What are the top 10 real estate scams to be aware of?

1. Foreclosure Rescue Scam: Scammers target homeowners facing foreclosure and offer to save their homes through fraudulent rescue plans, often involving upfront fees.

2. Rental Fraud: Fraudsters pose as landlords or property managers and advertise properties that they do not own or have no authority to rent out, tricking victims into paying deposits or rent for non-existent properties.

3. Title Fraud: Scammers forge property documents or steal identities to transfer real estate titles to themselves and then attempt to sell or mortgage the property without the owner’s knowledge.

4. Investment Schemes: Dishonest individuals may offer high-yield investment opportunities in real estate projects that either do not exist or are not profitable, convincing people to invest significant amounts of money.

5. Flipping Fraud: Fraudsters manipulate the value of properties through false appraisals, misleading information, or inflated comps, tricking buyers into paying excessive prices for properties.

6. Ponzi Schemes: Fraudsters promise high returns by pooling money from multiple investors to fund real estate projects or ventures, but use funds from new investors to pay returns to previous ones, creating a fraudulent investment scheme.

7. Property Tax Scams: Scammers pose as property tax consultants offering to reduce property tax bills or obtain refunds for homeowners through fraudulent means or charging high upfront fees.

8. Timeshare Scams: Fraudulent timeshare resale companies may promise to sell the timeshare for a high price or charge upfront fees, but fail to deliver any services or provide false information about the property.

9. Fake Real Estate Seminars: Fraudsters host seminars or workshops offering insider secrets to quick wealth in real estate but charge high fees to attendees, providing little to no valuable information or misleading advice.

10. Illegal Real Estate Agent Practices: Some unethical real estate agents may engage in illegal activities such as dual agency without disclosure, misrepresentation of property information, or failure to disclose conflicts of interest.