If it's too good to be true....
Here's a Pinellas County guy promising to find buyers who will pay "retail value" for your home. The catch? The buyer pays the seller a downpayment and starts making monthly payments BEFORE he or she gets bank financing.
The company says it's trying to work with "good people who may not have near perfect credit or large downpayment required by banks." Hmmmmmm.
Read it here. I'd appreciate comments from blog readers who've seen this sort of arrangement before. This doesn't smell right to me, in the sense of week-old unrefrigerated grouper.
(Un)Real Estate offers a peek at the housing market usually reserved for insiders. While it focuses on the Tampa Bay area, it won't neglect dipping
into the rest of Florida and beyond. Its goal? Simple: To help you keep a roof over your head without losing your shirt.
That 1990's HTML facade should be your first clue ;)
Posted by: | March 27, 2008 at 11:33 AM
I saw this for the first time here in Colorado last weekend at an open house I went to. I went to this with my scam shields fully enabled. To be honest, I thought it was pretty straight up deal.
It really is nothing more than a rent to own deal with owner financing. I didn't really look any deeper into the contract because I just didn't like the house. But they did state the selling price up front and it was a fair price.
Posted by: not-in-fla | March 27, 2008 at 12:51 PM
It may be a rent-to-own deal but if what's all this stuff about the seller having to refinance if the deal falls through?
Posted by: James Thorner | March 27, 2008 at 01:47 PM
I saw this back during the S&L crisis and it is more along the tune of what the other blogger said, rent to own.
James, I believe your headline says it all, If it's too good to be true, it usually is or the other saying, Buyer Beware!
My past career in law enforcement indicates to me this may be a scam to drain the consumer of more of their hard earned money. Having been a search and recovery diver, I have smelled far worse than that grouper and this smells the same!
Posted by: Fuzzy Bear | March 27, 2008 at 01:54 PM
"Our Buyer's are good hard-working people that pay their bills and want home ownership, but may not have the near-perfect credit or large down payment required by banks."
Run away!
Unless you are getting at least 20% upfront, you are essentially giving away your home to a squatter. Forcing out a delinquent buyer in this case would be done through the foreclosure process, which could take over a year while the squatter trashes your home.
The seller has to refinance because they have to reacquire their home through the legal system.
When I rented my investment condos out, I would not rent to credit nightmares like this. Who is naive enough to sign the title of their home over to them?
Posted by: Tino | March 27, 2008 at 02:03 PM
...The thing that scares me the most about this that there are no names on the website. The CO property I spoke about is owned by the company and thier website describes and names the principles of the company.
Rent-to-owns are risky for both parties, but if a legitimate business can find a way to do this without scamming anyone, then it may be an overdue innovation.
Posted by: not-in-fla | March 27, 2008 at 02:08 PM
what do these have in common?
AMERICAN HOMEBUYERS GROUP
UNITED HOMESELLERS ASSOCIATION INC
EQUITY TRUST CORPORATION OF AMERICA
HOME SAVING MORTGAGE CORPORATION
Posted by: | March 27, 2008 at 03:17 PM