Sellers Beware

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Scammers.....Phishers.....Thieves.....Fraudsters.....they are everywhere.

If you are at a point where you NEED to sell your home; maybe you have lost your job and can no longer make your mortgage payments.  Maybe you are a retiree and you owe past due taxes, or maybe you inherited a home that needs repairs and you cannot afford to make the repairs.

Well, there are "companies" or persons out there who are willing to take your property off of your hands.  BUT.....beware.

A few years ago, a woman asked me to help her find investment properties.  We looked at a few and then there was one she decided to purchase.  She wanted to make the offer in person to the property owner, so I set up a meeting.  Once I heard her pitch I realized this was one person I did not wish to represent.

This was her proposal to the homeowner...
She offered to pay the homeowner half the cost of the house up front.  She then wanted the property transferred into her name but the outstanding mortgage would not be paid off.  Within six months she would pay the homeowner the balance of the sales price at which time the mortgage, still in the name of the original owner, would be paid off.  

All kinds of alarm bells went off in my brain.  After I severed my working relationship with this "investor" I went back to this homeowner and explained the pitfalls.  I don't know what happened, but I was not going to willing participate in a possible scam.

So, you ask, "What could go wrong?"
  • The homeowner would lose ownership of her home without receiving full compensation and she had to vacate the property.
  • The homeowner was still liable for the mortgage secured by the home she no longer owned.
  • If the "investor" defaulted on the final payment to the former homeowner, the default of the mortgage would be on the shoulders of the original owner and it would be her who the mortgage company would come after.
  • She would not only ruin her credit, but she would also lose her home without full compensation.
I believe this investor intended to take ownership of the home, turn around and sell it and then pay off the mortgage.  But what if she couldn't sell it for the amount needed to pay off the mortgage?  

This was just a bad deal all around.  So, seller beware.

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