Avoid individuals and organizations which:
- do not have a company website.
- cannot easily lead you to their corporate documentation.
- do not have legal counsel, regulation and guidance
- do not maintain strict client confidentiality standards
- do not perform the KYC check
- do not have a strict and transparent business model to protect the client and themselves from fraud

Legal Counsel – Any reputable organization shall have legal representation to ensure transactions and communications (paper and electronic) meet the strict standards of client confidentiality, the US Patriot Act and other International regulations that may be applicable.

Visit http://www.fincen.gov/ – Financial Crimes Enforcement Network: US Dept. of Treasury
Visit http://insidetradellc.com/ – Source for blacklisted companies and brokers

Any reputable company shall perform KYC (Know Your Customer) checks, which refers to the regulatory compliance mandate imposed on financial service providers to implement a Customer Identification Program and perform due diligence checks before doing business with a person or entity. KYC fulfills a risk mitigation function, and one its key requirements is checking that a prospective customer is not listed on any government lists for wanted money launders, known fraudsters or terrorists.

If preliminary KYC checks reveal that the person is a Politically Exposed Person (PEP), for example, Advanced Due Diligence must be done in order to ensure that the person’s source of wealth is transparent, and that he or she does not pose a reputational or financial risk in terms of their finances, public positions or associations.

In order to meet KYC compliance requirements, financial institutions must:

• Verify that customers are not or have not been involved in illegal activities such as fraud, money laundering or organized crime
• Verify a prospective client’s identity
• Maintain proof of the steps taken to identify their identity
• Establish whether a prospective customer is listed on any sanctions lists in connection with suspected terrorist activities, money laundering, fraud or other crimes.

Gavin Sorensen, FICArb.E, Deputy Registrar – International Court of Arbitration in Europe
Managing Partner – Untad Global – worldwide financing
UNTAD GLOBAL – worldwide financing
(division of Lestrade Law Associates International LLC Group)
Email: gavin.sorensen@untadglobal.co.cc

The best thing about pre foreclosures is the prices that are associated with them.  In most cases, the owner has no choice but the sell the house, and therefore will listen to just about any offer that he receives.  Due to this very reason, you can find pre foreclosures for sale at nearly 50% off market value.  This is an ideal time to purchase, especially if you are looking to save a lot of money.
Buying Pre-Foreclosures

Ok, that is all fine and good, but I think they are missing out on a few things.  Primarily, this was a strategy that worked better a couple of years ago when homes were appreciating and people actually had positive equity in their homes.  Then you could come in, scoop up a home and do all sorts of things like sell it on a land trust subject to existing financing or roll it into a lease-purchase.

The problem is that few pre-foreclosure homes have any equity left!

With homes across the country taking record losses, you almost always are going to find that properties in pre-foreclosure are upside down and in a short sale situation.  Which is a whole other beast unto itself.  Can you still find homes that this will work for?  Sure! But they are far and few between compared to a few years ago.  This doesn’t stop people from selling you their snake oil plan for buying pre-foreclosure homes and making a killing at it.

With my curiosity on the subject piqued about what people are doing with this strategy right now, I did a quick web search.  What I found is a lot of people ready to sell you their ‘secret formula’ to getting rich buying and selling pre-foreclosure homes.’

I am sorry, but I always am a bit suspicious of people selling you their formula for getting rich. A true value at only $97 of course!  Why are they not out making money doing what they purport to be experts at instead of selling eBooks? That never has sat right with me.  Of course what really gives it away is that when you are reading their websites and hit the words ‘instant wealth’.  Real estate investing is a long term business, not an over night get rich quick scheme. 

Save your money and don’t fall for the hucksters selling you get rich quick real estate plans.

If you want to learn real estate investing, there are better ways!

Take it from me, you can’t learn everything you need to know about buying pre-foreclosure homes from reading an eBook.  If you really want to learn how to invest in real estate, you need to be learning it from people that are actually doing the types of deals you want to do, not someone making a living selling eBooks.

If you are looking for some rock solid real estate education, contact me and I can put you in touch with the people that can really deliver.  Until then, don’t fall prey to the get rich quick schemes!