strange 'approach' from potential house buyer / Investor

[Shuvi McTupya]

House is currently on the market and i put an ad on gumtree too because why not.

I have had an approach from a chap who says he is an investor and after a couple of brief messages back and forward (without a viewing) he has sent this:

'Investor' said:

Hi Shuvi,
I'm interested but want to change things around a bit.
I would like to make payments to buy your house so you can move whenever your ready. You get the best price. The house stays in your name until everything is paid so don't worry.
Jon

His whole style of communication seems way too casual for someone who is serious about buying a house and my scam detector is going nuts but i have responded with this..

I said:

Jon, that sounds intriguing but it is unfamiliar ground for us and we are not really sure on how that would work?

If you are making payments but the house stays in our name , what guarantees would you have that we would honour our end of the bargain? I assume there would be some kind of legal contract in place and it would be all be above board and run through our respective solicitors.

We would obviously need any financial dealings to be completely finalised (and the money with our solicitor) before we vacated the property.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Your suggestion raises a lot of questions, but if the terms are agreeable we are definitely open to idea's.

I am interested to hear more!

Regards,

Shuvi

Would do you guys think? Just ignore any further emails as this is obviously the beginning of a scam, or do people actually do this?

[ReaperCushions]

Shuvi McTupya said:

House is currently on the market and i put an ad on gumtree too because why not.

I have had an approach from a chap who says he is an investor and after a couple of brief messages back and forward (without a viewing) he has sent this:

'Investor' said:

Hi Shuvi,
I'm interested but want to change things around a bit.
I would like to make payments to buy your house so you can move whenever your ready. You get the best price. The house stays in your name until everything is paid so don't worry.
Jon

His whole style of communication seems way too casual for someone who is serious about buying a house and my scam detector is going nuts but i have responded with this..

I said:

Jon, that sounds intriguing but it is unfamiliar ground for us and we are not really sure on how that would work?

If you are making payments but the house stays in our name , what guarantees would you have that we would honour our end of the bargain? I assume there would be some kind of legal contract in place and it would be all be above board and run through our respective solicitors.

We would obviously need any financial dealings to be completely finalised (and the money with our solicitor) before we vacated the property.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves. Your suggestion raises a lot of questions, but if the terms are agreeable we are definitely open to idea's.

I am interested to hear more!

Regards,

Shuvi

Would do you guys think? Just ignore any further emails as this is obviously the beginning of a scam, or do people actually do this?

Run away.... there are reasons that solicitors are used to do this properly.

[Spanna]

If you’re bored you could string him along to see how weird it gets. How could this be anything other than a scam?

[Shuvi McTupya]

Spanna said:

If you’re bored you could string him along to see how weird it gets. How could this be anything other than a scam?

currently i think the chances are
95% scam
5% maybe he is an investor who really wants to make sure he gets this house as he knows he can do well with it and he just has a casual demeanour.

I certainly wont be doing anything hasty

[Oakey]

So you keep the house in your name and he makes payments to live in it? Have you told him this is commonly known as 'renting'?

[TwistingMyMelon]

Scam Scam Scam

[Shuvi McTupya]

Oakey said:

So you keep the house in your name and he makes payments to live in it? Have you told him this is commonly known as 'renting'?

No it seems like he is suggesting he makes payments to secure the property but we live in it and keep it in our name until we find out next house.

[Countdown]

Just wondering but.....

He doesn't have the full amount of cash right now
He doesn't want to lose your house to another buyer
He basically wants you guys to agree to phased payments so that you're committed to selling to him and he's got time to get the money together.

I'm not saying that's a definite, just a possibility

[Shuvi McTupya]

TwistingMyMelon said:

Scam Scam Scam

at this point I am in agreement..I am very curious to see how he is intending on playing it though!

[Shuvi McTupya]

Countdown said:

Just wondering but.....

He doesn't have the full amount of cash right now
He doesn't want to lose your house to another buyer
He basically wants you guys to agree to phased payments so that you're committed to selling to him and he's got time to get the money together.

I'm not saying that's a definite, just a possibility

It is a possibility, and if that is the case and it is legit then it could work.

[Harry H]

Drug dealer laundering money ?

[shtu]

Anyone who feels the need to say

'Scammy McScamface' said:

don't worry

Is a solid reason to go right ahead and worry.

[Driver101]

Spanna said:

If you’re bored you could string him along to see how weird it gets. How could this be anything other than a scam?

I wouldn't wind up an idiot that has my address.


Since its Gumtree I'm surprised they never offered £50 and made it sound as they were doing you a favour.

[Shuvi McTupya]

shtu said:

Anyone who feels the need to say

'Scammy McScamface' said:

don't worry

Is a solid reason to go right ahead and worry.

I can't argue with that logic.

I wonder if i can get a 'you can trust me' out of him..

[Spanna]

Driver101 said:

Spanna said:

If you’re bored you could string him along to see how weird it gets. How could this be anything other than a scam?

I wouldn't wind up an idiot that has my address.


Since its Gumtree I'm surprised they never offered £50 and made it sound as they were doing you a favour.

By string him along, I mean just press a few questions his way in a legitimate manner and share his answers here for scrutiny.

[B17NNS]

Has he had a viewing?

[Shuvi McTupya]

Spanna said:

By string him along, I mean just press a few questions his way in a legitimate manner and share his answers here for scrutiny.

^^^ My plan

[The Selfish Gene]

non refundable deposit..................

[Shuvi McTupya]

B17NNS said:

Has he had a viewing?

Not only has he not had a viewing (he may have done a drive by but he hasn't mentioned it) he hasn't asked any questions about the property (the advert has plenty of pictures and a pretty good description) he only asked about our plans to move and have we found our next house yet.

[Sheepshanks]

Shuvi McTupya said:

currently i think the chances are
95% scam
5% maybe he is an investor who really wants to make sure he gets this house as he knows he can do well with it and he just has a casual demeanour.

Not sure if serious...


If you do go along with it "just to see what happens" take all your money out of whichever account he's going to pay into - you may not be able to access that account for a while.