The article below from Newsday is quite sad, a man lost close to $20k in a botched real estate deal. If you remember our article on Real Estate Fraud which we covered here last month, then you should be able to avoid such scams.
Lets analyse the following facts from the article;
- The residential stand is in a build up area in Tynawald-INFILL STAND?
- The residential stand was sold by an INDIVIDUAL
- Deal of Sale concluded OUT OF TOWN in Rusape
- Transaction concluded without engagement of a LAWYER
Now dear reader, tis adverts had too many red flags. If you read our first post on real estate then you should remember what I said about INFILL STANDS. Ma infill stands haatengwe nekuti all of them are fake! I also mentioned that avoid buying residential stands from Individuals as individuals have proven to be high risk in the Real Estate industry, rather buy from established real estate agents or financial institutions with a reputation to protect. I remember saying that there is no one who has ever been conned money by financial institutions such as CABS, Old Mutual, FBC and Fidelity.
Out of Town Deals: If you are buying a car, buying a residential stand or any deal where you initially meet in your area but later on encouraged to finalise the deal and payment out of town then do one thing-Run with your money, cancel the deal because its FAKE! The fraudsters do not want you to possibly bring knowledgeable people to the conclusion of the deal. A friend of mine who wants bough a fake stand had to travel to Bulawayo where the deal was concluded! When OUT OF TOWN crops up then immediately cancel the deal or risk becoming a statistic like what happened in the article below.
Residential Stands and Lawyers: Do not conclude the purchase of real estate on your own as if you are buying a vehicle. Get legal help by engaging registered lawyers, we also have dubious lawyers around so make sure that they are registered. Doing such deals on your own will result in you being at the mercy of con artists.
So there you are readers, share this article with friends and relatives so that they cannot be victims like Philemon below.
Man loses $18 000 in bogus house deal
Godfrey Chadzima was remanded in custody to today for bail application by Harare magistrate Vongai Muchuchuti-Guwuriro.
Allegations are that sometime in June, Chadzima while acting in cahoots with other suspects, who are still at large, inserted an advertisement in the Herald newspaper to the effect they were selling property at number 700 Tynwald, Harare.
The complainant Tapiwa Philemon inquired from Chadzima using his contact number which accompanied the advertisement.
The State alleges Chadzima posed as Simbarashe Muzorewa who directed him to the said stand for viewing purposes and told Philemon that the property belonged to his mother Patricia Muzorewa.
After viewing the stand, Philemon decided to buy the property and negotiated a purchase price with Chadzima over the phone.
The two agreed on an $18 000 figure and Philemon was to pay a cash deposit of $10 000 and later transfer the balance of $8 000 into Chadzima’s Steward Bank account.
The State alleges Philemon later met Chadzima in Rusape, who was in the company of his purported mother Patricia Muzorewa, and paid the $10 000.
He later deposited $8 500 into Chadzima’s bank account and an agreement of sale was made using a fake deed of transfer in the name of Patricia Muzorewa and a fake national identification card.
On December 16 Philemon visited the stand with a view to start some developments and discovered that the stand belonged to another person whose name was used by Chadzima.
Philemon was prejudiced a total amount of $18 000 and nothing was recovered.
Sebastian Mutizirwa appeared for the State.
