If you look at the blog James references, it appears the activity discussed all involve activites that are explicitly fraud:Fitzgerald - inflated values on purchase to defraud lenders.

donflips -- Thanks for the motivation.Yeah, I found out from public records that this house is owned by Washington Mutual and yesterday their shares took a dive of 17% in addition to the annoucement that NY attorney general may bring charges against them for pressurizing the apprisial companies to inflate home prices.I just keep looking for any reduction in price and sadly the place where I live there ain't that many reo which sit for more than 4-5 months.

Recent developments have increased the uncertainty surrounding the outlook for economic growth and inflation."

Buying low and then turning around and selling to a retail buyer at a retail price is a lot like the scams that have occurred recently with straw buyers and inflated appraisals.

And also, this company supposedly inflates the FICO so I would guess 691 might not be your real number.The Better Business Bureau has over 2,500 complaints logged against the company.Go have a look...and cancel the subscription!

If you are in California, check out Senate Bill 1737 which makes it illegal and a possible suspension of a RE license if the agent inflates the BPO with the hope that it will go to REO and they will get the listing.

The market has had negative growth for the past 8 years if you factor in inflation, real wage growth, stability of our market, consumption vs. production, spending vs. savings, and many other factors.

., cap rate), beware that some may be set up with above market rent to inflate the purchase price.

The combination of overly aggressive mortgage brokers, appraisers who are in the realtor's/mortgage broker's pockets, and greedy lenders led to a situation where housing demand was grossly artificially inflated.

On the other hand, if inflation really kicks up and interest rates start up, I wouldn't be surprised to see a whole flurry of due on sale calls.If the buyer doesn't pay, you have to foreclose.