For a long time now I have wondered how real estate got so popular on Craigslist. It is hard to find exactly what you are looking for because of the limited fields and repeated posts. I find Craigslist a waste of time, but property owners love it because it is free to post their listings. Turns out you get what you pay for. Recently a story in San Francisco caught my eye. A young woman, Rachael Smith, advertised her apartment for lease. The only problem was that it was the apartment she lived in and not owned.
Over the course of a few weeks she showed the apartment as though she owned it. She even collected rent deposits from people wishing to lease the apartment. She collected deposits from over 20 victims totaling an estimated $100,000. She has now disappeared leaving nothing behind but the empty bank accounts of those who she took the money from. You can follow the story at either of these links. http://bit.ly/9wtIT7 Or http://bit.ly/bsaTCt
All those property owners who love Craigslist because it’s free may want to think again. How is a tenant going to know that you are not scamming them. On the flip side how do you as the landlord know the tenant is not scamming you. Property owner you will get what you pay for.
So who can you trust on Craigslist. Well, maybe nobody. If you have been following my blog maybe you have read other stories like Real Estate or Fake Estate, or my Deal Realtor letter. I am not very happy with Craigslist. For me it is nothing more than a breeding ground for mistrust and misuse. Even the posts by Realtors on Craigslist are often incorrect of misleading. Watch out if you are leasing or buying real estate on Craigslist.
