How to check a real estate agency for cleanliness?
When choosing an agency, you must use the following algorithm of actions:
- Review the registration documents of the organization. Make sure that it has the appropriate certificates, attestations, and is also registered in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (USRLE).
- Find out from the tax authorities or the arbitration court whether there is any compromising information about the organization, and also make sure that there is no pending bankruptcy case.
- check the realtor for an employment contract with the organization in which he works.
- Carefully read the agreement drawn up with the organization.
- Find out whether the organization checks the apartments being sold for the rights of owners and the authenticity of documents. As a rule, serious organizations have a lawyer on staff who is responsible for these issues.
You can find out about the reliability of the intermediary organization yourself or with the help of notaries and lawyers.
How to avoid becoming a victim of scammers when renting a home - 4 most common fraudulent schemes
Anyone who lived in the 1990s remembers ominous stories about “black realtors” who easily robbed citizens of apartments in Moscow and other big cities.
This term referred to criminal groups, which, in addition to intermediaries in purchase and sale transactions, included law enforcement officers or even outright bandits.
Fraudsters still exist in the real estate market, but they operate using more subtle and cunning methods.
Let's look at the 4 most common fraudulent schemes.
Scheme 1. Underground sublease
Scammers offer clients to enter into a lease agreement as realtors, while they themselves are just tenants. For a long time, the real owners do not suspect that their apartment has turned into a rooming house in which 5-10 residents live.
How to avoid it - get in touch with the real owner of the apartment and ask under what conditions they rent out the property.
Scheme 2. Sale of rented housing
The “black realtor” demands to pay rent in advance for several months. Moreover, the apartment is already in the process of being sold. The client lives quietly in the new place for a couple of weeks, after which the new owners appear on the doorstep with all the necessary documents.
This, again, can only be avoided by checking all the necessary papers for the apartment with a realtor.
Scheme 3. Concluding a transaction with a person who is not the owner
This diagram is easiest to explain with an example.
Example
The fraudster and his accomplice, acting on behalf of the intermediary and the owner, respectively, enter into a sales or rental agreement and take an advance payment.
At the same time, the “owner,” in response to the demand to present title documents, refers to the fact that the apartment is registered in the name of a mother (aunt, sister) living abroad.
The swindler assures that there will be no problems with accommodation, but problems arise immediately as soon as the swindlers disappear: the legal owner arrives and asks to vacate the apartment.
There is a detailed publication on the website about how to competently rent out an apartment.
Diagram 4. Replacing locks
A simple but effective scheme. The tenants pay for the deal and receive the keys to the new home, but the realtor asks them not to move into the apartment for a couple of days - supposedly it needs to be cleaned up. After 2 days, tenants discover that their keys do not fit the doors to their rental property. The realtor does not answer calls.
With this scheme, the only way to get your money back is through the police.
In addition to the question about apartment fraud, watch a short video.
Realtor services
When concluding an agreement with a real estate organization, the buyer must be sure that the entire process of purchasing an apartment is carried out under the supervision of an experienced realtor. In this case, the realtor undertakes:
- Conduct an analysis of the housing market to find out the availability of apartments that will suit the buyer according to the required parameters and material resources;
- if financial resources are limited, select the best lending methods;
- choose the right time to show the apartment;
- negotiate with the seller about the price and other features of the sale of real estate;
- verify the documents of the apartment owner to determine possible risks;
- conduct preparatory work to collect papers for the transaction, draw up purchase and sale agreements;
- participate in the process of mutual settlement between the parties (cash payment, use of a safe deposit box);
- monitor compliance with the buyer’s rights when registering papers with a notary;
- negotiate the removal of all residents from the purchased apartment with subsequent inspection;
- carry out all necessary actions and paperwork for state registration of property rights.
It is important to find out if the real estate agent is registered with a professional liability insurance program so that if the realtor makes a mistake, the buyer will be entitled to compensation.
