Why do good people fall victim to scams and scammers of rent to own homes in Florida? Are some people hopeful they'll get a break with a gift suddenly appearing in their laps? Whether searching Google, Yahoo, MSN or even AOL, many good people fall victim to the smooth, enticing, too-good-to-be-true offers for rent-to-own homes. Sadly, it's not just just the search engines filled with scammers and scams. Scammers place ads in the classifieds of your local newspapers as well. Scammers also pollute the roads and street corners with their "bandit signs." Whether it's Google, Yahoo, MSN, a sign, or even an ad in the newspaper, the scammers are pretending to drop a gift in your lap. Unfortunately, if it sounds too good to be true, it *probably* is.... Beware of the following advertisement, attempting to lure you into a dangerous and disappointing trap: Rent-to-Own East Orlando 3/2/2 2000 sf NO Down Pymt; NO 1st Month's Rent 407-xxx-xxxx ***NO deposit! ***NO first and last or a down payment! NO option payment or deposit of any kind in order to get the keys to a $200,000+ home? Okay, back up a moment and think about this. If we are to understand this correctly without grabbing our magnifying glass to read all the small print and the "Gotcha" clauses, the implication is that we should be able to get the keys to a home on rent-to-own terms with zero out-of-pocket money. Right? Is that what you would think when reading the "No Anything" happy talk? Do they think we are idiots? Do they think for even one split second we will believe that total strangers can get the keys to a nice home in a nice neighborhood (or even a bad home in a bad neighborhood) with no down payment money? Yeah, right! Would you lend a total stranger your lawn mower, let alone the keys to a $200,000+ home, without collateral? You see, these people offering such ridiculous claims must take us for idiots. There are no free lunches, and we learned that lesson well before grade school. To protect both parties, an option or down payment amount should average at least 3% of the home's value. The monthly payment should reflect the payment paid by a homeowner with realistic credit.If the seller, i.e. rent to own specialist, wants to discount the monthly with a legitimate monthly rent credit, thats fair. Don't be desperate and don't fall victim to outrageous claims. If you feel you must jump in to such an arrangement, you may spend the rest of your life regretting and paying for that mistake. If it sounds too good to be true, it *probably* is. Why would anybody even make such a ridiculous offer? One possible explanation involves greed. A scammer can make a huge profit by rotating many different families through the same house while all the different families make on-time monthly mortgage payments and maintain the property much better than pure renters. Family number one complies with all terms of the contract, only to get rejected for financing at the end of the lease term. Of course, the scammer knew he/she/they had set you up for failure. The scammers knew you would not be able to afford the home. They knew it before they ever handed you the keys to your dream home. Greed propels such people to kick you out and put another family in to the property, with the same intended result. They will do this again and again and again...with no remorse. When the property's value has reached the magic sell number, the scammer will sell and make a gazillion dollars in profit. |
