Rental scams have increased across the country due to advertising websites like Zillow, Trulia, Hotpads and Craigslist. The Lawhead Team would like to share an article from LocalRealtors.com that exposes a few key tips consumers and industry professionals should know:

The Zillow/Trulia HACK of Scam Artists

Recently, across the country rental scams have increased due to advertising based websites like Zillow, trulia, hotpads, and craigslist. Many consumers of real estate find Advertising websites (Trulia, Zillow, etc.) easy to use and believe they’re places that have a wealth of information when searching for real estate. Although these websites may display a tremendous amount of “3rd party data”, there are major security issues attached these websites, which have not yet been exposed to the consumer.

In the past, the majority of all rental scams were taking place on craigslist. However, now that websites trulia and Zillow have become multi-billion dollar real estate advertising portals with the ability to advertise to consumers through television and other media, scammers are exposing weaknesses in their platforms and finally utilizing those websites as a primary source to capture consumers information and commit fraud.

At the present moment, most of the fraudulent postings are rental listings where the scammer is duplicating information on properties that are actually for sale. In some cases, rental scam scammers have even setup email accounts with the owners property name and respond to consumer interest through by email.

KNOW THE DIFFERENCE!

It has been said for years, “you can’t trust everything you see on the internet.” As a consumer, this is a very important thing to understand when you’re searching by yourself for homes online. There are some very key differences in the types of real estate websites that you may come across. Before you start searching, know the difference.

Advertising Platforms (Zillow, Trulia, etc) vs. Real Estate Websites (Real Estate Broker Websites, etc)

The main difference in these two types of websites is that advertising websites are NOT controlled or regulated by any real estate laws, while Real Estate websites are. If a licensed real estate professional published content on a website, they may only do so under certain rules/restrictions, otherwise they can be penalized. However, Advertising based websites are not owned by licensed real estate companies and therefor can publish pretty much whatever they want. Advertising websites often are setup where users publish content on the website and the user is liable for whatever is being posted. To learn more about the differences in these websites view Real Estate Website Sources”

Why Ad Networks won’t change

Well at least for now, if they did try to change how they operated, they would find them selves moving closer to a “regulated” website and away from “Creative Commons” style website like Wikipedia. The only hope for them is to work direct with Brokers and MLS’s in order to provide a direct listing feed from the MLS to the advertising portal. Learn about the pros and cons in the article Trulia/Zillow MLS partnerships Explained.

Article about rental scams from LocalRealtors.com

The Lawhead Team came across a great article about buying vs. renting.  Website, Zillow, explains for renters, buying a home pays off after 3 years on average.

Real estate website Zillow has a provocative data point for every renter thinking about buying these days: That move pays off after just three years on average nationwide.

The company, which lists for-sale and for-rent information on its site, has released a new analysis of what it calls the “break-even horizon,” comparing what it would cost to buy or rent the same home in a number of U.S. markets over time.

The rent-or-buy calculus varies widely depending on where you live according to Zillow.

In the combined Los Angeles and Orange counties, for example, the magic number is 4.3 years, assuming the buyer has made a 20 percent down payment. Buying wins out after only 1.6 year in the desert community of Banning, Calif. But Newport Beach, Calif., residents must wait 14 years for buying to make more financial sense than renting.

The Zillow analysis takes into account a host of factors potential buyers should think about when considering the leap, including the down payment, mortgage and rental payments, buying and selling costs, property taxes, utilities, maintenance costs and tax deductions. The analysis adjusts for inflation and forecasts home value and rental price appreciation.

Zillow senior economist Svenja Gudell said the data should help homeowners get a rough and immediate sense of whether buying makes sense in a particular area in relation to their financial situation.

“For a home buyer out there, it is really tough to get a good grip on the buy-versus-rent decision,” Gudell said. Although buying a home is a deeply personal decision, she said, the analysis gives consumers “a sense for, ‘Am I ready to make this decision?’ ”

The new take on the classic rent-versus-buy debate comes at a tenuous moment for the housing market. Many analysts believe that a housing bottom has been reached but don’t expect a return to the heady days of the real estate bubble. There is already some concern about the strength of the recovery, with home sales slowing in June as inventory remained tight and buyers paid higher prices.

At the same time, rents are rising, housing affordability is at record levels, and mortgage interest rates remain very low. These factors are prompting many renters to consider homeownership.

Stuart Gabriel, director of the Ziman Center for Real Estate at the University of California-Los Angeles, noted that the main lesson from the subprime mortgage debacle and the housing bust was that homeownership shouldn’t be pushed at all costs. Federal policy has been adjusted to support this new point of view.

“One of the things we have learned in recent years is, obviously, house prices don’t always go up, and even over the very long term in certain markets, homeownership may only offer a minimal return,” Gabriel said.

“What we have all learned is to treat homeownership as a bit of a dangerous animal. You know it’s not always good, and it’s not good for everyone.”

Things to consider when buying, particularly in a slowly appreciating market, include how mobile you will be, your financial situation, marital status, career goals and personality, Gabriel said.

Richard Green, director of the Lusk Center for Real Estate at the University of Southern California, added that in many regions buying has become increasingly attractive compared with renting. There are also non-financial reasons for buying.

“I can enjoy living in this house for the rest of my life, and nobody can throw me out of it,” he said. “You are consuming something, and you have control over it, and control has some value.”

Looking to stop renting and buy your own home?  According to Zillow it is better than renting and with the help of The Lawhead Team, the dream of owning your own home can now become a reality.

Home values see the highest monthly increase since 2006, according to Zillow.

It looks like the housing market is making its turn, according to a recent report by Zillow. Zillow recently reported that home values have seen the highest monthly increase since 2006.

The Lawhead Team would like to share an article we came across from DS News about the housing increase based on a report from Zillow.

Zillow issued a released Friday reporting that both national home values and rents rose in the month of April.

According to the April Zillow Real Estate Market Reports, national home values rose 0.7 percent in April to a Zillow Home Value Index of $147,300. This is the largest monthly increase in home values since January 2006, and it makes April the second month in a row in which home values climbed up.