Real estate scammers: We're onto you

So, two more Brit issues came in this week regarding real estate or visa-type problems that were complex and costly.

Note to the ill-doers: Everyone is onto you these days. I think there was a time maybe when people Americanflag_3 were naive and didn't know what was happening. People were trusting. But everybody from the U.S. Embassy to Homeland Security to little-ole-me knows how a lot of this works by now.

I cannot stress enough to those who are buying real estate to consult with established firms on good referrals and lawyers who work in immigration. During the real estate hey-day of the last few years in Central Florida, a lot of people jumped on the bandwagon to sell and it was easy. They sat in their office and the phone rang. Now, they're starving. What do people do when they starve? Some of them get desperate and willing to compromise whatever miniscule set of values they had.

The people who have been in real estate know the drill. The market goes up, it goes down, it goes up, it goes down. It's like farming. Farming families have the fortitude to make it through tough years, knowing full well they are coming and they are going. They don't lose their values on the lean years. So it is with good real estate people. Find those people when you are buying and selling. Find an immigration lawyer --- those are the ones who have a passion for immigration issues --- to work with you. Any old lawyer won't do.

And don't let a few bad stories ruin your hope of being in the U.S. if you want to be.