get a loan. Once they go with the cash, the fraudsters are likely to
target those homes that are either free from the mortgage or the
homeowner has redeemed their house from the mortgage company paying all
the loan installments.
There are many ways to avoid this type of scam but
the two suggested and the recommended ways are to take title insurance
and avoid issuing vital property documents till the last stages of
transferring the ownership to them. Title insurance protects the
homeowner against this fraud. It guards against the new owner from
existing liens such as unpaid debts, from utilities, mortgages and
unpaid property taxes like wealth tax. The other way is to focus on
protecting your personal data. Taking appropriate precautions avoids
identity related theft losses.
Loan Modification
If the homeowner have mortgaged or pledged the house
to the mortgage company & are struggling to repay the loans due to
high interest, there is a tendency to approach the agency to help them
to save their house. This is the weakest moment for them where the
agencies of the situation & exploit them. If the lender is a
fraudster, they will give foreclosure options like reduced mortgage
payments to access your bank account.
You need to watch out certain aspects such as advance
fee, redirect the payments from the mortgage company to their agency,
guarantees to save your house from foreclosure & asks for your bank
account information. To be on a safer side, consulting an
advocate or financial advisor
would be even better. If you are buying the house for the first time,
then you are ought to be more careful from the fraudsters.
There is a proverb saying,
“Prevention is better than cure.”
It is always better to be on your guard rather than regretting later. If you have become a
victim to these scams, contact Sheriff Station police station or the Attorney’s office and give them a written explanation about the incident.
Real estate companies regularly receive information
on real estate scams from customers who were affected by the scandals or
know other people who were victims to the scam. The best tool for
shielding yourself against these schemes is to be aware of the fact that
they exist and one should put in much caution.
The following things have been brought to the attention of higher officials in real estate
Scam #1:
There is a purchaser from another country and he
calls you to assist him buy one or more posh homes in the area. The
person says he is affluent, and he is from an affluent family. Also, he
projects an image that money is not a major issue. The person conveys
his plan to relocate to the vicinity because he is a surgeon at a
hospital in the area. The purchaser in fact makes a visit to the area,
arranges for a meeting with you, and claims that he is residing in a
nearby luxury hotel. At some juncture, the purchaser heads for the home
and the buyer’s relative is desperate requiring your financial help just
until the buyer could be reached.
What one can do?
Be cautious that many scams include some person who
appears to be desperate to purchase the property. Although you would
desire to rescue the person, rely on your instincts and use some common
sense. If you are emotionally thinking about the situation, one has to
put forth the question, what would the broker do? Then go to the broker
or a reliable associate for suggestion. They should put the situation
into the proper perspective. If one suspects that buyer and his family
are scammers, endeavor to document as much information as possible and
report the scenario to higher authorities.
Scam #2:
There are property listings that are fraudulently
posted on websites. During such an instance, customers were encouraged
to send money to an account in exchange for real contract or keys.
What one can do?
You have to visit the Craigslist.com website time and
again to assure that the listings are not being advertised against law
by unauthorized individuals.
Assist in educating the customers on the Do’s and Don’ts if transaction over the net.
- You have to set up a Google Alert on the
addresses of the listings to watch out for the internet postings related
to the properties.
- If you find any fraudulent postings, post a complaint.
- Coordinating with ongoing efforts by the
FBI, report the fraudulent postings to the necessary websites and ask
them to remove it immediately.
- In case you find fraudulent postings on
Craigslist.com, forward the property link from that site to Real comp.
They will ensure that the listings are removed.
Scam #3:
A wealthy purchaser, from abroad, approaches you
regarding acquiring a luxury home. The purchaser may even meet with you
or a local buyer’s agent before going home. The buyer implies that he
will make cash payment and they request quick closing of the deal. The
purchaser may furnish copies of foreign bank statements that reveal
sufficient funds for the purchase of the property. However, a proper
wire transfer never occurs. But, as a matter of fact, the buyer requests
to retain the keys before the closing of the deal.
What one can do?
Take the necessary steps to assure that the person is
legal, follow the normal methods established by the broker, do not make
exceptions to the process.
Scam #4:
The scammers make an arrangement to observe the
listed properties. During the showings, they will test opening and
closing windows and doors, and in fact leaving one among the entries
unlocked. Then, they return to the property to rob you off the
appliances.
