Many scammers take advantage of the holiday season to trick people into their schemes. Since the holidays are a busy season, many people are on the go and can be lax with their decisions because of the cheerful and loving vibe in the air. As a result, people tend to be more agreeable during the holidays.
Because of the joyous atmosphere of the holidays, scammers and con artists work on more tactics to trick people into falling into their schemes. Many types of scams are happening during this season. And even the real estate industry is no exception to that. You might think that clients are the victims of this, but even real estate agents experience scams from buyers.
In this post, let’s discover reasons real estate scams are more prominent during the holiday season.
1 – The more money clients have, the more tempted scammers are.
Employees receive bonuses and have more money in December than they’d typically make in a year. When people have more money, people in need financially tend to think of negative ways to get other people’s money because of their circumstances.
Since it’s common knowledge that real estate properties involve hefty transactions, scammers tend to target people looking to buy a home. Many pretend to be real estate agents to meet clients with money and get them to transact with them.
2 – Real estate transactions are massive.
This second reason is one of the most obvious ones that drives people to con people in real estate because of its massive transactions. It’s no secret that real estate properties cost thousands to millions of dollars. And since even the downpayment for a real estate transaction is hefty, it’s enough for people to get clients to transfer the downpayment to them.
Some also target clients willing to pay in cash because they work with a team that supports this scheme to look legitimate.
3 – Real estate transactions involve other people aside from the agent and client.
Even though real estate buyers only communicate with their agents or brokers, there are many other people involved in a real estate transaction. There are home inspectors, insurance agents, appraisers, lenders, real estate attorneys, title companies, mortgage advisers, and others who work with the agent, buyer, and seller.
Since it takes a team to successfully close a real estate transaction, many scammers choose to target real estate agents and clients because they can work with other scammers to do their schemes.
4 – They take advantage of the “holiday” rush and mood to pressure their clients.
Another reason real estate scams are prominent during the holiday season is those fraudsters take advantage of the “holiday” rush and mood to pressure their clients into buying the property. Real estate listings happen through biddings. And if another client shows a promising bid for a property, another client will lose their chance of buying.
That’s why real estate agents say that time is of the essence when it comes to real estate transactions. And since they can use the excuse that many people are bidding for the property, they can easily pressure the client into bidding a higher amount and processing their documents for payments.
5 – There are many inexperienced home buyers.
I mentioned earlier that December is the month when people have the most money. And since it’s many people’s dream and life goal to buy a real estate property, many people start looking for homes in December.
Most don’t plan to buy the property immediately. They just start scouting to compare the prices of the properties and explore which house types and sizes fit their needs and preferences. And since scammers can easily tell if a client is inexperienced, they take advantage of it and give them false information to deceive them.
6 – It’s easier now to steal people’s information online, so scammers use it to their advantage.
Last but not least, scammers can now easily steal other people’s information online without them knowing. Because of that, it’s easier for fraudsters to reach people looking into buying a real estate property. Some scammers even hack broker’s systems or social media pages to gather client information.
That’s why real estate agents and brokerages must be more cautious of their digital accounts. Also, it would be helpful to take measures to strengthen the security of their websites and online data to protect their confidential information from scammers.
Scams could happen in any season, that’s why it’s critical to be vigilant with your transactions.
It’s always exciting to make massive purchases in life. However, it’s critical to be vigilant with the people you’ll work with when doing a massive purchase like real estate. Always go to the office of the real estate brokerage you’re talking to and talk to an agent in person before sharing your personal information.