Sunday, October 7, 2007

Beware of Realestate Internet Scam

Here is one cool way you can be easily cheated while renting out your House/Apartment online.

A female saw an ad for an apartment in Calgary, AB on our rental website (www.gobesthome.com), but she mentioned that she is arriving in USA. How dumb these people can be not to differentiate between Canada and USA, anyway I told my client (whose ad it was) to be very very careful with those kind of scam artist. My client responded her and astonishingly she received money orders of 3000$ a 6 month rental advance. Another strange thing was that money orders came diretely from Nigeria !!!! Be attention folks if any thing comes to you (any advance money) from African country specially from Nigeria ..: NEVER EVER RESPONSE TO THEM!! I believe this is how their scheem works:


1- they will send you money orders (fake money orders) with your name on it for advance of your rental property

2- they will suggest you to deposit it in your bank

3- you go to your bank, your bank will deposit your (fake money orders) into your account but hold your money for almost 15 ~ 25 business days (depend on your bank)

4- You account will show you that you have 3000$ deposited into your account (but remember you can't withdraw it until those checks are cleared)

5- after few days you'll receive another email from person who sent you money orders and will inform you that he/she has some problem they can't come to rent your place (there can be any reason e.g. can't get visa, or ticket), so they need their money back but they will allow you to keep security deposit or may be 35% amount of that money

6- Some people be very sorry that he/she is not able to come to Canada but they will be happy to keep atleast security deposit or some more but they will send back rest of the ballance to scam artists.

7- After few weeks your bank informs you that your money order were fake and can't be cleared.. not only your 3000$ money orders were totally fake !! but you sent few thousands dollars from your own account your own money to some one in Nigeria, you even don't know him/her.

Thanks
Team member of www.gobesthome.com
a 100% free website to rent or to sell properties

Hiring a right Contractor for Home rennovation

Hiring a right and honest contractor is not an easy task, but if you follow these steps could save you time, hassle and money in the future:


- Before hiring a contractors, get every thing in writing. It is very important to save future arguments e.g. “you didn’t say to fix the broken tiles” etc.


- Always put start and completion dates in your contract. Let contractor aware when they have to start and finish this project


- Motivate contractors to finish their job on time. It is good practice to add penalties in the contract. It is not enough to say work has to be completed by Feb. 5th ; but better to add "$50 per day to be deducted from the contract price for each day the job is unfinished beyond Feb. 5th.


- Make sure what exactly you want your contractor to do for you. If you don't know what you want, you might not like what you get. Also, if you change your mind and change the job halfway through, the contract - and price - have changed


- It is not a good idea to call first one in the phone book. Always ask friends who had work done. Find a recommendation based on a similar job to yours. Ask contractor if they have done similar job else where; and if you can contact them to know your workmanship?


- Never ever pay too much upfront. When contractor is signing your contract it is ok to give a reasonable deposit for material. And never pay in full until job is satisfactory and finished on time.


- Expect a mess and noise when contractors are on job. If the job is outdoor or too noisy let your neighbors aware of heavy equipment, dirt around your property and equipment noise. Cover things if it is a dusty job in your house. Also be clear in the contract that the jobsite will be cleaned up at the end of the job.


- Be prepared for delays, employee quitting, or weather delays. Having problems is okay, but it's not okay if the contractor can't work out the issues to your satisfaction.


- Always try to resolve issues, deal them with great professionalism and polite way, long arguments may not only delay your project but can cost you more than you expected.

About the Author

Sahil Leghari is the owner of www.gobesthome.com website.

GoBestHome.com is leading Canadian Real estate portal aimed at helping landlords, property owners and property managers to advertise their Properties online for Rent and Sell in the most effective and cost efficient manner. At the same time GoBestHome.com makes it easy to search your dream property.

To learn more, visit: www.GoBestHome.com