If you’re looking to sell your house, you want to make sure that you get paid at the right price and the funds are readily available. To do so, you need to know how to spot and avoid fake cash home buyers, scams and homebuyer fraud. Unfortunately, there are a lot of fake cash home buyers out there who show up and would promise to help you with your mortgage dilemma but instead take advantage and gain cash from your house. As a result, the owner loses rights to their home but is still responsible for making the mortgage payments. Here are a few tips on how to avoid fake cash home buyers, scams and homebuyer fraud.
1. Do Your Research
The first step you want to take is a simple online search about the buyer. Check out their website. See if there are reviews online from other sellers. Do they have testimonials? If you see a cash home buyer that has a lot of solid Google Reviews and happy clients at the closing table, there’s a good bet this company is legit.
2. Ask them to Explain the Contract
If a cash home buyer is looking to scam you, there’s a good chance they might not want you to read the fine print carefully. Often times what happens with cash home buyers, or “wholesalers”, is that they don’t actually have the money to buy your home. They are there simply to get your home under contract, and then they will go sell that contract to another investor for a fee. This is called wholesaling. And, somewhere in the contract will probably be a section that talks about “assigning” the contract. Be sure to ask the home buyer if they plan on assigning the contract, or are they the end buyer. If they aren’t the end buyer, there’s a good chance the offer price they gave you is not legit, and they may come back in the future and try to negotiate the price down. This will cost you time and money! So, be sure to make sure they review the contract with you. If they won’t, then be careful!
3. Trust Your Gut
Most people have a pretty good idea if they are working with a scam artist or someone who is genuinely trustworthy. Now, certainly you can be tricked by a good sales artist. That’s why it’s called a scam after all. But, if you have a weird feeling in your gut about the buyer or the transaction, you can trust that. Just because somebody showed up to your home, doesn’t mean you have to sell your house to them. There are trustworthy and credible cash home buying companies. You just need to find them. And when you do meet with them and they make you an offer, it should make sense to you, and you should have a good feeling about doing the transaction with this person / company.
At We Buy NKY Houses, we are a local NKY and Cincinnati cash home buying company who cares about honesty and integrity. We recently bought a home in Florence, KY from James, who was very concerned about being defrauded. He had never sold a home before, so he wasn’t sure if it was going to be a scam or not. Watch the video below to see what James said about working with us!
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
Eric: Congratulations on selling your house! Tell us a little bit about the process and how it went for you.
(One more Tip) Do A Background Check On Your Cash Home Buyer
James: Well, it was a great experience. Eric is credible, personable, and trustworthy. I didn’t know what to expect. He arrived at my home professionally dressed with a positive demeanor, and he made a fair offer that was a win-win. It was an offer that I couldn’t refuse. This has been a great experience and I highly recommend Eric to anyone who’s interested in selling their home or looking for a great realtor.
Eric: Awesome. Thank you. One of the things I noticed when I met with you is you had done your research on our website and you were prepared as well. You you even quoted some of my site back to me and said, “Hey, we want this to be a win-win,” like you mentioned. And I was super impressed by that. So you felt like that promise was fulfilled, essentially.
James: The promise was fulfilled 1000%. Every promise that was made was kept. And I intend to be a lifelong customer of Eric’s.
Eric: I asked you what your biggest concern was through the process. Can you share how to avoid fake cash home buyers, scams and homebuyer fraud.
The Process Of Selling Your House With A Legit Cash Home Buyer
James: Being a first-time home seller, I’ve never sold a home. I was concerned about possibly being defrauded and signing away my deed and not getting anything in return, but Eric conducted the transaction in a neutral business environment. Everything was done under penalty of perjury, it was all 100% legitimate. So, anyone who’s concerned about fraud, you can rest assured that everything is 100% legit.
Eric: Yep. So we just got the title company closed us out. You got your papers, we got the signed settlement statement and on to the next step.
James: Yes. Well, thank you, Eric. It’s been a pleasure working with you.
Eric: Thank you so much, James.