Why Seniors Choose to Sell Their Homes in Phoenix.
As a cash homebuyer based in Phoenix, Arizona, I often encounter senior citizens who are interested in selling their homes to downsize or move into assisted living. In some cases, I’ll be working with the estate to liquidate property, making the process smooth and straightforward for their elderly parents as they transition to senior housing. In the past few years, I’ve encountered situations where the seller seems overly eager to sell, and this eagerness extends to selling at a discount.
I always ask my clients why they are selling to understand their motivations, which can vary greatly. But the main reason I ask is that I want to make sure they’re doing a sale for all the right reasons. As a cash homebuyer in Phoenix, I encounter many reasons why people sell. Sometimes it can be emergency medical issues, and the lack of money to cover the care. Sometimes, downsizing to move in with family is necessary because the amount of repairs needed on the house is too much to accomplish, and they don’t have the money. But once in a while, I run into people who will say they have an “opportunity”. I always like to dig deeper, given my over 25 years of experience in real estate. I know that there are a lot of scams in the real estate market.
Suppose I encounter someone who is overly eager to sell, and their reasons seem suspect. In that case, I become more of an educator than a homebuyer. I would never want to be in a situation where I purchase a home from a client, only to discover that their opportunity for liquidation was nothing more than a scam. Given my experience in the market, I’ve noticed that homeowners, especially seniors, often fall victim to these potential scams. The most common issue is Catfishing. This is a person pretending to be someone else online to get the person to send money under the understanding that they are in LOVE.
Real Story: Helping a Senior Avoid a Life-Changing Scam
Last week, I had the pleasure of helping a wonderful elderly lady in her mid-80s, who shared with me that she had fallen in love and was moving in with her new fiancé in Los Angeles. She described him as a wealthy, famous actor who had just sold his Beverly Hills mansion and was retiring to a smaller one, leaving his family behind because he had fallen in love with her.
On our first contact, I immediately sensed that this seller was likely to make a poor decision, possibly due to a catfish scam. I asked her not to make any decisions until I could meet with her later that day, and I quickly set aside my schedule to set an appointment with her. When I met with her, I specifically asked her about this relationship and if she could disclose who the person was. After a few minutes, he was excited to share that it was a lead actor on a long-running Soap Opera who was 35 years younger than she was.
After a quick social media search, I showed her that this actor was 51 and married with four children, as evidenced by a recent social media post from the day before, which showed him with his wife at an event in Hollywood.
The client became angry, threatened to sue me, and asked me to leave. I worked to make her understand that I wasn’t against her. Still, I wanted to ensure she realized there was a possibility that the person she was talking to might not be the same.
If you’ve been in these situations, I’m sure you can understand that, as an outsider trying to inform someone who’s been victimized by a catfish scam, it is not welcome news. My intention was not to solve the problem, but to plant doubt so that on her next phone call, she could ask some more profound questions. She still wanted to sell her house, but I respectfully declined, explaining that your home will sell and there’s no reason for you to sell at a discount.
Her so-called fiancé was telling her that she needed to liquidate everything and get to Hollywood in the next 14 days before the Emmys so he could disclose the relationship in public and carry her on stage to accept his award since she was in a wheelchair. I explained to her that this is a common situation in catfishing, where they create an artificial deadline to motivate you to liquidate all your belongings, essentially trying to get your money quickly. She mentioned that he had some medical bills and had asked for help with them because he didn’t want the issue to go public. He also didn’t want to take money out of his account to avoid raising suspicion from his soon-to-be ex-wife and children. After a few more minutes of talking, the anger became too much, and she asked me to leave. I went, but not before gathering as much information as possible. When I got back to my car, I reported it to the FBI through their senior scam unit. hotlinehttps://complaint.ic3.gov/. Then, through social media, I sent notes to the actor and his manager to see if they had any resources that could help.
I found out where her only daughter was living, tracked down her address, and sent her an old-fashioned letter in the mail to inform her of the situation. About five days later, I received a phone call from her, filled with immense gratitude and appreciation. She said that she had suspected something with her mother, so when she got my letter, she confronted her, and her mother told her everything. They were able to stop her from liquidating her assets and get her the help that she needed.
This victim was a former doctor who had built a lifetime career of helping people. She was brilliant, and there would be no indication that she would fall for such a scam, but unfortunately, she did. Cat fishing experts are now so adept at saying what lonely seniors want to hear. If you have a friend or relative who is in the process of urgently liquidating their property, please step in and help them get the help they need.
Watch for these three simple signs.
Warning Signs of Real Estate Love Scam
1- Urgency to sell or liquidate assets quickly and quietly.
2- Never met love interest in person.
3- Big promises of wealth and fame if the victim complies with requests.
As victims find out, once the money is gone, it cannot be recovered. If you are in a situation with an elderly parent and need to sell your home safely to a trusted buyer, call us at Quick Cash Phoenix Homes. We will walk you through all the options to sell your home quickly and get you the highest and best price that your family deserves. Sometimes cash is the best solution, but sometimes listing and selling for top dollar is the best option for you and your family. Either way, you can trust that we will give you all the best options.
How Quick Cash Phoenix Homes Protects Seniors
At Quick Cash Phoenix Homes, we are proud of our reputation as the most trusted home buyer in Arizona with a 5-Star Google rating and A+ BBB rating. Unlike predatory home buyers or scammers, we:
- Take time to understand the seller’s true reasons for selling.
- Offer multiple options for selling a home ( cash offers or listing on the market ).
- Provide fair, transparent valuations.
- Prioritize the protection of our clients’ assets and value.
Whether a quick and straightforward cash offer is the best solution for our clients or if taking the home to the market and MLS posting is the best solution, clients get to see the actual difference of each path so they can make the best choice for them.
Serving Phoenix and the Surrounding Area
We proudly buy homes in:
- Phoenix
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- Scottsdale
- Glendale
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- All across Maricopa County
John Rowan Quick Cash Phoenix Homes (623) 321-0506