The lawyer spoke about the signs of fraud in real estate transactions

The main factor indicating the problematic nature of the real estate transaction in the secondary market is the low cost of the apartment, Anastasia Savchenko, lawyer at the Soglasie real estate agency, told Izvestia.

With a calm soul: scammers who stole the money of the deceased received up to 14 years

OPS members gained access to the banking applications of the deceased and withdrew more than 50 million rubles from their accounts.

"Usually such a price may indicate the urgency of the sale for some problematic reasons," Savchenko said.

She clarified that if the price indicated in the contract is lower than the market price, this may lead to the recognition of the transaction as fake and illegal, especially if there are receipts about the difference. The court, as a rule, takes into account only the amount specified in the contract, which creates the risk of financial losses for the buyer.

The second important factor is the documents for the apartment.

"It is definitely worth checking whether the apartment is being sold personally by the owner or by proxy. Buying through an intermediary carries maximum risks: the power of attorney may be forged, revoked, the owner may be incapacitated or die. All this leads to the recognition of the transaction as invalid," says the lawyer.

The third position that should be carefully studied when buying real estate is the mental and physiological state of the seller himself.

"When buying, it is advisable to get a certificate from a narcologist and a psychiatrist, especially if the seller is elderly, to make sure of his legal capacity and the ability to understand his actions," Savchenko adds.

In September, the Cherepovets police awarded a realtor who identified the apartment owner who was trying to sell her home under the influence of fraud. The day before, a 60-year-old pensioner gave 360 thousand rubles to phone scammers who introduced themselves as employees of the special services. Realtor Anastasia Trenicheva saved the landlady from embezzlement of 3.5 million rubles (the cost of housing), and her client from years of litigation.

Read more about the risks of buying apartments from suggestible people in the Izvestia article:

Deception and refund: scammers have added problems when buying a home