Dangers of Renting Property on Craigslist?

Discussion in 'Landlord & Rental Property Questions' started by springbreeze, Nov 1, 2014.

  1. springbreeze

    springbreeze Well-Known Member

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    As most of us know, Craigslist has been getting a bad rep these last few years. Outside of the typical scam, what other dangers can one find in renting property on Craigslist? If you have stories, I'd be interested to hear them too.
     
  2. Rhoda D'Ettore

    Rhoda D'Ettore Guest

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    If you are the renter who is looking, the first thing that jumps out at me is safety. What if I get there and it is a murderer who does not even own a property? Or vise versa, what if you want to rent a place out, and you need to walk a stranger through the property. You can easily be assaulted. OR the person now knows your property is empty, and can come back to take metals, copper pipes and other materials.

    But the same goes with anything, use your brains, trust no one, and get references and back ground checks. But be more thorough. There are now evoice numbers anyone can get and put any message. So you might think you are dialing the person's place of employment or reference, and instead you are dialing his cell phone using a different number.
     
  3. dianethare

    dianethare Senior Investor

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    Creepy!...sending shivers down my spine and yet i need an ideal tenant as soon as possible, although you are right, alot of scrutinizing and background checks need to be put in place, trusting one's intuition and going out with a positive mind will help..i believe :)
     
  4. Glcameron

    Glcameron Well-Known Member

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    I personally don't rent from Criagslist. Not for my properties. I have found there are some good tenants out there and some bad ones but most of my good ones come from sites like Zillow, Postlets or they are referred through a real estate agent. I don't think you really have a good guage when you go through sites like that. There are sites that will make the potential renter go through an application process and only show them the properties within their budget/ credit standing but you really have to pay close attention to what the fees are on your end.
     
  5. Rainman

    Rainman Senior Investor

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    I think that Craiglist is generally safe to use. It's just a few people have given the site a bad reputation. I suppose it's always best to be prepared for the worst, arm yourself, etc but you can always run a background check on the person before leasing the property to them. Should you find they have a criminal record or something, you can always choose not to lease the house to them.
     
  6. jdroc

    jdroc Guest

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    Yep I would just stay away unless completely needed. Things get crazy around this time of the year.
     
  7. dianethare

    dianethare Senior Investor

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    Am about to remove my ad from Craiglist in light of many people against the site, but i believe in every situation there will be a few bad apples here and there!...thanks for other ideas where one can post ads in regard to renting though :)
     
  8. downloads

    downloads Well-Known Member

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    It doesn't really matter where you find the renter. What matters is that you have an iron-clad rental agreement and collect a refundable deposit. At the end of the day you're renting to the person, not the website. You can go through more established websites and venues and totally get an awful renter. And you can go through something like Craigslist and have the best renter in the world. All that matters is that you protect yourself with a lease. If you present yourself in a professional manner and discuss the terms up front than you should be able to see how they react to that and can make a decision from there. And to be safe, do a background check, contact references, and check out their credit score.
     
  9. dianethare

    dianethare Senior Investor

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    I like your point of view downloads...an iron-clad rental agreement followed by professional real estate agents ought to do the trick...something am realizing with my property is that ever since i got professional real estate agents, people are calling me up and asking why i choose that avenue...what am understanding is that they are afraid of the agents...some luxury they had before the rule changed...and so the agents stay :)
     
  10. Determined2014

    Determined2014 Guest

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    The fact of not knowing who the true renter or landlord is, or even just thinking that it could be a scam , or way for a weird person to lure people to him or her.
     

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