I had a small, landlocked vacant parcel listed on Craigslist — not a big deal financially, but a real transaction all the same. What happened during that sale is a good reminder that "small deal" doesn't mean "low risk."
How it started
A buyer reached out, we negotiated down from my asking price to a number we both agreed on, and I sent over the practical details: access, taxes, and a proposed simple, low-cost closing process given the small dollar amount involved.
Where it went sideways
The buyer's messages became increasingly hard to follow — jumping between topics, asking questions that had already been answered, inconsistent phrasing. Not disqualifying on its own, but a pattern worth noticing.
Then came the actual red flag: he wanted me to notarize and record the deed transferring the property into his name *before* sending payment, with the promise that he'd pay once that was done.
Why that's backwards
Once a deed is recorded, ownership has legally transferred. At that point, a seller has essentially no leverage left to compel payment — if it doesn't show up, or shows up as something that later bounces, your only real recourse is suing someone you may not be able to easily locate, over an amount that doesn't justify the legal cost. This is a well-known pattern specifically in small land deals, because sellers are the most tempted to skip protections on "it's not worth the hassle for this little money."
What actually protects you, and it's free
You don't need to pay for an escrow service to fix this. The fix costs nothing: insist that payment clears first — a wire transfer you've confirmed landed, or a cashier's check your bank confirms has actually cleared, not just been deposited — and only notarize/record the deed after that. Hold that line regardless of how small the deal is.
The takeaway
The size of a deal doesn't change the order of operations that keeps you protected. Payment before transfer, always — and if a buyer pushes hard specifically on skipping that step, that itself tells you something.