The rental market is full of scams. Do not be dismayed by these crooks? If you are interested in finding out if someone is pulling the rug from under you....PLEASE email me for a bit of free advise or go to my website adventmgmt.com to ask any of our property managers for help. We love what we do and hate the dishonesty in the industry of unlicensed property managers or crooks taking advantage of people who just want to find a place to call home.
To avoid the rental scams that are infiltrating the Home Rental Market:
1) Avoid responding to deals that are too good to be true. If the market rent for 3 bedroom home is $2000 and there is a home being advertised for $1000...the chances of it being legit is low. The only owners whom rent out their homes for under market value are renting out their home to a family member or very close friend.
2) Avoid renting from an out of country landlord. This is a red flag. I represent many home owners whom are from out of the country. When home owners leave the country they either sell their home with me or they have me rent out their home while they are away. Out of country home owners do not self manage their properties.
3) DO NOT SEND MONEY TO ANYONE. The landlord is asking for you to send them money to receive keys to view the home. True landowners are not going to let an unknown person into their expensive investment without supervision. That makes no sense.
Scammers are duplicating actual rental listings and cutting the rental price by over $1000. Do not fall for these pitfalls regardless of how desperate you are to find a home. Instead of looking for a deal that is too good to be true, focus on preparing yourself for your next home.
- Have a verifiable job
- Be able to provide 3 months worth of bank statements
- Ask your bank or whichever institution you pay through to help you print out a statement of proof of your past rent payments.
- Start paying your rent using verifiable means, check, cashiers check or direct deposit. If you have to pay using cash make sure your are withdrawing the cash from your bank account to show a pattern of withdrawals each month before the first of each month.
- Work on your credit!!! Far too many times when I run someone credit report, I see a silly bill for $10 that is in collections. PAY THESE OFF!!!
- If you are credit challenged then please offer the following: double deposit and/ or 6-12 months of pre-paid rent. Just do it! Owners have every right to put in place parameters to make them feel secure in whom they are renting their home to.
I find tenants with the following traits:
- RELIABLE
- WILL CARE FOR THE HOME
- IS CLEAN
- WILL FIX THINGS AROUND THE HOME WITHIN REASON. NO MAJOR REPAIRS WITHOUT PERMISSION
- AND WILL PAY RENT ON TIME!!!!
This is reasonable, so make sure you present yourself as a tenant that can do this. If you need help, I can help with this. Please email me at inlandempireadvent@gmail.com so I can help you. If you are an owner who needs help finding great tenants, I am your expert.