Craigslist Rental? (Atlanta, Decatur: apartment complexes, rentals, mortgage)

[ashleyh2950]

I posted about a month ago about finding a rental for myself and my kids. I'm moving up to Atlanta for a PhD from sunny (super hot today) Fort Lauderdale. My original budget of 1000/1100 has been completely ignored lol and am looking instead around 1300-1500, mostly in the City of Decatur and around Candler Park. There are several apartment complexes that this works for but I've recently found some good looking rentals on Craigslist but not sure how to proceed. I've never rented through CL and feel pretty nervous about sending my info to a stranger. I've looked up the property through the county appraiser site but other than that, how can I protect myself? Thanks so much!!! (And if you have any suggestions for reputable rentals, I'd appreciate it!)

[DaBurgh]

Don't send any money without a viewing of the place, don't view the place alone (make sure someone goes with you), communicate via email initially, but you want to speak to them on the phone before viewing, ask for references from current tenants, if a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is and it's a scam. When I was looking for a place I got some auto replies via email. I copied and pasted the text into google and up popped explanations of how the scam works. Just don't rush into anything and you'll be ok

[Interwebs]

Craigslist is scam-central. See if the properties you're interested in are also listed on other legitimate rental sites.

[jeoff]

I've rented out properties on Craig's List (and made more than my share of mistakes). I think some of what the previous posters put up would be helpful. Really, only once has a tenant asked for any proof of who I am, and that I owned the property. Right before signing the lease, I think I (briefly) showed my drivers lisense and a piece of mail from the mortgage company, or something like that. Because, many people who want to rent are kind of nuts (irrespective of Craig's List) I doubt that I would ever give a prospective tenant, other tenants as references, or much of my personal information at all. You could ask if the person you are speaking to is the owner or a rep from a management company. You could probably verify either with a combination of on-line information and one-on-one conversation, and then ask to see his drivers lisense right before signing the lease and giving deposit/funds. If you are really nervous (when the LL is not around) you could ask one of the next-door neighbors about the LL.

[MilkMachine]

I would cross-check any property to make sure it is actually in the city if having access to city of Decatur schools are important to you. I assume you already know the deal about the city schools being the best around but the surrounding areas in unincorporated are still called Decatur and many (not all) of those schools are bad news.

[ashleyh2950]

Thanks for all the advice! I might just be too nervous to do a CL rental and might have to go with a proper rental complex for my first apt. in Atlanta. Thanks, again!

[Rozi30213]

I found my current rental on Craigslist!! Best deal ever! Some times you just have to go with your gut feeling... Craigslist is not all that bad! Look for rentals on the GA Mls website too! Good luck!!

[atl-gal]

We rent two properties using Craigslist exclusively and I can promise that it works well. We never have a problem finding tenants this way and all that we've chosen to rent to have proven to be excellent tenants. However, I echo the suggestions of doing some background work on the property to make sure the landlord is the owner. Also, be sure to visit the property in person before handing over a deposit.

The scams work both ways as we receive about five email scams from Craiglist for each legitimate one every time we post an ad. They are easy to recognize with broken English and asking questions about information already available in the post.

[LahdeeDahdee]

My friend found a wonderful tenent from Craigslist. The woman paid the rent ahead of time and was quiet. Never a complaint about her ubtil the detectives arrested her out of the house. My friend discovered that the cops had been surveilling her as well. Tenant used somebody's ss# to purchase furniture when she moved in. Of course my friend was the owner and cops didnt know I initially if it was the owner or the tenant or both of them.

[Eresh]

I found my current rental through Craigslist and the house I will be renting later this summer when I move back to Florida.

Here is what I do before I even reply to the ad to help weed out the scams:
1. Avoid ads that only have the anonymous email and no other contact info and never click on a link that's in the ad
2. Look at other sites (Trulia, Zillow, MLS. etc) and see if the same house is listed. I've seen people take legit ads and copy them on to CL for a cheaper rent. Total scam
3. Go to Google map street view and see of the house is indeed at the address listed in the ad. If no address is listed and just a street name, I will go through the whole street until I find the house and figure out the address. (That's also handy for checking out how the neighborhood looks)
4. Look up the property records (it's public record and available on the internet) to get the owner's name and how long they've owned the house, etc. I also check to see if they are delinquent on paying property taxes.

If all of that checks out, then I reply to the ad. I ask of the person is the owner and for the person's name. I also ask the typical questions one might ask when seeking a rental (includes pest?, pet policy? etc..) and well as asking for additional pictures.
1. Just because the person replies with the name that matches property records, it can still be a scam (I ran into that recently), so you will want to check their ID when viewing the house. Insist that the person show the house him/herself and not send a "friend" to show it for him or her.
2. If the person replies wanting personal information and/or a deposit then it's guaranteed to be a scam.
3. I usually take it a step further and google the person's name and even look for a facebook and/or linked in profile to see what comes up and if he or she seems legit. I'm very leery of facebook profiles that were recently created.
4. I ask for more pictures than what was posted in the ad. If the person has legit access to the house, then they should be able to do that rather quickly. I then compare those pictures with what was in the ad to see if it appears to be the same house.

Once I decide to view the house:
1. Never go alone and always tell others exactly where you are going and what time to expect your return.
2. Ask for identification of the person showing you the house.

After all that, if my gut tells me this is the house, then I go ahead with the process for renting it. (I just did that over the weekend, actually)

As an aside, my landlord put the house I am currently renting on CL. I told him I am okay with showing it to prospective tenants. I've only shown it once so far, but I made sure to communicate directly with the prospective tenant to set it up and asked for ID when she showed up to make sure she was legit. In other words, don't be surprised if the person checks you out as much as you are checking him or her out.