Handwritten Letter in the Mail: House Buyout

NJL · #1 12-04-2009, 01:55 PM

I don't know what to think of this...

Those of you close to me know I lost my job of 8 years back in May of this year.. It's been rough. Texas unemployment sucks ass. It literally not enough to make ends meet.

I got a workforce grant to go back to school, so I jumped on it.. I'm still having a rough time..

Having said that, I got a handwritten letting in the mail today. It's from two people I don't know. A husband and wife offering to buy my house - in cash (more than likely bank issued check due at the closing).

Why my house?? It's nothing special, it even needs some work.

I'm immediately thinking this is a scam or something.. what else would one think?

I'm stumped.

What do you guys think?

Thunderscreech · #2 12-04-2009, 01:56 PM

a hand-written letter? For real? I want to see this. Please, post a scan.

MadMan118 · #3 12-04-2009, 02:01 PM

If your house is not listed as "active" on the real estate listings, and you have heard nothing about or from a real estate agent or Realtor. Shred the letter.

MakiSupaStar · #4 12-04-2009, 02:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thunderscreech

a hand-written letter? For real? I want to see this. Please, post a scan.

+1. I'd like to see this too. Are you the only one that received one, or did your neighbors get one too.

NJL · #5 12-04-2009, 02:23 PM

I'm not going to scan carp, and yes it's a real handwritten letter, guys, i'm not a moran.. i'll tell you this:

since i posted this thread i found the following:

the address, which is about 30 minutes away is a post office - so instead of putting a PO Box, they put the street address and made it look like an apartment or suite number (that street has business/apartments/homes up and down it) - FAIL #1

they try to make it sound like it's just a husband and wife wanting to pay cash for your house.. they make no mention that they are an unlicensed business that buys homes. the cell number tracks down to this:
http://www.dannybuyshouses.com/ - FAIL #2

don't try to deceive me.. these bastards actually had me going for about half an hour - they are getting sneaky - FAIL #3

#### them! this smells like deceptive business practices - i'm going to get in touch with my old real estate agent from when I bought my house to get his opinion on it as well as my old mortgage broker to get her opinion on it. if there's any way to complain to some sort of state agency, i am. WIN - I hope the State Atty Gen of Texas has these bastards and their type under watch. Shouldn't these bastards be licensed Realtors under the color of the law in the State of Texas??

I'm just glad i'm in a good mood right now, i'll spare them a rowdy ole' phone call.

/thread

NJL · #6 12-04-2009, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMan118

If your house is not listed as "active" on the real estate listings, and you have heard nothing about or from a real estate agent or Realtor. Shred the letter.

Amen, bro!

Pilgrim · #7 12-04-2009, 02:25 PM

You're on target - the next call you make should be to your state's Attorney General to alert them about these people.

NJL · #8 12-04-2009, 02:28 PM

I'm on the website now.

MadMan118 · #9 12-04-2009, 02:31 PM

His 3 simple steps make a me a bit uneasy.

NJL · #10 12-04-2009, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MadMan118

His 3 simple steps make a me a bit uneasy.

No kidding! Bastards!!

Steve · #11 12-04-2009, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NJL

I'm immediately thinking this is a scam or something.. what else would one think?

That it's just some small independent house flipper that built himself a little website ( just like the get rich quick in real estate pundits tell you to do) and buys distressed real estate.

That's perfectly legal. You don't need a license to offer to buy anybody's house.

Buying a house can be easy if you have cash. My house was a breeze. I had cash, she owned the house outright, an hour in a lawyers office, I'm a home owner.

How in your mind is someone going to "scam" anybody out of a house?

I went through that website...that's pretty much the way it's done in the refurb / flip biz if you're any good at it. Get in ahead of the agents and lawyers.

Do you even want to sell your house?

NJL · #12 12-04-2009, 02:56 PM

They are being deceptive, that's why. Remember, they sent a hand written letter from an address that is a PO Box that doesn't say PO Box. As well, these types prey on people in bad situations (for example, people that were laid off) - they pay well below market value to "get your cash quick" and they use "their title company". Um, yeah, I don't think so.

Lastly, he's an attorney, I found another number. I just used pretext/social engineering and called that office.

Anything else? You would actually trust these people, unlicensed, no accountability, no transparency? Yeah, um, no. They aren't Realtors nor Mortgage Brokers---- oooooooooh, they are Lawyers!! Oh yeah, we can really trust them!!! Let me get right on it!!

Why can't he list his real business address? What are they trying to hide? LOL Please.

machine gewehr · #13 12-04-2009, 03:05 PM

Hello my good sir,

This no scam,we buy house.Reply quick,we buy another or.

