Real Estate Land Scams
This morning I was reminded of a land scam taking place in some of our more remote western states. The scammer will find a piece of vacant land which is owned by someone with an out of state address. Then the scammer will pose as that seller, and try to list the land in order to sell it and take the money. Unfortunately, there have been situations in which this has been successful. And fortunately, more people are catching on and it is becoming less successful as time goes on.
How do you protect yourself from a scam such as this? Many times as an owner you will not know about it to begin with. However, like many things, just be very careful about what information you share with whom. If it sounds fishy, go the extra mile to make sure everything is legitimate. One way to get a bit of a heads up is to have a local REALTOR you know and trust, even if you are not planning to sell your land. This way, if at any point your land does show up on the MLS, this person you know and trust can reach out to you to verify if it is really you selling it.
Buyers can help to be part of the solution as well. As a buyer, you are able to have a buyer’s agent. This is a REALTOR who is going to walk with you through the purchasing process, and make sure everything seems above board. They will make sure you get a title insurance commitment from the seller, and work with a title company to ensure the deed transfers and is recorded correctly. Without title insurance, as a buyer you are not getting a guarantee from the seller that this property is theirs to sell.
It seems there is no end to the scams taking place. With any of those calls or emails you get, just remember to take a moment and don’t answer anything too quickly. If it feels like they are fishing for information, then they probably are. Unless you have made the first contact and they are calling you back, never give out your personal information. I hope we can all help educate one another, support each other, and find ways that we can talk to each other about these types of things going on. As we all become more educated, hopefully we can begin to win the scam battle. If you are an investor, check out this short publication from the Wyoming Secretary of State’s Office about schemes to watch for and ways to protect yourself.
If you ever have questions about scams you have heard of, ways to protect yourself, or things you need to be aware of, just make an appointment to talk with one of our team of agents. You can fill out this contact form if you would like an agent to get in touch with you.