This rental scam is definitely growing in popularity. Someone from West Africa finds a property on the web and posts it on a website like craigslist.org as thier own. They make up some sob story of why they are in Africa and ask you to wire transfer your security deposit via Western Union. From Idaho’s KTVB News,
The home at the center of this scam was originally for sale back in October. It was listed on the Boise Multiple Listing Service Web site — a site used by legitimate realtors.
That’s where homeowner Melissa Gifford believes the scammers got so much information about her house. (more…)
From UPI.com, some would be renters are getting scammed out of their security deposits by a scam based out of Nigeria.
“First of all it’s not his house, whoever this person is; it’s not their house,” Kurowski said. “Second of all they have no right to use my house as part of a scam.”
Kurowski said when his real estate agent inquired about the offer, a reply said the home owner was in the West African country of Nigeria but was accepting rental deposits. (more…)
It seems this rental scam is making its way across North America. From Black Press British Columbia, a
$700-a-month, one-bedroom apartment for rent in Kamloops listed on the ever-popular craigslist.ca has been deemed fraudulent.
The original advertisement was posted on Tuesday and, not 24 hours later, it was flagged as a scam and pulled off the website — but not before KTW had a chance to inquire about the seemingly great place that boasted stainless-steel appliances, unique design, wood flooring and many upgrades. (more…)
419Eater.com does not apply directly to rental scams; however, this group of individuals have taken on the task of responding to deceitful e-mailers who try to lead you into a scam by making very generous offers if you help them out. For example, (more…)
There has been an up tick in people offering their homes for rent for the inauguration in January. For the most part, the hotels in the area are booked for the week. Now, if you look on Craiglist.org, you see a large amount of people offering their home for rent with some ridiculous weekly rents! (more…)
This is one of the more sophisticated rental scams that I have come across. From Utah’s KUTV, rental scammers are taking extra steps to convince their victims; nevertheless, the ultimate goal is still the same in which the scammer hopes to make off with your security deposit. First, they find an actual property for rent and find the actual landlord’s name, address and pictures of the property for rent. (more…)
Step 1: Renting vs Selling - Analyze Your Situation
So you’re at the point where you are not sure what to do with your house. You are in a scenario where you either cannot afford the monthly mortgage payment or where you have to move, but your house is now worth less than your mortgage balance. What do you do? Let’s take a look to see if renting out your property would be a smart move. (more…)
Introduction - Economic Overview
This article is aimed at anyone who has bought a house in the past few years.
If you thought the 2007 real estate market was bad, what do you think of 2008? Forget about just the real estate market, what about the whole 2008 economy! Even Alan Greenspan admits that there were errors1 on the Fed’s part in regards to the current housing downturn and credit crisis. If we had just paid a little bit more attention to what Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger2 said in 2005, “he and Munger issued stern new warnings about the residential real estate ‘bubble’” and “the destabilizing effect of hedge funds on the financial markets.” (more…)
When times are tough, you have to do what can do to survive. And that is exactly what Toll Brothers is doing. The luxury homebuilder “has mounted rent-to-own programs in New York City; Singer Island, Florida; and Scottsdale, Arizona, under which tenants have time to rent while they consider buying.”
Toll Brothers
Source: In search of buyers, Toll takes renters — for now
