Whether you’re selling a home or buying a home, if someone asks for money BEFORE you receive any services you should be skeptical. If you are having trouble making your mortgage payments and considering a short sale and a company wants any of these things from you:
- ANY upfront fees
- Guarantees you a load modification or short sale approval
- Asks you to make your mortgage payment to anyone other than your lender
- Tells you to stop paying your mortgage
Then your first reaction should be RUN FORREST, RUN.
If you are behind on your mortgage payments or think you will be, the first thing you need to do is to contact your mortgage company and talk with their loan modification department. I know this isn’t always an easy task, but you do need to talk to them. If you are going to short sale your home or let it go to foreclosure you really need to talk to an attorney/tax advisor. This consultation may be the best $100 you ever spend. You then need to contact a real estate agent that is familiar with the short sale process*. If the agent tries to give you legal advice or tells you what you should do, then you should talk with another agent.
Now if you’re looking to buy a house a someone wants any upfront fees from you for buying a house, including foreclosures, in Arizona then you should think twice. Although some Realtors do have minimum commissions on their Buyer Broker Agreements, it is not the standard practice in Arizona to charge up front for real estate services.
The key thing to remember is that it never hurts to get a second opinion and could save you a lot of time and money. Rarely in life is there ONLY one person or company that can help you or provide a specific service.