Hi. I’m Beth with TB Properties Buys Land. The biggest question that we get is regarding what many call scam offer letters. We hear, “I received this letter in the mail, is it a scam? Is this a scam offer letter? Are they trying to scam me out of my property? How do I know this is for real or if it’s a scam?”
To get started, whenever you engage in a transaction, you start with a purchase and sale agreement. This brings me to the question,
What exactly is in your purchase and sale agreement?
This is not legal advice, but when it comes to signing anything, you would think it’d be a good idea to read and fully understand all the verbiage within that contract. And if not, either get that nailed down or changed or to solicit the advice of a lawyer or a real estate attorney.
When it comes to a purchase and sale agreement, what’s going on there? Are you giving them permission to market your property and try to sell it before they even buy it? I’m not saying that’s a scam; maybe that’s okay, but did you know that and are you fine with that? Within the purchase and sale agreement, is there an explicit closing date or does your signature indicate that it is okay that they string you along? Have you given permission to market your property until they find a buyer, and only until they find a buyer, will they finally buy your property and then resell it?
These are questions that you should be able to have an answer by looking at that purchase and sale agreement. How easy is that to understand, and what are you allowing them to do? Again, you may be fine with these details but if you are expecting a check for the sale of your property in about 3-4 weeks, you might be sorely let down if you had agreed to any of these previous details.
To compare, here at TB Properties Buys Land, we always close through a title company and our purchase and sale agreement explicitly states all the relevant details. For example, we state the date in which we’re going to close on the property, in which we’re going to buy it. We also state that we’re buying your property with cash. This means that we don’t need to spend the time seeking and getting approved for a loan, waiting on appraisers, etc. Since we pay in cash, we can close faster and pay you faster. In one county, they just told me a couple of days ago that we’re going to be able to close in two weeks. In other places it takes three to four weeks, sometimes four to five, so consider that it may be longer if a buyer is needing a loan.
Another thing to be aware of it that within the purchase and sale agreement, it also says who’s paying the closing costs, which is something I would want to pay close attention to. There are buyer and seller escrow fees that each party must pay the title company. Who is paying these? Are you paying your side of the closing costs, or are they offering to pay those? Who is paying for title insurance? Normally it’s the seller; that would be you. What about recording fees? Are there excise taxes in your state?
Again, to compare: at TB Properties Buys Land, we explicitly break down each closing cost and identify who is paying for what. We state that we as the buyer, TB Properties Buys Land, we are paying for both the buyer and the seller title fees, the escrow fees. We state that we are paying for your title insurance, not you. We also state that we are paying for the recording fees and any excise taxes.
Now, we do say if you have a lien against your property, that you will pay that back. That’s kind of a cover your butt type thing. If you have a lien against it or a loan or you still owe money on your property, we’re not going to pay for that unless we have agreed to explicitly.
When it comes to protecting yourself from being scammed out of your land sale, and again, this is not legal advice, but you have to understand any contract you plan to sign. We believe that closing through a title company, is a safer way to close because you’ve got a third party who is doing the paperwork and handling the funding. We like that Title will not transfer the title of the property until there is real certified funds in their account from the buyer and that they will not transfer the title of the property until both parties sign all of the paperwork. We believe it is a much safer way to do business.
We believe it is imperative to understand what’s going on in the purchase and sale agreement contract. Asking questions is key. Always remember that you as the seller of your property, you have the leverage, and you have the right to make sure that you feel clear and comfortable with what’s going on. I hope I answered your question about scam offer letters. If you have land you wish to sell, 10 plus acres anywhere in the country, please reach out to us. We’re buying land all over the United States, 10 plus acres. Shoot us an email, fill out the form online, or give us a call. We’re happy to help you. Look forward to working with you. Thanks again.