This comes from MSN Karen Aho article I thought I would share.

The scam is as old as desire itself: sell a "super" product at a "low price," then make off with the cash as the victim discovers he's been left with a fake bill of goods.

Now, with a slow economy and more Americans in need of affordable housing, the age-old ploy is rife in the rental market. The rental scam comes in several variations, but it typically follows the same basic recipe: A con artist finds a property, pretends to be the owner, lists it online, then communicates with the would-be renter and takes a cash deposit.

The renter is left with nothing or ends up squatting on someone else's vacant property while paying "rent" to a fraudster, all unbeknownst to the property's real owner.

Hi, Thanks for reading my blog. Everything I write is real and meant to help people avoid making mistakes when searching for rentals. Today I am getting calls from people who are doing yet again what is going to get them in trouble.

Case 1. Had a call from a woman who wanted to use my services. Great! I thn found out she has been looking online for over 2 weeks from out of state. Interesting that she said the following to me. I assume that all of the listings you have I have to pay the HOA fee correct? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!

This is what happens when you dive into the dark world of craigslist, Militarybyowner or any other by owner websites!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stay away or you are going to get taken advantage of. Trust me, you will!

I proceeded to tell her that it is uncommon that owners (other than those renting out there own home) will charge an HOW fee. In fact I have never in 24 years had any client of mine pay that. In fact I have in 100% of ALL cases where an owner was charging that "repair deductible" I was able to negotiate that away saving my clients hundreds of dollars.

Again, I say as I've said for 20 plus years. If you really think you know how to properly search for a rental, you don't. Nothing personal but you don't. Call me instead and I'll save you weeks of looking and money!

Hi again, Hope you are having a great Spring. My entry today involves the ever preying For Rent by Owner. You read that I nag on this all of the time but when you sit in my chair every day and see the rip offs it really makes me sick.

OK, had an owner who was going to list his place with me for $1895.00. This was the market price I suggested based on others that have rented. He placed it on the market for $2100.00 which was overpriced for his neighborhood. In fact there was another one just down the street for $1895.00. Anyway, the place rented to someone who contacted him as a for rent by owner. The sad news for the person who decided to rent it is that he could have saved $205.00 per month by simply staying away from the for rent by owner and using us.

What more do I have to say......If you are dealing directly with a for rent by owner..DON'T. You will probably pay too much and the odds on a foreclosure or other unreasonable request like first and last month rent, app fee rip offs, deductible rip offs goes much higher.

Happy Hunting!

Wow, what an eye opener weekend! Listed a house for rent in Chantilly. Had a guy driving up an down the street looking at the house while I will holding it open for rent. He finally parked the car and came up to me and asked if he could see the house. After talking with him I could tell he had been looking for awhile as most people do who try to find homes on there own. I asked him how many homes he has seen, his answer.......Not 10, not 30, not 40 or even 50 but rather 60 homes before mine! 60 rental homes before he found the one he wanted. What a waste of time and energy. He said he had had it. Had he only come to me from the beginning it would have taken one showing.

On another quick note: Had a woman call me today about the same property which already rented. Same thing, trying to do this on her own. She said she had already lost several because she is not working with a professional. What will eventually happen is that she will be looking at the leftovers. While others are working with professionals and renting the better homes, she will probably wind up renting something that has been sitting on the market.

Do yourself a huge favor!!! Do not go out and do this on your own. You are making a mistake.

Hello fellow rental bloggers. I just had to add this entry after talking to several people this morning still doing the same old drill in finding a rental. Looking for weeks on end surfing the Internet as if they really understand how to search in Northern VA. NOT!

Couple of keys hints for you.

#1 Use a professional

#2 Use a Professional

#3 Use a Professional

All of our clients have found a rental property in 1 day in less than 6 hours. 100% placement over the last 2 years! YES, 2 years! What is my secret formula? Hire me and find out. For the rest of you that sill want to call around, dealing with people who are taking you for a ride. Go ahead and waste your time. Oh, I know there are many of you that say Hey! I had a great experience on Craigslist or dealing witha  for rent by owner. NO kidding! I say you will have many good experiences but wait till I tell you how much you didn't need to pay!!! How about $400-$700 on average and you don't even know it.

I can't take watching you rental searchers suffer any longer.

Until next time!

Said it before, I'll say it again! USE A PROFESSIONAL TO FIND YOUR PROPERTY!

Wow, what a day. Seems like groundhog day (The Movie) Year after year I see the same mistakes people are making when searching for properties. Spoke to someone today looking 2 months in advance. Way too soon and she was wondering why she couldn't find anything and then has no idea she is simply looking too soon.

My client yesterday came in from Boston. Very nice guy but admittedly sceptical of my ability to find him the home that would siut him perfectly.......After we spendt 2 hours sifting through hundreds of rentals I picked the one. We drove to Old Town and went into the property and he said "This is the one!" Another satisfied client.

OK, now about the Tech comment. I am 100,000,000% convinced that unless you really know the market, and really understand market dynamics I don't care what Internet Site you use, you are simply going to be spinning your wheels. Realtor.com, Craiglist, Any Realtor Database simply cannot organize the information they it should be organized to provide you with the best choices. Sure, you push the buttons and some things pop up. Ah, it's magic. This one looks good, that one looks good but do you  know if the price is right? Do you know if the lease they have is legit? Is it Military owner with an owner return clause? Uh oh...the computer cannot answer these questions. Danger Will Robinson. I say, use a professional like us. We work for you not the owner. I'll save you money if I can, I'll negotiate the best terms. Oh, I know...you can do it yourself. Yes you can but I can also say that you are taking a big risk in doing so.

Anyway, have a great day and enjoy this fantastic weather and don't call me when the place you rented goes into foreclosure

Eddie

Ok, here I go again. For all of you Craigslist or any for rent by owner website. Two words!

Stay Away!

We are getting call after call from people who went to the for rent by owner and got caught in a foreclosure situation.

That's all for now.

*Disclaimer. It is not craigslist that is at fault. It is the people who advertise false information.

Hello everyone! One trend I have been noticing is the upper end rentals are softening. People want to downscale to lesson the finacial burden they have. Prices are becoming more negotiable though lower ranges are still fairly solid as more demand comes in.

We help all of our clients with the process of negotiating. Do not try this on your own unless you have access to past pricing as we do. There is a bit of an art to this. Sometimes it backfires. Let's say you make an offer on a home that just came on the market and is in great shape and really worth the price. If you make an offer the owner may become offended and decline you and the offer.

Call us for rental help. Until next time!