Beware this SCAM from potential sellers

Good Monday People,

Here is a fun little story from last week about a deal my locally based branch of my company decided to PASS on, because some very strange requests started coming from this highly motivated seller.

With the numbers on the deal it was pretty cut and dry. We for certain could have snagged a pretty simple 10-15k fee and it wouldve been a relatively simple transaction.

But things started to get weird when the seller started getting VERY particular with how he wanted the deal to go down.

It had to be his terms, his timeframe, his way or the highway.

He had a great reasoning that he was cautious because he had dealt with NOT ONE BUT TWO other wholesalers/investors who had spent a full 30+ days jerking him around.

As a result, now he was in a fully defensive position and unable to meet middle ground on anything.

The final breaking point for us was, after we had agreed on price and sent the contract, he refused to sign unless we gave $7,000 earnest money with ZERO inspection period.

In fact, he wanted it released to him at time of opening escrow.

Now, as someone who plays funny real estate games for a living, this smelled funny from a mile away.

I was CERTAIN we could get this deal closed, BUT with this dude suddenly $7k richer how the heck can we guarantee he will actually close?

After thinking things through, I realized this guy was likely a con artist who knew how the business worked more than most and was looking for some suckers to play his game.

Step 1: Get some greedy wholesaler on the hook with an EASY cut and dry deal

Step 2: Tell them about this SCUM that screwed him over in the past (trying to create some sympathy)

Step 3: As late as possible in the negotiation (after acceptance) demand some money and HOPE the investor is too desperate/cocky to question things.

I immediately wondered if there really were 2 other investors… did he really get jerked around or did this seller just steal their money?

Either way, scams like this are getting common.

From deed theft to falsifying identity, its so important that you have your wits about you in this game.

If something feels off it probably is.

So, we decided to walk from this one.

We will leave him to go con some Pace Morby newbie to give him their “gator loan” so he can steal some completely unknowing parties money instead.

Have you guys encountered any scams like this while doing deals out there?

I’d love to hear about them.

Hit me up on Instagram.

-Mike