ATLANTA — A competitive housing market means people are acting fast to make the sale or sign the lease in Atlanta.
Emory real estate professor Roy Black said the high demand for homes is encouraging folks to skip important steps.
"There's a due diligence process that everybody should go through and a lot of people don't," Black said.
He added not going through the process, puts you at a higher risk of being scammed.
Here are some red flags to look out for:
First, don't just shop for the cheapest mortgage. Black said you're better off working with a lender with a good reputation, who is also doing their due diligence.
"They're taking a risk on the borrower. And if they're not checking out your credit and asking you to fill out papers, there's something fishy," Black said.
Other red flags include if the owner wants you to sign the lease or contract before you have seen the property.
"That's a dead giveaway right there. They also want you to move in immediately– without ever seeing the property. That one, the red lights go off with that you have to go see the property because either there's somebody living there or there are signs that somebody else owns it," he said.
Black said some things you can do to shop smart:
- Check the deed records on the house.
- Do not pay any deposits without verifying the property and owners or landlords.
- Look out for sloppy ads with spelling errors.
- Lastly, Black said to trust your gut.
"It is a universal rule. If the price seems to be too good, there is about a 99.9% chance that it is too good to be true," he said. "It just makes sense to do the due diligence, as much of it as you can yourself, ask the right questions, get the right documents and smell a rat. If it seems strange or hinky, it probably is."