The front cover of yesterday’s Chronicle Business Section had a featured article on steps you can take to avoid foreclosure. I guess selling to an investor isn’t one of their favorite solutions.

From the Chronicle

Be wary of foreclosure scams. Some scam artists will use public records to find you and offer to help you, even though all they want to do is buy the home and turn it around for a profit. Autumn Lubin, a national foreclosure prevention consultant, warns homeowners to be cautious about people who approach them. Instead, she urges homeowners to seek out help from established community nonprofit organizations that are looking only to help.

This would suggest that investors contacting folks facing foreclosure about purchasing their home are scam artists because all they want to do is “buy the home and turn it around for a profit”. Yet the advice given in the prior step suggests a short sale or just giving your house back to the bank.

Consider a short-sale. You may be able to give your house to the bank without suffering the blemish of a foreclosure on your credit report. Do this with a short-sale, in which the lender lets you sell the house for less than the outstanding loan amount. The lender then takes the proceeds and forgives any remaining payments due. But you may have to pay a big tax bill because debt forgiven by a lender is taxable income.

I know there are some bad guys out there in the investment community but to suggest that someone offering to bail you out by offering to purchase your house when foreclosure is imminent is a scam artist is a little irresponsible. Yes an investor wants to turn a profit. That’s why we are in business and I for one let everyone that I buy a house from know that I intend to make a profit.

What about a publication that offers to deliver local and national news to your doorstep, even though all they want to do is sell advertising and turn a profit?