Archive for the ‘scams’ Category
The Truth About Short Sales
A short sale may be the best way for some homeowner’s to avoid foreclosure, but what is a short sale? How does an owner negotiate or work with their lender to avoid foreclosure?
According to Wikipedia: A short sale is a sale of real estate in which the proceeds from the sale fall short of the balance owed on a loan secured by the property sold.
How should a homeowner negotiate terms for a short sale with their lender? What should they watch out for??
- Seller’s need to know that they will be liable for the difference between the sales price and the loan balance unless they can prove they can not pay it.
- Seller’s should provide documents of financial hardship to their lenders such as layoff notice, medical bills or investment statements.
- Seller’s should check all closing documents for the home for signs of fraud. In cases where questionable loan practices have occurred, lenders will be more negotiable.
- If seller’s have more than one mortgage, talk to the lender in the last position first. They have the most to lose if the house goes into foreclosure.
- Make sure short-sale agreements don’t allow the lender to go after the buyer or seller for the difference at a later date.
- Be motivated to Sell. Provide a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) or appraisal to the lender. Reassure them that you will take every necessary step to sell the property, if they agree to work with you.
- Always refer legal questions to a lawyer and financial questions to an accountant.
Article of Interest: Beware of Real Estate, Foreclosure and Loan Modification Scams
Thank you for visiting Why 6 Percent. If you are selling by owner, but want to expose your property on the MLS and all major real estate websites such as Realtor.com, we are here to help.
Protect Your Home from Lock Picking and Bumping
A news report revealed some very disturbing information about home safety and security. Or, should we say the lack of it. A new technique called “Lock Bumping” allows criminals entry into 90 percent of American homes in less than 10 seconds.
Watch the short news video to learn what Lock Bumping is, and which locks are “Pick” Proof. The news will surprise you, but it is important that you protect your home and your family today.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW NEWS REPORT
Thank you for visiting Why 6 Percent. Search for thousands of great deals on homes for sale and rent. Or, call us to learn about our real estate marketing program and instantly places your home for sale in front of millions of home shoppers each month, with the simple click of your mouse.
FSBO’s – Stop Annoying Calls from Real Estate Agents
The housing crash is tough on everyone, but it is causing a huge problem for real estate agents. They are making no money and have no business. To make up part of their cash shortfall, they have turned their attention on for sale by owner’s , driving them crazy with cold calls.
Real estate media writers are part of this problem. Widely followed real estate commentators, such as Bernie Ross (good writer) of Inman News, are advising Realtors and agents to cold call for sale by owners in hopes of generating leads in a down market. Her recent article for Inman entitled “Cashing in on FSBO’s”, illustrates why, annoying or not, many agents are dialing your home searching for their next commission check.
Ms Ross advise to Agents :
“In today’s market, expired listings and distressed properties seem to dominate the scene. Nevertheless, there’s another source of right-now business that you can’t afford to miss: for-sale-by-owners (FSBOs).”
If you are selling by owner and find that daily sales calls from real estate agents are disruptive and infuriating, you can take action to make them stop.
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List your property on the MLS. Agents are automatically prohibited from calling seller’s whose property is listed on the MLS. In addition to eliminating sales calls, the MLS also provides fsbo’s the best exposure and reach needed to sell their home.
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Add your home and cell phone numbers to the “Do Not Call List“. If you are on the Do Not Call list, real estate agents and telephone marketer’s should not call you, and they can be fined if they do.
Thank you for visiting Why6Percent.com. We specialize in FSBO’s real estate marketing and assist homeseller’s with an MLS and Realtor.com home listings. Call us today at 1-800-381-9496.
Stall, Halt or Stop Foreclosure to Buy More Time
Homeowner’s facing foreclosure have found discovered a very valuable secret that can stall, halt or stop foreclosure proceedings.
How? It seems that many of our banks and lenders are unable to locate the original loan documents which give them the right to foreclose on a property.
If you are a homeowner who is facing a foreclosure action, ask your attorney to demand a copy of all your original loan documents from the bank or lender. If the lender can not produce your paperwork, they can NOT foreclose on your loan.
Thank you for visiting Why6Percent.com. We are here to help you sell your home, as we have helped thousands of others. Call 1-800-381-9496 for all your home selling needs, questions or concerns.
4 Lies and Truths about Real Estate Listing Pitches
Real estate agents often use some pretty scary sales tactics when solicitating a listing. Relax, none of these lies or half truths are as scary as the 6 percent you are guaranteed to lose, if you buy the lie.
