The scams follow patterns: bait-and-switch offers, fake proof of funds, hidden assignment clauses, upfront fees. Six checks that verify any cash buyer without trusting them, run against InTym Properties too.
By InTym Properties
Most "we buy houses" companies are legitimate businesses, and a few are not, and the tricky part is they all use the same words. "Cash offer." "Close in a week." "No fees, no commissions." The scam is never in the vocabulary. It is in the contract, the proof of funds, and the behavior between signing and closing.
The good news is that bad operators follow repeatable patterns. This post names the five that actually hurt sellers, gives a six-point checklist that verifies any buyer without trusting them, and then runs InTym Properties through the same checklist.
1. The bait-and-switch renegotiation. The offer that beat everyone else's was priced to win the signature, not to close. The buyer stalls for weeks, then announces "the inspection found problems" and demands a cut, often $20,000 to $40,000, days before closing, when the seller has packed, committed, and feels trapped. The original number was bait. An honest buyer prices the repairs into the math on day one, so the written number survives inspection.
2. Fake proof of funds. A screenshot of a bank account, a letter from a lender nobody can find, a "pre-approval" naming a different entity than the one on the contract. Real proof of funds is a recent bank statement or bank letter in the exact entity name on the contract, and it survives a phone call to the bank.
3. Assignment without disclosure. The "buyer" never intends to close. They sign the contract, shop it to real investors, and cancel through a contingency if nobody bites. The tells live in the paperwork: "and/or assigns" on the signature line, a long inspection period that is really a marketing period, a $100 earnest money deposit. The cash buyer vs. wholesaler post shows the exact clauses.
4. Upfront fees. Any "cash buyer" who needs money from the seller, an application fee, a processing fee, a deposit paid directly to them, is running the oldest play in the file. Money in a real purchase flows toward the seller. The only money that moves before closing is earnest money, and it goes to the title company, never the buyer.
5. Pressure and isolation. "This offer expires today." "No need to get a lawyer involved, that just slows things down." "Don't list it, they'll just take a commission." Urgency is a control tool, and discouraging outside advice is the tell that the buyer knows the offer will not survive scrutiny. A real offer survives a weekend, a second opinion, and a call to an attorney.
None of these checks require trusting the buyer. That is the point. Run all six before signing anything, and run them on every buyer, including the ones who seem friendly. Especially those.
Run the checks on InTym Properties the way a skeptical seller should run them on anyone:
The verify page lays out every check a seller can run on InTym Properties, built for exactly the skeptical reading this post recommends. The we buy houses page covers what the company purchases and how the written offer works.
Here is the honest version of the checklist: no single miss proves a scam. A new LLC can be a real buyer. A thin review history can be a real buyer. But patterns do not lie twice. If a buyer fails two of these checks, will not show proof of funds and pushes an assignment clause, will not name a title company and needs a signature today, walk. The worst case for walking is a week of re-shopping the offer. The worst case for staying is months trapped in a contract that was never going to close, while every other option expired.
Talking to a buyer you are not sure about in Broward County or south Idaho? Call or text (650) 540-1854. InTym Properties will say straight whether the offer in hand is real, and if the company's number beats it, the seller gets it in writing, usually within 48 hours.
The five patterns that actually hurt sellers: a bait-and-switch renegotiation where a high offer gets cut right before closing, fake proof of funds, an assignment clause the buyer never disclosed, upfront fees charged to the seller, and pressure tactics designed to stop a second opinion or a call to an attorney.
Six checks: proof of funds in the contract entity's name, an entity lookup on Sunbiz.org or the Idaho Secretary of State, a named licensed title company you can call, a written offer with the math shown, zero upfront fees, and reviews you can cross-check. None of them require trusting the buyer.
No. Money in a real purchase flows toward the seller. The only funds that move before closing are the buyer's earnest money deposit, and that goes to the title company, never to the buyer. An application fee, processing fee, or deposit paid to the buyer is a scam pattern.
InTym Properties is a registered Florida entity searchable on Sunbiz.org, closes on houses as principal with no assignment clause, discloses in writing when a multifamily contract will be assigned to a vetted end buyer, closes through licensed title companies, shows proof of funds on request, and publishes every check on its verify page.
Written offer usually within 48 hours, signed by InTym Properties, every number shown. No repairs, no fees, no obligation.
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