Deals leave home buyers devastated

Cleveland Plain Dealer ^ | Sunday, October 09, 2005 | Michael O'Malley

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Innocent dupes or morons extraordinaire? You make the call...

[Tax-chick]

There's one born every minute ...

[PeterPrinciple]

Brown and Crosby became landlords without knowing what their properties looked like or where they were located.

Let the buyer beware......we don't teach that anywhere anymore evidently?

[Jim Noble]

Brown and Crosby are either victims of their own stupidity or dupes in a type of housing con game that city leaders see as a growing cancer, destroying Cleveland neighborhoods.

I vote for #1.

[goldstategop]

Any one who makes a business investment without checking into the company's credentials and without getting the papers looked over by an attorney before signing them... finds himself left holding the bag. Its true there is a risk involved but like everything in life it pays to know what you're doing before you go ahead and do it. DUH

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[muir_redwoods]

If it sounds too good to be true....

[goldstategop]

You would think they would look at the properties first. You couldn't pay me enough to buy blighted and run down buildings worth nothing in a high-crime area. That's hardly what I consider a money-making real estate deal. Where's the motivated buyer of these properties? They don't exist.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

It just blows me away that people would go do something like this. How somebody could go buy houses (plural, no less!) without giving the slightest thought to how they can pay them off is beyond me.

Some people wake up to a brand new world everyday.

[cgbg]

It is Sunday morning here in tv land:

Just send me $ 500 and I will teach you how to make millions in real estate with no money down--that's right no money down. I have a video and a book and a brochure and everything you will need to become the newest millionaire. Tired of trudging to work each morning, stuck in traffic in a long commute, dealing with a nasty boss, hostile co-workers, intransigent subordinates? You could be living in this beautiful mansion with this beautiful new wife. Get out of the rat race, call 1-800-sucker now!"

[litany_of_lies]

Yes, and the kind of pond scum that takes advantage of the ignorant like this is what gives capitalism a bad name. Or are you telling me the subprime lender is blameless here?

Captialism only works when there is an underlying morality behind it, Judeo-Christian or whatever. Without it, it's the law of the jungle. As the victims accumulate, government regulation grows, innovation and creativity get stifled, and everyone loses.

It's more than ironic that this is taking place in overwhelmingly Democratic Cleveland.

[Bob]

Brown and Crosby are either victims of their own stupidity or dupes in a type of housing con game...

These two possibilities are not mutually exclusive. In fact, each one enables the other.

[goldstategop]

I've never heard of any one buying five mortgages on property they've never seen with no money down. No is THAT stupid... or are there people like this? Judging from this story, some people are gullible enough to believe anything they're told.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[Tax-chick]

are you telling me the subprime lender is blameless here?

Of course not ... particularly if they broke the law.

However, every con takes at least two players ... one to deceive, one who wants to believe the deception.

[SouthernFreebird]

Weeeeeeell buying houses sight unseen isn't the smartest thing a person can do.

[SamAdams76]

A fool and his money are soon parted.

[MinuteGal]

Would these dupes/dopes enter into sight-unseen arranged marriages?

I don't think so.

But, then again......

Leni

[starfish923]

You can't foot an honest man. He knows there so such thing as a free lunch.

[goldstategop]

Well there are no-money down deals but they generally involve properties in economically depressed areas or homes in foreclosure or probate. Generally, you have to buy a mortgage to purchase a property. People who think the exception is the rule can find their lives changed... and not always for the better. The best source on how to profit in real estate is John T. Reed. He has good advice and also gives a run down on the TV gurus.

(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)

[starfish923]

It's more than ironic that this is taking place in overwhelmingly Democratic Cleveland.

You really know how to rub their noses in it. :o)

[o_zarkman44]

Has anyone ever heard about driving by a potential property before buying? Location location location!
These people were complete idiots who fell for a deal too good to be true..