Have a very nice day.

Steve · #14 12-04-2009, 03:51 PM

OK. So, he's a lawyer. Do you really think he's going to risk that license to scam someone out of a house? Like there ain't enough dirt cheap properties available otherwise?

If you don't want to do business with the guy, don't do business.

Maybe...MAYBE...if you own your house outright you can get scammed out of a house. The other 98% of homeowners already have people holding their paper...with their own lawyers...that will decide the minimum selling price of your house and the terms under which that transaction will take place.

Some people might feel preyed upon, some might feel like someone is throwing them a lifeline.

And until you do get the guys offer, you really don't know. Do you?

I refurbed and flipped about a dozen houses with my dad back in the day before the whole world was doing it. It's a hustlers game for sure. You had to be pretty creative to get the lead on the place. If you waited until the house went "on the market", the profit was gone. The whole object of that game is to get there first. If that meant reading the legal section to see who couldn't afford their property taxes that year, that's what happened.

If he's a lawyer, he's probably a real estate attorney and fully qualified and licensed to completely handle the transaction in house.

If I was an attorney with a flipping biz on the side, I might want to start off a little folksy, try to build a raport with the potential seller and then them him I was an attorney. Lawyers make people nervous.

Really guy, what do you think is going to happen?
If you don't like the offer, say no. It's over.

Do you really think there is enough money to be made from that infinitesimal slice of market (people that own their home and are stupid enough to get scammed out of it) to make the risk worth while? There's no point in that game. He could spend all his investment capitol in tax certificates, get a guaranteed return on his money better than just about anything else to invest in right now and if he wanted to be a hose nozzel, hold the certificate for three years and file for a tax deed.

THAT'S how you steal a house.

MJ5150 · #15 12-04-2009, 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NJL

I'm not going to scan carp......

I wouldn't either. The mess in your scanner afterwards would probably never come out, and the smell would be terrible.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NJL

i'm not a moran.....

Nope, you isn't.

-Mike

Ericman197 · #16 12-04-2009, 05:42 PM

If you're worried about this being a scam, feel free to ask around. I get these letters sometimes and I always throw them out - not interested. There's nothing immoral about making low offers on real estate. I wouldn't call it 'preying' on people in bad situations because the owner can always say no. Most people with some experience in real estate transactions also know that a quick sale means taking a lowball offer. This guy may not be doing you any great favors by offering 60 to 80% of the real value of the house, but he's not stopping anyone from putting the house on the market and waiting for a better offer either.

The fact that he's a lawyer only speaks to the terrible job outlook for new law grads right now. An over saturated market has forced many law grads into alternative career paths.

SMASH · #17 12-04-2009, 05:44 PM

http://www.latimes.com/classified/re...,3801270.story

Professor advises underwater homeowners to walk away from mortgages.

Brent T. White, a University of Arizona law school professor, says that it's in the homeowners' best financial interest to stiff their lenders and that it's not immoral to do so.

bassrique · #18 12-04-2009, 06:09 PM

There are some good real estate investors and some bad apples. The PO box thing isn't a scam. The handwritten letter [most likely mass produced by a third party] works better than other mail methods. I'm one of these "We Buy Houses" people and I've done that exact thing. A PO Box on the return address hurts the response.

Why don't they just use their office or home address then? If the guy is a lawyer doing REI on the side it's not a good idea to have letters returned to your "day job", even if you are a partner. A home address also isn't a good idea for several reasons, the most important being that you're sending out thousands of letters to some potentially unstable people. A "motivated seller" may be someone just about to lose it, as in be violent. Most aren't, but the percentage is significant enough so that you don't want you're home address on the envelope.

MJ5150 · #19 12-04-2009, 06:41 PM

I'm waiting to hear what happens when the attorney general is contacted. I don't see what is illegal about this.

-Mike

NJL · #20 12-04-2009, 06:54 PM

Sorry guys, this is just BS marketing from a BS set of individuals that are obviously HIDING something(s) due to their apparent cowardice and substandard business practices.

Remind me to never start a business with some of you people that seem to like to "hide the truth" and "play games" - it's unfortunate that there are so many people that use less than desirable marketing tactics and dishonesty in their business practices.

I also find it sad that the level of ethics in business continues to drain down the toilet to hell as well as the level of integrity and overall desire for people to actually want to be honorable. What ever happened to honesty in America? Everyone wants to scam someone and rationalize why they do it. Sickening.

Oh well - the bumper sticker is correct, "people suck".