[Jimrob1]

I have a question and could use some advice on this. I am going to spend some time in Las vegas this year. I'm a retiree. I found an apt thru a recommendation of an organization I am a member of. The rent is extremely reasonable, and I am getting a nice discount on top of that. It is a small bldg. with primarily retirees and only 1 rental is vacant now. I would be arriving in Las Vegas around July 14th. I was told though that if I want this studio apt, that I must send the rent payment and $150 deposit by Friday. So I would be renting it a month before I got there, and then in July they would prorate the remainder of July. I was told they want it done this way, as others are interested in this apt. That it could be rented now, However because the organization I belong to recommended me, they will give me first bid on the unit. I have no way of knowing if they actually have other people looking at the unit, or they just want some quick money. A family member here tells me, this could be some kind of a scam. That I should not send money to a place I have never seen, or have had no personal contact with this investment group. I'm skeptical, but I imagine this goes on all the time when renting before one arrives in a new city.

I am to send the payment to an Investment group in Henderson, then an application and rental agreement will be sent to me here in Massachusetts. I have never in my life rented an apt in this manner. My only other way was to go to Las Vegas and spend money on an extended stay, while I looked all over Las Vegas. I would not get this lower cost unit by doing that, as there is only this one rental available. So I would end up with hotel bills, while looking and the outcome would be a higher cost rental of another apt. I think I prefer to have secured a rental before arriving. Actually I think this is probably how it is done if your doing a rental long distance, though I'm not sure.

Any advice from anyone that has rented in Las Vegas, from out of state would be appreciated. Thanks. Any advice at all is welcomed.

[Raiderman]

Jim,

I don't think it's that out of whack. We moved here from the East Coast (a few miles south of where you are) into a house we had never seen before. We were fortunate enough to have friends and a good realtor here who went to our top 5 houses that we had picked online and checked them out for us.

I believe (LVOC, correct me if I'm wrong), that we gave a deposit, somewhere around $500 with our application, to the property management company. Once we were approved, we got the lease emailed to us, signed it, and sent it back with another $4K or so. (first, security, pet, cleaning, key, etc).

The keys were in a lock box when we got here.

Check out the management company who is asking for the money. I'm sure they will be found online, and you might even see reviews. But as long as they are legit (you can also probably find this out by calling the city or county), you should be fine. People move here all the time from all over the world. It may not be as conventional as we are used to in New England, but it's done all the time.

[Raiderman]

[threads merged]

One thing that's weird is them asking for money prior to you getting an application.. other than that, it seems fairly normal.

[Caltovegas]

Can you contact a local RE agent and pay them a fee to just see if the place is legit?

[tadtam]

They just had a newscast on renters getting scammed by people renting apartments they do not own.
I would be VERY skeptical..

[Raiderman]

Originally Posted by tadtam

They just had a newscast on renters getting scammed by people renting apartments they do not own.
I would be VERY skeptical..

I saw that, too. That's why I recommended doing some research on the company to whom the check is going. But the timeline and steps appear to be normal.

[jayway]

You don't name this organization or the rental property name/location so we can't really say if it is hot or not.

[ohhboy]

rent is reasonable and discount on top of that. You very luckie man!

[ddrhazy]

I'd do some research on them before sending a payment. Look up the property on clark county assessor's website. See who owns the property. Then see if the people you are talking to have an active realtor's license.

[MSchu]

this HAS BEEN a scam in the past... be careful OP.

Poker players coming in for the WSOP get scammed by this "deposit Scam" ever year.