What one can do?
Make sure that all the windows and doors are locked
before you leave a showing even if it looks like a buyer has already
done that. Also, have in mind that MLS subscribers should never reveal
lockbox codes to any other person than MLS subscribers.
Zack Childress, real estate investor and multifaceted
real estate kingpin has staged a number of seminars regarding the
existing real estate scenario. One could listen to his seminars to be
aware of the real estate scams.
There are very many resources on how to
succeed in real estate on the internet.
There are also many great deals available online. However, there are
also very many scams that are out to steal from real estate
entrepreneurs.
Zack Childress scam warning tips take you through some of the common ways fraudster try to get your cash and how to avoid them.
Title fraud
Title fraud is prevalent with homes that are free from
mortgage and owned by old people. These people do not know how to
protect themselves from identity theft.
To avoid falling victim, avoid sharing the critical
property documents with the third parties until the final stages of the
transfer of title. You can also take title insurance.
Foreclosure or home-equity fraud
If you are short on funds, you may use the property
to get some cash to cover your expenses. Criminals approach the
funds-stripped house owners and promise to consolidate the loans as he
holds the title for the property. The criminal then fails to make
payments as agreed. He also keeps all the payments that are made by the
client. After sometime, the criminal reportages the property and
disappears with the cash. The house owner is left in debts without the
property.
Be wary of agents who promise good deals in exchange
for the property equity. Leveraging properties is always very risky.
However, if you must do it, consider using a lawyer and your financial
advisor.
Property investment courses and seminars
It is important that you educate yourself on real
estate. However, ensure that you do the research on the suitability and
the accuracy of the courses before enrolling into the programs.
Seminars where the speakers try to sell their
properties are scams. Likewise, avoid workshops, which charge
excessively but have no proven success against their claims. If you got
to a seminar where you are forced to buy a book or a program as a
requisite to earn from the information, it is likely to be fraud.
Genuine courses give tons of free valuable information and only charge
for the exclusive information for the attendees.
Alerts for fishy rental scam – zack childress tips
Many people yield to real estate scams
that are available in several sites online. In fact, some individuals
are carried away by suspicious ads. Certain reports also suggest that
people are made to sign a rental agreement. Unfortunately they will come
to know only at a later time that the property was the possession of
some other person. So the need of the hour is to safeguard ourselves
from these scams.
There are still some individuals who are
victims of this scam. This is particularly in case of those who are
having problem with their money. They may be people who are scouting for
cheap properties. Hence it becomes necessary to observe whether an
advertisement is really good that it can be believed.
What do these con people exactly do?
They would scout for vacant properties in the vicinity or attempt to
look out for repossessed properties by lenders. They would reach the
place of the house eventually and change the specific lock. After this
they will be on the keen lookout of their victim.
Con artists also give stress on you to
transfer them amount which cannot be traced later. So such upfront deal
is generally a sign that you are falling in the trap of a con artist.
Must Follow
Con artists will show out as though
there are very busy and they will avoid the important documents. They
also conveniently go away, not able to being found by you or the
police.The key is that what you are dealing with is a business deal and
finally you should not trust individuals just because they are so nice
and courteous.
However, home sellers are in a situation
where they can find solutions to safeguard their vacant properties from
trespassers. When the seller is not residing in the property anymore
they can safeguard their property through insurance. This they can do
until another buyer stays in the home. Security systems are also one of
the best things the sellers can depend upon.Generally people won’t sell
their property often and so the Craiglist scam would be news to them.
Craiglist scam is one scam that had become commonplace some time
back; scammers utilize your marketing images with the idea of trapping
potential renters. Renters eventually yield to what the con artists are
doing and send their rental money to the contact, who can even be out of
the country. The scammer gets hold of the sum and escapes without any
trace, as mentioned earlier.
To avoid such Craigslist scams you can do the following:
•You should see whether the house is being rented for a whopping price.
• When the landlord says that he is unavailable to contact you in person then take extra care.
• In case you get to know that the home
advertised for sale also comes under the purview of listing for sale
then don’t hesitate to ring to the real estate agent. By doing this the
scam will be exposed in no time.
The key is that since you are the seller you as well as your agent should exercise great care.
