If you are thinking about selling your home, then chances are that you will get contacted by people who want to buy it. Some of these people might be legitimate buyers, but others may not be so honest. There are many red flags to watch out for when trying to spot a “buy my house” scam. In this blog post we will go over 3 signs of a “buy my house” scam and how to protect yourself from becoming another victim!
We Buy Houses Scams: What You Should Know
If you’re thinking about selling your home to an investor, here’s what you should know about we buy houses scams .
Have you ever get a call from someone who says they want to buy your house? Could it be the start of a “we buy houses” scam? Here’s how you can protect yourself.
Getting an offer for all cash might seem like a dream come true, but what if that buyer is trying to pull off a selling your house in cash scam? There are many different types of we buy houses scams out there, so read on to learn more. You will be surprised that many buyers out there are not actually going to buy your house.
Tip 1 – Who is responsible for paying whom when you sell your house?
One might think getting an offer from someone who wants to pay them all-cash sounds great at first glance – but don’t get too excited just yet because there could be many risks involved with this type of transaction. Specially when the buyer is reaching out to you out of the blue.
One of the biggest risks is who pays for whom? Make sure you know exactly how this process works so there are no surprises when it comes time to sell your house in cash in Texas.
Since you are the one selling the house, there is no reason why you should make any payment in “advance” in order to sell your house. You are the one which actually is getting paid. You are the Seller and the Real Estate Investor is the Buyer. Often scammers will ask for money upfront, they use many names for it; processing fees, administrative expenses, etc. This is a big red flag you may be getting straight into a scam. It doesn’t matter if they are asking for $100 or $200, make sure you do not make any payment in advance to these fake buyers, if you make any payment they will turn around and leave with your money. You probably are not going to heard back from this kind of “buyers”.
A legitimate house buyer will never ask you for upfront fees, in fact a Real Estate Investor like us will even pay all the fees associated with the sell of your house so there isn’t any fee on your side, you would be selling your house completely for free. Remember the buyer is the one paying YOU.
There are definitely a lot fo benefits to sell your house to an investor, but make sure you are talking to a real one before you decide to sign in the doted line.
Tip 2 – The “We Buy Houses” investor is too quick to buy a property sight unseen
Usually, the investor should ask to see the property first before making an offer. If someone is trying to buy your home without seeing it or even understanding the current condition of your house, this is another red flag you could be in front of a foreign scam.
Let me tell you this, it is possible to sell your house without having someone walking in your house. These days we are able to do virtual walkthroughs, evaluate repairs with pictures and many other ways. But this information is essential for an investor to give you the best offer possible and actually being able to buy your house. We have had some Homeowners telling us they want to sell their property for a certain price but we actually ended up buying the property for more. Let me show you an example. We got an SMS from a homeowner saying they would like to sell their house to us (a legitimate house buyer) for $75,000 cash, after evaluating the property it was actually in a better shape they thought it was and we were able to buy their house for $95,000 cash, without having them paying any commission or fee.
Do you see now why this information is important? a legitimate house buyer will always ask and get information about the current condition of the house.
Tip 3 – Earnest Money is part of the sale
Many fake buyers wont be comfortable about putting an Earnest Money deposit. You may think it is not a big deal, but have you thought about the details of this? Let’s imagine this “investor” in trying to buy your house for $50,000 and you ask them for a $2,500 Earnest Money deposit and they refuse to do it. Do you think they are serious about buying your house for $50,000?… maybe not.
Fake house buyers are often going to try to sale the rights they have in the contract you sign with them to a legitimate Real Estate Investor like us, this is definitely not the position you would like to be. Most of the times is best to just getting a Realtor and list your property in the market. Pictures and information about your house will be everywhere, they would do everything they can to sell your house to a real investor for more than you actually agreed with them and guess what?… they are going to keep all the difference. You may be netting at the end less than $50,000 and they would be getting $20,000.
We are happy to put an Earnest Money Deposit in place, Why? because we will be paying whatever price we accorded anyways, for a real home buyer like us this is just a payment in advance. By the time we put the Earnest Money Deposit we are 100% sure we will buy your house according to the price and terms we established.
Avoid a We Buy Houses Scam!
Scammers are constantly evolving, these are just some of the most common examples we have seen in the industry, before you decide to sell your house to someone make sure it is a reputable company that is actually going to be able to buy your house directly from you. We all have been in a situation where we just get a bad feeling about someone or some details in the offer or contract that just doesn’t make sense to us, this could be a red flag as well. If you are not sure about something or just don’t understand the terms, ask questions! never accept an offer you don’t understand or trust! Scams are everywhere!
Selling your house directly to us means you are always be informed about the process, timeframe, pricing, and all the details about how we are actually going to buy the house from you, we make sure you will always be in the same page as us, we are committed to transparency and customer satisfaction, this is why we are know for giving the best offers in town. Give us a try! you will be happy you did!
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