Publications

- June 2008: Vol. 20 No. 6

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Too Good To Be True? Protective Measures for Buyers in Troubled Times

by John Kuhl and Andrea Saunders

Everyone is familiar with the sayings “There’s no such thing as a free lunch” and “If it looks too good to be true, it probably is.” But when institutional investors come across a seemingly good real estate opportunity, they will need more than proverbs to distinguish the lucrative deals from the costly ones.

It is especially true for today’s investors, who are finding a wide range of property deals at a substantial discount to prior values. But as good as these deals look from the onset, if the seller becomes bankrupt near the time of the sale, the property may become subject to post-transfer scrutiny, causing your good deal to sour. Here’s what to look for when a deal looks “too good to be true.”

FRAUDULENT TRANSFERS

It’s easy to assume that fraudulent transfers, which can be undone in a seller’s bankruptcy, are limited to devious schemes that unfairly place a seller’s assets beyond the reach of its creditors. However, fraudulent transf

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