Renters seek a house, condo or apartment
while scammers seek target in the name of online rental listing. Beware
of rental scams, they are everywhere! Hundred thousand renters are
swindled by online rental/sales scams every year on a collective basis.
Rental listing disguised as online rental/sales scams are a Scam, so be
on the lookout for certain things like the landlord is overseas,
communication is exclusively by email or cell phone, the house has a
“For Sale” but not a “For Rent” sign, when you are conducting your
rental search. Read on to know more about the red flags.
Warning signs
The aforesaid points like the “owner” or
“renter” claim to be out of the country and when the communication
happens only through email or cell phone will give you a suspicion. But,
if you come across the following points, then you need to be alert and
let your family members and friends know if they are also looking to
rent a home. Having said that, often, your gut feeling will let you know
there’s something not right about a wished-for rental deal, together
with that,
if you come across these things jotted down below, then think twice or even more:-
• The sense of urgency – when the person seems in a hurry to close the deal immediately.
• The home appears to have someone else’s personal possessions.
• The rental sum is lesser than the going rate for the neighborhood.
• If you are asked to hand over money before anything else happens.
Prevention
When you are looking to rent a house,
always remember to do your own research work and find out all details
about the renting part because prevention is always far better than
simply trying to recuperate after being deceived. With technology
getting better and better, in certain cases, you will never see your
money again and finding the criminal may go in vain if you fail to take
these preventative measures.
• Demand a written lease
• Never deal in cash
• Meet the landlord in person
• Talk to the current tenants
• Do your own research and find out all details
• Organize an inspection for the property
• Know the market rates and compare with the neighborhood value
• Take the service of a licensed real estate agent
If you have been scammed, then without
any second thought file a complaint and provide the cops, as much as
information as possible to help them find the deceiver.Real estate
investments are trickier and the chances for you to get deceived are
higher if you are a beginner. Sign up for Zack Childress real estate
reviews to stay up to date on real estate concepts and make secure
investments with the guidance of this connoisseur who will guide you
every step of the way.
Home Improvement Scams
There are times when your house becomes
old and you would want to do co-wholesaling but people would not be
interested in buying the property as it is old and outdated.Home
Improvement is an answer for that. However, when you hire someone to do
the work, you need to be careful whether the contractor is genuine or
whether they want to extract cash from you. The scammers usually target
the old and damaged houses. They use low quality roofing materials and
cheap paint.
Some of the Do’s and Don’t are as follows
• Be cautious
Before you work with that person, take
the company information from them and tell them you will get back to
them if your services are needed.If the contractor comes without the
company vehicle and the phone number, do not even entertain them.
• Research about the company
Before hiring the person to do your work,
you need to check out the rating and complaint history of surfing about
the organization or approaching the Better Business Bureau.
• Consult with the people you trust
If the company has newly started, the
best thing is to ask your relatives, friends, neighbors or your legal
advisor before proceeding.
• Find out the contractor’s background
Background checking is very critical
these days to protect yourself from the scams, frauds, thefts &
damages. Ask for the proof about company license & bond which
provides compensation to the workers in the form of insurance.
Additionally, take the references from the previous companies they have
worked.
• Study the contractor’s business card
Make sure that the contractor’s business
card has a complete address & an office telephone number. To be on a
safer side, take his mobile number too. You should not trust P.O Box
number & answering machine.
• Get a contract
Insist on a written contract that has a
list of tasks to be performed, like costs, materials that needs to be
used, start date, end date and warranty about products and installation.
Read the contract before signing it.
• Be wise about the payment
Pay only 25 to 30% as an advance before
they start with the work. Do not make the final payment unless the work
is satisfactorily completed. Also make sure that you get a lien waiver,
stating that payment is being made to subcontractors & supplies. Use
either check or credit card for making the payment. Avoid paying by
cash.
These are the preventive measures to
safeguard yourself from these scams. However, if you become a victim to
this scam. Try out the following measures to track them.
1.Try to track them through the mobile
number that they had given you. Also visit their office. If you are not
able to find the fraudster, try to locate his residential address.
2.If you are unable to locate them, you
can go to the local police station or Attorney General or the Consumer
Federation of America.
Real estate companies regularly receive
information on real estate scams from customers who were affected by the
scandals or know other people who were victims to the scam. The best
tool for shielding yourself against these schemes is to be aware of the
fact that they exist and one should put in much caution
