SEattle Real Estate NEws - SERENE™ » ponzi scheme http://seattlerealestatenews.com ...as seen on SERENE™ Mon, 15 Mar 2010 02:03:31 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 How many buyers in trouble did not use an agent? http://seattlerealestatenews.com/2009/01/31/home-buyers-in-trouble-not-use-agent/ http://seattlerealestatenews.com/2009/01/31/home-buyers-in-trouble-not-use-agent/#comments Sun, 01 Feb 2009 06:32:06 +0000 Gerhard http://seattlerealestatenews.com/?p=247 ponzi-schemesYou’ve heard all you can stand about that Madoff guy.  You’ve read about yet another Ponzi scheme, another foreclosure fraud artist, another dishonest broker, agent, etc. You’re disgusted about cheats and liars large and small. So am I.

Black sheep are found in every profession. They seem to multiply when opportunites to cheat are on the rise. However, opportunity tempts not only professionals but amateurs. And there are more amateurs than professionals.

When Seattle real estate was hot in 2005 and 2006 (it started to simmer down in August 2007) I missed out on a lot of business. Who needs an agent to sell a home when an ad on craigslist will bring crowds to the seller’s door? How many For-Sale-By-Owner deals went down with no real estate agent representation for the buyer? How many buyers went straight to the listing agent in the hope of saving some money?

How many more buyers used a relative or friend with a real estate license just a few weeks old? How many people got a real estate license just to buy for themselves and go into the flipping homes business?

How many of these do-it-yourself artists are now facing foreclosure?

Too bad there are no statistics on this.

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