The Lies and Truths about Listing Pitches:
Lie #1: If you list with a discounter you will be blackballed and no real agent will show your property.
Truth #1: If your home is listed on the MLS, agent’s can’t determine any difference between your house and everyone else’s. Assuming that they could somehow tell the difference, it wouldn’t matter anyway. The only thing agents care about is their commission. If they refuse to show your home, they run a high risk that the buyer will look without them and they earn nothing. In truth, the only agents who spin the blackball story are listing agents, who are having a hard time scoring a 6 percent fee and those don’t normally work with buyer’s anyway.
Lie #2: Our office has a lot of buyers referred from relocation, so your odds of finding a buyer are better if we list your house.
Truth #2: This is crazy for a number of reasons. First, agents make the same commission no matter which home someone buys. Relo buyer or otherwise, agents have absolutely no higher incentive to sell a home they have listed, than any other listings in the MLS. A great way to turn the tables is to ask, “My home is on the MLS and we are offering a commission on the sale. If you have so many buyer’s, why haven’t you shown our home?”
Lie #3: I constantly network with other Realtors, so I will pitch your house to all of them.
Truth #3: This is a joke, right?? Get real. The only agent’s who “network” are agents with no customer’s. They have nothing but free time on their hands, so they hit all the coffee clatches and free martini lunches in an effort to look busy. Agents with real buyers use the MLS to find suitable houses, they do not find homes for sale by word of mouth.
Lie #4: I will host an Open House for you and send mailers to all your neighbors.
Truth #4: Yawn!! The real truth is that agents should thank seller’s who allow them to hold an Open House because it is one of the only means they have to meet buyers and potential clients (ie: your neighbors). Agents could care less whether someone they meet at your open house, buy’s your home or not. Their concern is about impressing potential business clients, hoping to generate a commission somewhere down the road. (Holding an Open House is also a great way for agent’s to look busy in an attempt to justify that 6 percent commission.) The real truth is that anyone who is excited enough to buy a home during an Open House would have scheduled a showing after seeing a yard sign or InfoTube brochure, anyway. Don’t buy into this one, sitting at an Open House isn’t rocket science and does little for home seller’s.
Smart seller’s should remember that scare tactics aren’t real and paying 6 percent of your sales price to an agent is not what sells homes. Selling a home takes patience, proper pricing and a lot of internet exposure, which is something we can all do with the click of a mouse.
If you are serious about selling your home and making the most money possible, put a sign with an InfoTube in your front yard and get a listing on the MLS and Realtor.com today. These are the only tools that really sell property.
Phone us at 1-800-381-9496 or email to haline@why6percent.com and start showing and selling today.
How to Avoid the Shady Snakes of Spring
Spring is the time that most homeowners get to work and it’s also the time that shady contractors come of out the woodwork to prey on innocent homeowners. “Some are actual scam artists, while others are just incompetent or unethical,” say Ellis Levinson, a consumer reporter and the author of the book “Hiring Contractors Without Going Through Hell.”
The good news is that you can protect yourself against these scams. In fact, many scams are easy to detect if you take the time to become an educated, savvy consumer. You need to compare prices, call references and research the project in advance.
Here are some tips on how to smell a suspicious deal:
1. ‘I just happen to be working in your neighborhood’-reputable contractors work through referrals, not going door to door to attract customers.
2. ‘I have materials left over’-Good contractors order just enough suplies to meet the needs of each job, as often the price for supplies is included in the contract.
3. ‘I need cash upfront’-Don’t ever pay in full for a project before any work has been done. Never. Never. Never! Usually one-third is the industry average.
4. ‘I have a special offer that’s good for today only’-If a contractor is offering a “special deal,” ask him to legitimize what he is offering. You can ask for documentation of this bargain…a flyer, for example, that the contractor has mailed or delivered in the past.
5. ‘I can help you finance the project’-this could indicate a home-improvement loan scam, as the contractor may be getting kickbacks from the lender that he knows. Never finance through you contractor without shopping around and comparing loan terms.
6. ‘I want to use your home as a model’-the scam centers on the idea of using your home as a vehicle, or “show home,” to advertise their services for a hefty discount. Established contractors should have completed enough previous projects that they won’t need your job as a demo.
Still more scams-though any part of your home could be a target, many scams tend to center around driveways, roofs, chimneys and furnaces.
Beware, and remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
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