Onslaught of offers to buy houses troubles elderly, others
Advertisement
The housing market is just storming with reasons to shelter unsuspecting homeowners.
Three lowballing, high-pressure systems hit around me just this week.
--Another unsolicited offer to buy my house.
Your closing, "God bless, Sean," is a nice touch. God's blessings are surely sought by the desperate.
"Quick," "no hassle sale," "at a fair price"? Maybe. Depends on what "fair" means.
Convenience stores get "fair" prices for bread and milk -- and convenience -- at great cost to the customer. If I were to sell my house to you, it would come at great cost, even if I were convinced it made sense in the moment. Not today.
--The onslaught of offers was enough to get a state lawmaker's attention.
"It has been brought to my attention that numerous mailings are being received by residents who live in
One of the mailings asks, "Are you trapped by an unwanted house? Do you want to sell without a hassle?"
Young said the mailings have homeowners' names and pictures of houses, and it is upsetting some older constituents. He wants to hear from anyone who has received such an offer, or knows someone who has. Call 557-7393 with the mailing in hand.
"What we want to do is get in front of a situation that may be targeting a particular group of individuals due to the rising cost of living," Young said in a news release. "We hear of many scams that target our elderly population, and sometimes they are falsely led to make decisions that seem beneficial to their financial security but in the end are extremely harmful to their livelihood.
"We want to protect those elders from making a quick decision due to the onset of such overwhelming suggestions. We want to avoid possible displacement of our loved ones and any plausibility of legal actions due to their lack of knowledge regarding the possible direct intent to buy out a particular area of the city by one company. We are well aware that gentrification is real."
Young added, "We are aware of the efforts being made within the city to change the urban areas to meet the needs of those who are seeking to move closer to the downtown areas. This seems to be a direct manipulation to change a particular district area."
--"Bob," not his real name, 80, left me a long voicemail message of concern for one of his elderly neighbors.
"I've got an idea for a story," he said, "about the way real estate people cheat old people when they downsize or move out of the house or go into the nursing home or what have you, where the real estate people, they often deal for themselves.
"My neighbor, she's an old lady. She lost her husband three or four months ago. She's already moved out into a nursing home, or assisted living. And the real estate people told her she'd be lucky to get
Whoa. That sounds awful, and it could be. But deferred maintenance saps market value from homes, especially over decades.
If she got
In my own situation, my best guess is that, without significant work, I could get about 70 percent of what the county says my house is worth. (
So, Bob, don't go stringing up all real estate people just yet -- but yes, keep an eye out for your neighbors, and we all should keep an eye out for older folks.
"They lose their thinking power," he said. "I'm 80 years old myself and I don't think as straight as I used to. But I know enough. I see what's going on. I've been around business and dealings. I've got this old lady across the street and she's going to get the shaft."
Let's hope not. If she has responsible adult children, talk to them. Share your concerns. Be a good neighbor.
___
(c)2018 The Oklahoman
Visit The Oklahoman at www.newsok.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Fact check: Rep. Mike Bishop’s TV ad makes claim about Elissa Slotkin
New Medicare cards aim to reduce fraud, identity theft
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News