How To Buy A New Home And Not Get Cheated
In real estate, fraudulent activities have become very common whereby many people looking to buy a new home are cheated. The problem is so bad that people can lose huge sums of money or even end up losing the property due to fraud in the buying process. Innocent buyers often find themselves clutching thin air after a sale is done and they are supposed to be in their new home but have lost their money and don’t even have the home they paid for. Some get the home but with a property so bad they have to spend more to get it up to living conditions. This is why it is imperative that before buying a new home you do some work to guard against this menace. Buying a home can be an emotional journey but you need to set emotion aside for it and make informed decisions before investing your hard-earned money. Some of the frauds which take place in real estate are creating fake documents, a general power of attorney, selling land belonging to the government, encroachments on other properties, double mortgage chances, unreliable agreements, and more.
How not to get cheated when buying a new home
Use property check platforms
With the constant development in technology, you can leverage tools to help in doing due diligence on any property you want to buy. This should be a part of the purchase process to use these platforms for doing background checks on the property which helps in making an informed decision when buying. So before even initiating contact with the seller, you have detailed information on the property. No matter how lucrative a sale is, you run a big risk without due diligence so take advantage of these platforms where you can confirm property ownership records and other relevant information that will give you the confidence to proceed in buying your new home.
Verify seller’s identity
You need to be assured of the seller’s identity before going into such a transaction. You need to confirm if the seller has the power, or right to sell and transfer the ownership to you legitimately. This can also expand to identifying multiple owners to be on the safe side. You need to know if the seller is an individual, group of individuals, company, trust, society, etc., and how legitimate a transfer of ownership from the seller(s) to you will be.
Inspection
It cannot be over-emphasized that an important step that should not be overlooked when buying a new home is inspection. You don’t want to be conned into having to make a whole lot of money-draining expensive repairs after buying the house. You can inspect yourself or hire a professional outfit for inspection which might cost you some but usually turns out to be a good investment eventually. They’ll help you check all the elements of the building’s structure and style to find out if you should buy the property in its current state or to negotiate with the seller to reduce the asking price or fix the problems.
Verification of Documents
Every document about the sale and ownership of the home should be received and verified. The credibility of the documents should be certified and essentially foolproof so that you don’t run into trouble later on from missing or fake documents. It is most helpful to have a lawyer with real estate experience on hand to look through them and verify you have all documents you’re required to have by law as the buyer of the home.
Check Property Market Value
When buying a home you can be cheated on the price you pay for it so you need to know the value of the home before buying it. Real estate prices are usually related to each other according to size, area, history and more so you should be aware of the market value of the home you want to buy. This will protect you from overpaying for a property when you should have paid well below the asking price.
For a reliable and efficient property ownership search, Radaris Comprehensive provides online tools which you can use to carry out research on property information in the USA.
