Real estate scams affect thousands of people every year. Fraudsters use methodologies that are now known to professionals in the real estate world and, sometimes, manage to pull off transactions so sophisticated as to seem far-fetched.
The most common victims are people who have no experience in real estate transactions and, not knowing the pitfalls, think they can manage the sale independently.
ATTENTION The only way to defend yourself against real estate scams is to rely on certified professionals. An expert real estate agent works only with verified clients and is able to provide advice and assistance at every stage of the negotiation up to the sale.
THE MOST FREQUENT REAL ESTATE SCAMS
1. Beautiful houses at a very low price
One of the most common real estate scams uses the classic ad trick with very nice photos combined with an attractive price. If you contact the advertiser, the answer is always that the house is no longer available, that they have other similar ones to offer, and that it is possible to stop the negotiations by paying a deposit. Once the deposit is made, the scammers disappear.
2. Selling someone else’s house
It seems incredible, but it happens. Fraudsters of this type are organized like a criminal gang, each with a specific task to accomplish. After renting a property, they falsify the documents and sell it to another member of the gang. In doing so, the gang manages to get hold of the property and can use it as a guarantee to request a loan from the bank or resell it to an unsuspecting buyer. Checking the documents of a house is a very important part of a sale and only a professional is able to check their truthfulness.
3. Paid list
There are scammers who pose as real estate agents and offer paid lists of houses and apartments, selling them as more up-to-date, reliable and exclusive information than what can be found on the internet or in newspapers. Too bad that if you want to visit the properties, the ads are non-existent or not available for sale or rent. No real estate agent would ever ask for money to provide lists of properties, so be careful to rely only on certified professionals.
4. The fake real estate agent
Cases of scams of this type all share the same technique: the request for payment of a large deposit to win a house for sale or for rent at a particularly advantageous price.
In many cases, the house can also be visited without the knowledge of the owner and the real estate agency to which the negotiation has been entrusted. In general, these are serial scammers who operate across the board, moving from town to town and losing track of themselves. The rule for defending yourself against this type of scam is to always make sure of the identity of the intermediary and rely only on certified and referenced professionals.
5. Advance rent payment
The scammer contacts the owner of a house that has been rented out and introduces himself as a relative of the person who would like to take it as soon as possible (often a child who has to go to study or work in that city). He then offers to pay the deposit and the first months of rent in advance and sends the counterfeit receipt of the payment by fax. However, the sum on the receipt shows a significantly higher figure and the scammer urgently demands that the difference be returned to him. The only way to rent a house only to verified people is to rely on a real estate agency.
6. The Millionaire Buyer
The owner of a house for sale is contacted by a person who claims to be an American soldier who has earned several million dollars for dangerous operations in Iran, or an exiled Burkina Faso princess with capital to invest, or other similar characters. Whatever identity he decides to assume, the scammer declares his intention to buy a house in Italy. To unblock the bureaucratic issues, he asks for a small advance for the first tasks, while he deals with the international transfer of the total amount of the property. Of course, after receipt of the requested amount, there will be no way to contact the imaginary buyer.
7. Transfer of ownership and mortgage
The victims of this scam are preferably people in difficulty with their mortgage. The scammer, posing as a real estate agent, offers to buy the house, leaving the current owners to live in rent. The victims sign the transfer of the property and the mortgage. In this passage, however, there is a clause which specifies that the passage will take place only if the bank approves it. If the bank doesn’t approve the victims, they not only lose their home, but keep their mortgage outstanding. No real estate agent will ever offer a mortgage transfer to a client, so it is better to seek advice from a true professional before accepting proposals of this type.
8. House keys sent by courier
The typical scam that can affect those who are looking for a house to rent urgently or for a short period, for example in the case of moving for study or work. The scammers publish advertisements for non-existent houses, accompanied by beautiful photos and a detailed description. These are flirtatious ads in which the published price is generally very affordable and the owner declares that he is in a hurry to rent because he is moving (or for other credible reasons) and asks for a deposit to secure the house, promising to invite the keys and the contract by courier. Obviously both the keys and the contract are equally bogus. The only way to rent a house without risking bad surprises is to rely on a real estate agency.