Rental costs around Longmont, Louisville, Superior? (Denver, Boulder: apartments, rentals, mortgage)

[lovesunnydays]

I've been looking at ads for house rentals on craigslist, and the rents look cheaper than mortgage costs I've seen on realtor.com. One ad from HousingHelpers.com has a 5 BR, 3350 sqft house on Ute Creek Golf course in Longmont for $1,495. Does anyone know if that sounds right? It seems too good to be true. I've also noticed that house rentals seem like a much better deal than apartment rentals (much more space and nicer-looking for the same price). Is this possibly because there's more inventory of houses on the market than apartments? Do you ever hear of rental scams on craigslist? (In New York, bait and switch is rampant - they never have the *great deal* you call about - they redirect you to something else they have that's not usually as attractive.) How do you know for sure if someone you rent a house from is legit?

[tfox]

lovesunnydays,

I'm not really in the market at the moment, but I've found that rents for a single family homes tend to top out at a certain point, because once they get too expensive, people who can afford that kind of money will just buy a place. So, that is to say, you can find a reasonable place for under $2000.00 in most of the metro area, a few areas like Boulder or downtown Denver excepted.

So to answer your question, that price you found seems attractive, but on the other hand it doesn't sound "too good to be true" to me.