I received a call today from a stressed out renter who just received a Notice of Trustee Sale taped to the front of her door. She has been renting the house since February.
Upon further research we found that this renter had entered into a month-to-month contract with a woman who was not even the owner of the property!
These particular renters basically have about 2 weeks until the sale date, and then an agent will come knocking hopefully to negotiate a decent Cash for Keys with her, because I highly doubt she will be getting her deposit back.
When looking for a house to rent, here are some red flags that you should be wary of:
1. Homes that are listed as "month-to-month"
2. Rental prices that are too good to be true. This 2,700 sq' house, for example was renting at $1,300 per month
3. Landlords who seem extraordinarily desperate
Here is the perfect example:
Three months ago I saw an ad a Craigslist for a big house in Tierra Shores renting at $1400 per month, that said "month to month ok". Suspicious, I pulled up the tax records and found it to be in default. I called the advertiser and asked her why she was renting a house that's in foreclosure. Her reply, "Well I'm renting it month-to-month", to which I replied, "yes, but are you disclosing this fact to the potential tenants and giving them an idea of how long before the bank takes it?" She says, "Well I don't know for SURE when the bank will take it." I said, "Yeah, but you DO know how many months you haven't been paying your payment." Her final stance was "it's month to month so it doesn't matter." And then she hung up on me.
So, with that loveliness, here are a few helpful hints:
1. Use a "leasing" agent. A good leasing agent will charge you $0 for their service. They will receive a commission or a negotiated finder's fee from the owner or management company. Make sure they do a tax research on the property you are interested in applying for.
2. Ask your friendly neighborhood Realtor or a Mortgage Broker, to look in their database to see if there are any foreclosure red flags on the tax records.
Your friend can also see if the owners have paid their taxes on time, and how upside down the owners may be on their loan. These are both indicators of the foreclosure "potential" of the house.
3. Do-it-yourself information on finding the owner of a property is here:
http://www.riversidetaxinfo.com/riverside_faq_howdoifind.aspWe all know the screening Landlords do on potential Renters, however I'm thinking the day when Renters start screening potential Landlords is almost here.
Although there are no guarantees that the next house you rent won't go into foreclosure, do your research, so at least it's not next month!
Labels: Real-Estate, Scams
It seems like once a week someone knocks at my door wanting to clean my carpets. I usually tell them, "thanks for the brochure, I'll call you when I need you".
But that usually isn't good enough. I don't like to shut the door on them, I like to be polite about it, and wish they would be respectful of my answer. But more often than not I have to say "no thanks" a few times, and then am asked to explain why I don't want clean carpets. About that time, I close the door.
Then one day this teen-aged looking girl knocked on my door, wanting to clean my carpet for free. I knew this was a gimmick, I mean who wants to clean my carpet for free? But after several times telling her "no thanks", she demanded to know why I didn't want a free carpet cleaning. I closed the door on her, and she kept knocking on the door. I finally had to yell at her, and which she argued back, "you don't have to yell at me, I just want to know why you don't want a free carpet cleaning".
Well, then today I read this message posted on a web forum, about a girl going around wanting to offer a free carpet cleaning...
has anyone else been ripped off by this company. IF NOT THIS IS TO WARN YOU ABOUT THESE SO CALLED "FREE CARPET CLEANING" OFFERS. THERE WILL BE A GIRL AT YOUR DOOR OFFERING TO CLEAN YOUR CARPET FOR FREE, IN RETURN ALL THEY WANT IS YOUR OPINION. OF COURSE THAT IS A LIE. THEN A SALESMAN COMES IN YOUR HOME AND STARTS DOING THIS PRESENTATION ON THE KIRBY VACUUM. BOTTOM LINE...THEY WILL TRY TO SELL YOU THE VACCUM FOR 2500 PLUS DOLLARS. THEY WILL KEEP LOWERING THE PRICE UNTIL YOU SAY YES. IF U DO END UP BUYING ONE YOU HAVE 3 DAYS TO CANCEL. WHICH IS SNEAKY OF THEM BECAUSE THEY ONLY ASK THAT YOU MAIL THE CANCELATION FORM, BUT THEN THEY WILL ACT LIKE IT GOT LOST IN THE MAIL. SO WATCH OUT FOR THE WHITE VAN DRIVING AROUND WITH A BUNCH OF LOW LIFE SNEAKY SALESPEOPLE THAT WILL COME INTO YOUR HOUSE AND REFUSE TO LEAVE.
Ok, so now it makes sense. What they want is for you to invite them into your house. Once they get that, they begin the hard sell on an overpriced vacuum cleaner, and refuse to leave.
If you've been hammered by these "free carpet cleaning" girls, click on "Post a Comment" below, and tell us all about it.
Labels: Scams
