If your plans are to buy a house, then it is important that you know how to avoid a real estate fraud and to recognize the signs of these to protect your investment. When you're in search of a home you can meet with people fraudulent want to take advantage of the situation.
Types of real estate fraud most frequent are:
Application of payments:
Scammers often ask for a deposit, minimum, 10% of the total value of the alleged housing, without first having made the visit to the property you are offering, or have made a deal formal. The pretext they usually give is that there are several interested buyers in the housing and that with that amount of money will make the difference between the others.
The way to avoid this type of scam is knowing that a deposit in advance can be done always, and when it is explicitly set in the contract of sale.
Phishing or false advertisers:
With this type of fraud, scammers masquerade as real estate agents or advisors. They also tend to impersonate the identity of another seller, through a copy of your ad and your personal data, or pretending to work for a company non-existent.
They may try to contact you via telephone or messages to offer you a mortgage with a number of benefits, but without detailed requirements. It may be that the offer is attractive, but the reality is that no financial identity is contacted in this way, so you should report them to just happen to you.
Ads of properties that don't exist:
Also often advertise real estate that does not exist, using photos of properties that are found in internet and which do not seem at all to the other houses of the colony to which they belong.
If an advertisement does not contains photos of the interior and the exterior of the property, is most likely a scam. It is better not satisfied with the photos, and you try to schedule an appointment to meet the property in person before closing any deal.
The absence of a contract of sale:
Another fraud can also be committed by means of contracts. The contract of purchase and sale is the document that certifies the transaction.
If the scammer, the alleged seller, refuses to perform the contract of sale, formal, this might be more of a real estate fraud, and in this case, you should not proceed with the purchase.
This document is characterized by include everything agreed by the parties and the signing of the contract must be given in front of a notary public. Additionally, this document must be read and reviewed by your attorney or estate planner before submission.
False documentation or incomplete:
Another type of fraud that tends to happen is the presentation of a false documentation. That is to say, the fraudsters can make use of a fake document to verify the ownership of a home.
If you wish to review the legitimacy of the documentation of the property, you can verify if this is registered in the Public Registry of the Property. There you'll be able to observe who is the owner of the property and the legal status of the same.
Hidden defects:
Ignore the failures or imperfections of a property is another scam that tends to happen. With hidden defects refers to any damage that at first sight you can't see, but with the passage of time, generate a problem in the property.
To have knowledge of any hidden defects in a dwelling, and to ignore that information to the buyer is a lack that can be claimed before a civil court.
Signals to identify a real estate fraud:
- Not being able to communicate with the seller: something is wrong if you spend many days without receiving a response from the seller, especially when you ask for a physical visit of the property or photographs of it.
- Offices are difficult to locate: if the estate does not have a tax domicile in force to go, it can be presumed to be a company that is false.
- Low prices for the property: seeks to review the area market to give you an idea of the price. If the price of the property seems a great deal compared to the others, it can be a real estate fraud.
- Little information on housing: if the advertisement of the property does not detail the characteristics, do not have any pictures and you do not specify the address and the contact details of the seller are incomplete, it may be an ad fake.
- Pre-conditions to the contract: if they ask for personal data or banking as deposits before knowing the real estate, it's a scam.
- Pressure for a quick purchase: if the seller insists that you decide soon, without giving you the time necessary for analysis or to consider other options, trying to act hastily, is a common sign of a real estate fraud.
Tips in order to avoid fraud real estate:
- Hire a notary
- It certifies the identity of the seller
- Confirms the legality of the property
- Visit the property in person
- Uses portals real estate trust
- Review the contract and forms of payment safe