The Truth about Zillow, Redfin Homes.com etc....

Yes.. you surf the sites for hours upon hours day in and day out!  You click on each home you love and fill out forms and inquire about the availability and the pricing of that to good to be true property! Only to find that multiple agents are calling you back to inform you that the home you inquired about is not actually available but they would LOVE to work with you as your buyer agent to show you other properties!

You have been "CAT FISHED"!  Yes!  these sites mine all county records and credit reporting agency's they advertise "pre forclosure" homes as if they are for sale and they actually assign a phantom price to the property based upon what?  Maybe the mortgagors loan balance or the property tax value or some other algorithm they come up with that is not accurate. 

They may also leave listings open and not close them out once they expire or are pending and sometimes you will even find listings that have closed long ago still being marketed as available. The goal of these sites is to make it appear as though they have the MOST inventory over an above any of the other real estate websites.

What you need to know is that these kinds of websites are simply MARKETING websites.  They drive local buyers and sellers to their website in another state to gather your information and they SELL marketing share to advertisers and real estate agents to buy leads.  They charge agents from several hundred to thousands of dollars per zip code in each market. This is how they make their money. Through advertisement and selling ad space to Real Estate agents, Lenders, and any other company that markets on the site.

This is why you will get numerous calls and emails once you put your contact into the site for information about property inquiries.

Before these companies, most people that were looking to purchase or sell their property received recommendations from family or friends and maybe saw a post card or advertisement. 

If you have used these sites you will probably notice that once you decide to work with a local agent they will try to provide you with a much better search mechanism that discard off market properties and allow you to focus on those homes that are actually available for sale.

Our industry also does not use the "zestimate" as a valuation for property.  We know the public uses this and it can be at times a little frustrating as it is not really accurate only a basic average of public records and some homes that may or may not have recently sold. We still do not really know for sure. 

BPO (Broker Price Opinions)  and appraisers typically use a "Sales Comparison Approach" to value a property, meaning that use compare the 3 most similar properties in a 2 mile radius looking for the most similar properties.

So essentially just be aware that the primary goal of these websites are to drive traffic to charge for advertising to "re route" you back to your local agent!!! Thus again silicon valley turning everyone into an "Uber" but that's a whole other blog!

If I can help you with your real estate needs or if you have any questions please let me know! Thanks for Reading!

We have to talk about Property Tax Sale Scams

Like you it seems as though I am always seeing advertisements to get rich quick helping people recover money the government has stolen from them!  As a Realtor for over 20 years I have seen almost all of it, however with the housing market getting tighter and the hedge funds with long money buying up the foreclosures in Bulk and everything else they can get, the scammers are out and more aggressive than ever!

One scam that is currently going on is in the County Tax Sale arena.  As a realtor I do not participate in these sales.  Tax Sales are typically held monthly by the County in which the property is located. The debtor is a Public Record and the amount they owe the county is also made public.  They may or may not have a 1st lien holder on the property. It is all up to the prospective bidder to investigate, in addition to about how much the property is worth.

The County holds an auction to collect the taxes after sending numerous notifications to the property owner.

The County sets the opening Bid for the amount of back taxes owed however the investors typically bid much more for the property to acquire it.  Once the Bid has been accepted, the new buyer must pay the County that day in cash for their Bid amount or there are other repercussions the County may impose against them.

They must also wait through a redemption period of at least 12 months as the original homeowner is given the opportunity to pay the back taxes plus a fee of at least 20% to reclaim their property.  If the homeowner does not reclaim the property after this time, then the county will issue them the remaining money collected after the taxes have been paid.

This is where the scam comes in at.  The homeowner only has to fill out a 1 page form to reclaim their own money. It is easy and not complicated at all!  They can call the county to get the form mailed to them or download the form which verify's they are the rightful recipient of the excess funds.

There are companies that call, send letters, and convince these homeowners to ASSIGN THEIR RIGHTS over to the company who promises to collect the balance on their behalf and pay them a portion!!  Yes!  These companies also push their webinars for hundreds of dollars to they can teach you to also be a scam artists!!!

Poor and elderly are the most injured by these tactics because they oftentimes are susceptible to sales tactics and pressure and some are not sophisticated enough to understand that they can ask the County for help in this matter and that one should NEVER Assign away their rights to any property they own without careful consideration of WHY they are doing it.

This is big business for some people and companies and it is only going to get worse.  As a Realtor I have a code of Ethics.. but not every Realtor does.  I will write another article on this very topic alone, but  for now.. please never assign your right away on your property.  Contact a trusted adviser to help you understand what your property is actually worth and to assist you in discovering the best option if you need to dispose of the property.  Just because it needs repairs or may have some issues with title or probate, a trusted adviser can help you make the best decision for you and your family and ensure that YOU are the one that primarily profits from that decision.

You have nothing to lose.  Realtors are paid at a closing unless they charge a retainer for their consulting services.  But it is best to find out the highest and best use for your property and pay the commission. Is it really a deal if someone offers you $25 cash on your property and didn't tell you they are going to assign it to someone else for $125,000 and they will be making 100k?  or if you are offered $5k for your property you lost in a Tax sale but you didn't know that 100k was paid for the property at the tax sale and you just lost $95,000? 

We have to talk about these things and spread awareness in our community.. folks we are being robbed blind...

I am not an attorney but have been in this industry for over 20 years and unfortunately have seen not all of it .. but MOST of it! and I am happy to use my knowledge base to help people.  There has to be a place you can turn to that puts Ethics above and beyond profit.

Let me know if I can help!