Check the title history of the property you are buying. In real estate scams, properties are repeatedly sold, or “flipped”, often with rapidly escalating prices each time they are sold. Some properties have tripled or even quadrupled in a year’s time. You especially want to check the title history if you are buying investment property in another city or state. If you are doing that you will also want to visit the property in person. Many people who buy for investment find out, too late, that the property they bought was nothing like the way it was described by the realtor.

Check sales of other property that has recently sold in the area to make sure the price you are paying is not out of line with other homes in the neighborhood.

Avoid signing any documentation or contract that has blanks. An assurance that “I will fill it in later” should send alarms off in your head. Remember, you are responsible for what the contract says, even if part of it was filled in long after you signed it. 

Watch out for promises of quick profits in a short time on a piece of property. Many scam artists employ “straw men” who are told they will sign the documents at closing and then get their money back later. Usually, all the victim in a straw man scheme gets is the bill for the abandoned property.

Make sure the mortgage is made out in the same name as that on your identification. You don’t want to find out later that you don’t really own the property but you still have the bill. Any one of a number of things can happen. Check the paperwork carefully and hire an attorney if you can. Buying a house is an expensive proposition. Spend a bit of extra money on a lawyer.