Real estate scam

[Kevin]

A few years ago my wife and I bought some land in Santa Fe New Mexico. Outside of town in the foothills. It’s just north of town.

So the land is 8.6 acres. We’ve flipped and flopped about building a house there to retire.

Anyway about a month ago we decided to put it up for sale. And then yesterday I got an offer in the mail. Some compost of state offering is just under our sale price.

I emailed our real estate agent and this is his reply.

Here's what they're doing. Putting the property under contract with only $250 earnest money. (Usually it's 1% in our market). That' s only non refundable after 120 days.

Going out and trying to find an end buyer who will pay more than they are offering you.

They'll then do a dual close, transferring the property from you to them to the end buyer, all on the same day.

If they can't find someone to buy the property for more than they're paying you, they are only out $250. In the meantime, you are off the
market for six months.

Technically I suppose it isn’t a scam but it’s still not 100% above board and fully transparent.

I just told my wife if we don’t sell the land I still want to build a house there someday.

Here’s a picture from Zillow.

 

[Kevin]

I’m on my phone and can’t seem to figure out how to post the mls link. But there are more pictures.

If you’ve never been to New Mexico, it’s so pretty.

The land is right at 7,000 feet and the weather is absolutely perfect year round.

My daughter and I drove out a couple times when we were looking to buy this land. She was really impressed.

 

[Cofaler]

Nice spot. If you don't need to sell it I think I would hang onto it until things settle a bit. If you sell and later on decide to buy, you'll never be able to replace it for what you get. Plus now is a horrible time to sell. We just sold a rental house in Denver because the libtards running the place are hell bent on turning it into a third-world shite hole.

 

[turd]

So now you're selling it?

 

[Kevin]

So now you're selling it?

It's for sale. But if it doesn't sell we won't be upset.

The point of the thread was the real estate deal I got in the mail . It's almost a scam. At least it isn't completely honest and upfront.

 

[turd]

Well, as far as that goes, land in "Americas West" has been subject to those kind of offers for a long time. People don't realize how hard it is sometimes to sell land in the west that is marketed for investment. If you buy land there, expect it to take a while before the investment pays off. Throughout that time you can expect all kinds of real estate "deals" to come your way.

 

[redhawker]

here ya go... https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/43-Calle-Cielo-Santa-Fe-NM-87506/203229373_zpid/

 

[Kevin]

here ya go... https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/43-Calle-Cielo-Santa-Fe-NM-87506/203229373_zpid/

Yes! Thanks, that’s it if anyone is interested

It’s in a gated neighborhood, so you need the code to get to it. But it backs up to the Four Seasons hotel.

I haven’t been there, but the real estate agent told me the menus at the restaurant don’t have prices on them. So good luck with that!

 

[Bear Paw Jack]

Kevin, Is the land on either side of your property available? How long had it been on the market when you bought it originally?
Do you need to sell the property to get your house built?
If no, I’d pull it from the market, the longer it’s on the market the less you will get. If you are in a hurry to sell I’d counter at full price, plus change the earnest money to 1%, make the closing 45 days, if they back out, they lose the earnest money.
I assume it’s a cash deal (hard to finance raw land). Ask for proof of funds.
The market is soft right now. Now that it’s been on the market, if someone is really interested in purchasing that particular piece of property, you will hear from someone

 

[irishjack]

Looks like an ideal place to build a retirement home.

 

[thinckley]

Last year my wife and her sisters were executors for their aunt's estate. Their first problem was letting their father get involved, but that's a whole other rant.

After sitting on the market for 9 months or so, they got a lowball offer that was similar to what @Kevin is talking about, although the earnest money was more in line with typical here. Conditions on the offer were 180 day close, ability to relist while waiting for the close, and an escape clause up until 2 weeks before close (meaning they get the earnest money back).

They almost took it, just to be done with it all. Luckily, they didn't because a week later they got a real offer and made a lot more on the sale.

 

[Jack Ryan]

Are you sure you can get water there?

