Don't provide financial information through emails or links to websites. The fact that this buyer is a foreigner and wants to buy the view of the house without being seen is a red flag. Why? Most people want to see a property (or at least have their agent see it) before buying it or at least be familiar with the area. This scammer doesn't, doesn't, or probably won't even ask questions about the property.
China and Canada have been popular options in this scam for some reason, but the scammer could say they are from any country. Foreign checks often take longer to clear, and the buyer's foreign identity could explain why an email would be plagued by typographical errors. Due to the time difference, this catfish-style cash buyer is unable to make phone calls in person to speak with you or the lawyer. Instead, the buyer asks you to contact the lawyer on your behalf.
If you talk to this person, you might find that they don't sound like Chinese (or Canadian or whatever). And they're probably afraid of being tracked. Serious investors can give you contact information for people they've bought homes from. They assign their contract to a third party and receive a fee for the assignment.
Fraudsters can be patient and wait for several meetings before asking landlords for a significant processing fee. The average contract closing time can take four to six weeks; if the buyer wants you to act quickly or gives you guarantees of an immediate sale, it is most likely a scam. A growing and extremely costly real estate scam that buyers should be aware of is real estate wire transfer scams. A scammer posing as a mortgage or loan officer can convince a seller that they have a buyer for the property.
Arguably, there are fewer protections for landlords and renters than for buyers and sellers of real estate, making those involved a somewhat softer target for scammers. Selling a home for the first time can be an intimidating process, and there are scams out there that you're likely to run into. And because the email appears to come from a legitimate source, homebuyers will often follow fraudulent instructions and then use scammers' transfer instructions to send the money. Buyers can help avoid mortgage scams if they better understand the mortgage process and work only with reputable lenders.
One way this can turn into a scam is when a buyer, perhaps with the help of a fraudulent appraiser, convinces the homeowner that the property is worth much less than it is actually worth. Closely related to fake buyer scams, “You'll buy your house for cash, offers can range from legitimate, deceptive to fraudulent. Real estate transactions require moving large sums of money from buyers to sellers, a process that unfortunately attracts scammers. Seniors are a big target for real estate scams because they tend to own their homes for an extended period of time and may not be familiar with how scammers use the newest technology for their plans.
Other reverse mortgage scams involve selling a product or service to an elderly person while financing the purchase through a reverse mortgage. One way prospective tenants are more vulnerable to being scammed is by responding to fake classified ads for properties that don't exist, aren't available, or placed by people who don't actually own the property. .