Truths and tales about the profession
Where do you study to become a realtor? Many realtors are like sales consultants at Euroset: the boys graduated from a vocational school in their village, put on a white shirt, came to conquer Moscow and got their first job.
Well, for starters, there is no such profession as “realtor”. There is - “agent and expert in real estate.” Since 2021, it has been included in the register of professions. You need to study at large agencies that have their own training centers. I studied with the founder of RE/MAX Europe.
You are right: in 70% of cases, stupid vocational school students are involved in real estate sales for easy money. As a rule, after 2–3 years they are no longer in the profession.
How did you get into the profession?
In 2005–2006, I headed the marketing department in an investment and construction company. And there he plunged into the real estate market. At the end of 2006, he opened his first personal project in the management of daily apartment rentals. Well, I began to move from renting apartments to other segments. Moreover, I already had two years of working with commercial real estate in my baggage.
Is this a highly competitive industry?
No. This is a big misconception. In the United States, there is one agent for every 200 people, that is, 60–70 households.
In Russia, for every 1000 people - this is a house with 300 apartments - there is one agent. In one building with 300 apartments, 15 apartments go on sale annually and up to 50 apartments are rented. You can imagine the agent's earning potential.
What specific knowledge should a realtor have?
Let's break the profession down into steps. The first thing he must learn is the basics: basic terminology, legal basics, price analysis, telephone and meeting skills.
At the second stage, it is important to look at the maximum amount of real estate for 3-4 years. In order to get the hang of things, you need to visit at least 100 objects a year. When you constantly look at objects with your feet, your evaluation system begins to work clearly.
To develop serious competence, you need at least 3 years of training. Here are some scary statistics. Every year hundreds of hunters for easy money run through agencies. One of 15 people remains.
Does the profession have a specialization?
You definitely need it for the first 2–3 years. Further, your range of knowledge can expand.
Agreement with a real estate agency for the provision of services
Each real estate company has its own template for drawing up an agreement, so it is worth paying special attention to the content of this agreement.
The buyer must review all clauses of the contract. The contract must contain the following clauses:
- a list of services provided by the organization for the client and their volume (advertising, legal, consulting services, etc.);
- compliance of the rights and obligations of the parties under the contract. The conditions put forward to the client must be acceptable;
- amounts of remuneration for services;
- duration of the agreement (at least one year);
- a point where the client can at any time find out information about the work performed by the realtor and the timing of drawing up a detailed report;
- termination clause. The buyer has the right to cancel the agreement at any time by paying for all services provided.
Be sure to read the contents of the text in small print. As usual, it contains items related to the obligations of the real estate organization.
There are cases when companies unlawfully introduce the following clauses into a contract:
- The right to receive the amount formed by the difference in prices for the actual sale of housing and the one fixed in the contract. This is that hidden commission or balance of money that realtors always intend to pocket on top of the rest of the money paid by the buyer.
- Provision prohibiting communication between the buyer and the direct seller or his authorized representatives.
- Prohibition on cooperation with other organizations. Failure to comply with this requirement may result in penalties being applied to the client.
The buyer has the right to delete such clauses of the contract. Amendments introduced into the document are drawn up in writing as an appendix to the agreement.
Cost of realtor services when buying an apartment
Any real estate agency sets its own tariffs for the services provided.
Small offices set the average cost of services determined by the market. Some people deliberately lower their prices to attract more customers.
Large companies, on the contrary, put forward high tariffs, citing reputation, extensive experience and a huge database.
The realtor's work is always paid for by the user of the services. The amount of tariffs is influenced by various circumstances:
- legal and everyday factors when conducting a transaction;
- actual duration of the contract;
- price of the apartment being sold.
Typically prices are formed in two ways:
- Establishing a specific monetary amount. For example, from 30,000 to 100,000 thousand rubles (regardless of the price of housing)
- Calculated as a percentage of the cost of housing. As a rule, the price ranges from 2% to 5% of the apartment price.
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