 

[Rich/KY]

Not thinking of selling land I own in WI but every couple of months or so get unsolicited offers from different land companies to purchase various parcels. Price is about 2/3 to 3/4 of actual value. Look at the offers and laugh before tossing them. About once a month get flyers from real estate agents offering to list and sell the land.

 

[Kevin]

Kevin, Is the land on either side of your property available? How long had it been on the market when you bought it originally?
Do you need to sell the property to get your house built?
If no, I'd pull it from the market, the longer it's on the market the less you will get. If you are in a hurry to sell I'd counter at full price, plus change the earnest money to 1%, make the closing 45 days, if they back out, they lose the earnest money.
I assume it's a cash deal (hard to finance raw land). Ask for proof of funds.
The market is soft right now. Now that it's been on the market, if someone is really interested in purchasing that particular piece of property, you will hear from someone

Thanks for the input. Unfortunately the land around ours isn’t for sale.

Our lot does have a well and the pump all hooked up and ready to go. The land is on the Tesuque Indian watershed. The land is NOT on a reservation but the water rights are all a complicated mess.

See, there is another lot for sale in the neighborhood, but it doesn’t have a well drilled. When we bought our lot, I was told it would be almost impossible to drill a new well on the lot.

So that’s the advantage our lot has. And yes @irishjack it would be the ideal spot for a retirement home. Maybe someday…unless it sells.

 

[peachhead]

Wow pretty!
We get several offers like that a month. Yeah it's not really dishonest but it still ticks me off that it's legal.
Like every year I get mail about registering my business in GA. Very official looking letters, advising me to send $250 right now, because it's the law.
In reality, it costs $50 on the secretary of State website.

 

[NikA]

Really didn't understand the pricing until I learned it's improved with a well and in a gated neighborhood.

Hope it works out for you. Personally, it think lots like this have been oversold across the entire state to large numbers of out-of-staters that don't quite understand what the final population density will be if all lots are improved. We see this with communities down in our area. Once resource usage and water requirements are fully understood, my prediction is that the price will drop quite a bit because most folks didn't buy property in an exaburb with the idea of dealing with neighbors.

There's a development here where half the lots are available because (1) water system won't support that additional usage and (2) HOA bylaws wouldn't allow building such closely spaced houses. Fools still wanting 20k+ per acre. Something has to give, and I suspect a lot of 'wealth' will be flushed when it does.

 

[GypsmJim]

Boy those taxes are really high. I thought NM taxes were cheap.

We live in NY. Like CA we are taxed to death. Our property out in the country included 30 acres, and out total taxes are less than 1/3 of the NM rate.

 

[Kevin]

Boy those taxes are really high. I thought NM taxes were cheap.

We live in NY. Like CA we are taxed to death. Our property out in the country included 30 acres, and out total taxes are less than 1/3 of the NM rate.

Taxes are one reason we bought land in NM. You should see what they are in Texas!

I guess we felt lucky that NM is so much better on property taxes than Texas.

 

[sceva]

Easy; Just because they make an offer you do not need to accept it. Refuse the offer and voila the property is no longer tied up.

 

[GasGuzzler]

Our property taxes are really high but we have no State income tax.

 

[Huskerguy72]

We live in Kansas, not much for scenery around here. Lots of farm land it is sells quickly and is high. We have a couple rental properties and receive calls all the time asking if we want to sell. Someday we will.

The way I look at it, I can always say no and counter. Until one is passed we are still in control, besides the government.

 

[Cofaler]

Thanks for letting us know about the scam. I see land in Colorado and Arizona for sale very cheep, like $2500 for 5 acres. Read the fine print, you can't build on it, make any improvements to it, nothing. They have strict rules on how long you can camp there, and how many total days a year you can be there. Ridiculous.

 

[blume357]

I've always thought gated communities only keep out folks in other gated communities.... I've never had a problem slipping into one....
I'd want to know who lives in that compound just below your land.
Looks a tad dry to me... how far down does one have to go to get to enough water for a well to work?