Who’s Watching Your Money? | The Real Estate Costs & Risks Consumers Need to Know

Buying a home involves more than the price of the house. Buyers and sellers are navigating transaction fees, increasingly sophisticated real estate scams, changing technology and a housing market where the cost of building enough homes remains a major challenge.

This week on From the Rooftops, I’m looking at several real estate headlines that raise an important question: Who is watching the consumer’s money?

NPR is reporting on so-called real estate “junk fees,” including administrative and document-storage fees charged during a transaction. CNN is reporting on two homebuyers who lost $66,000 in a suspected voice-cloning scam, highlighting the growing threat of wire fraud and AI-assisted fraud in real estate transactions.

Then there’s Airbnb. The short-term rental company has announced a $250 million Housing Accelerator designed to provide last-dollar financing for housing developments that are ready to build but still need capital. Airbnb says the initiative could help unlock more than $5 billion in housing investment over the next decade, alongside efforts involving zoning reform, permitting, building codes and construction technology.

For REALTORS®, these conversations matter because consumers rely on us to help them understand the people, processes and costs surrounding one of the largest financial transactions of their lives.

How do we help consumers recognize questionable fees? What happens when AI makes real estate fraud harder to detect? And what should we make of Airbnb investing directly in housing construction?

Join me Thursday, September 17 at 9:00 AM ET for From the Rooftops. Bring your questions and tell me what you're seeing in your market.

Leigh Brown is a REALTOR®, national speaker, author and real estate industry leader who helps real estate professionals understand the issues shaping their business, their communities and the consumers they serve.

🎤 Book Leigh to speak: https://www.leighbrown.com/speaker
🏠 More from Leigh: https://LeighBrown.com


Did you miss our previous article...
https://trendinginrealestate.com/real-estate-trends/us-hits-panic-button-10year-spikes-to-2008-levels