How to avoid scam renting apt. on Craigslist being international student?

[omegamarkxii]

Hi guys,

 

Right now I'm trying to find an apartment to attend grad school this Fall (2014) in the States. I'm browsing places on Craigslist and found some pretty good deal. 

But since I'm not there, I can't meet the landlord or the poster in person. Would Skype meeting suffice? And a whole other things I haven't had experience doing like: paying the deposit, check other fees such as water, electricity, waste, etc.  

Has anyone been in this situation before? Any advice would be much appreciated! Thanks! 

[juilletmercredi]

I haven't been in this situation, but I think I would be wary of meeting on Skype.  It's only partially the person in question - it's also the space.  You want to see the space that you're renting.  While most postings on CL are legitimate, some are exaggerations and some are just plain scams.  I suppose this is doable in some cities but not others - I would never rent an apartment in NYC sight unseen, for example, as landlords and brokers often exaggerate on CL.

 

Is it possible for you to sublet something short-term (for a month or two) so you can hunt for more permanent housing in the area?

[omegamarkxii]

Thanks for your response! 

Most places I've seen require me to stay for at least 9 months. I haven't asked them if I could stay for short term so that I can hunt for more permanent housing though. I'll give it a try and look out for options like that! Thanks~

[surefire]

I would agree with jullietmecredi in that I wouldn't rent sight unseen.

 

Does your grad institution offer any housing? I know several international students in my institution who went with grad housing for the first year of their PhD and then segued into an apartment/house in the city. Grad housing is generally affordable, close to campus, offers the opportunity to get acquainted with the city and visit prospects in person, and also allows you to meet prospective room-mates (if you're amicable to that).

 

Alternatively, I know lots of institutions that "rent out" their undergrad residences in the summer either day-to-day or week-to-week. If that's an option, you could show up in mid-August and hunt for September 1, or something similar!

 

Just some thoughts! It also might be worth either touching base with an international student org in your institution or get your department admin to put you in touch with a current international student, to find out hat others have done. You're definitely not the first person to content with this dilemma, so you might as well glean info from the experiences of others!

 

Congrats and good luck on the impending move!

Edited April 29, 2014 by surefire

[geographyrocks]

I will most likely be renting site unseen.  If you don't want to live in campus housing, there are several options. 

 

To avoid renting site unseen:

1) Stay in an extended stay hotel for a week or so while you look for places.

2) Contact current grad students to see if you can maybe crash with them while you look for apartments

 

If you don't mind apartment complexs:

Google apartment reviews for each complex you look at it.  Google the rental company.  Look them up on BBB.  Use Google maps to go to a street view of the road to see what kind of environment it will be. 

DO NOT ever send money when requested through email.  You should definitely have either phone or skype contact with the rental company.  I don't know how popular it is to skype, but there's no harm in trying.

You can also contact current graduate students to see if they wouldn't mind looking at the apartment for you.

Citydata.com city forums holds a wealth of knowledge.  Definitely read some of the forums on there.  Create a thread and ask for opinions. 

Have you checked the city forum on here?  I bet other students have been in your shoes.

 

Renting a house or duplex:

This is where it gets tricky.  It is highly unadvisable to do this as it is hard to verify landlords that aren't rental companies.  Definitely have personal contact with them.  Google everything you can think in relation to the house: the address, the landlord's name, crime statistics by street, so on and so forth. 

 

Hope that helps!

[RomulusAugustulus]

All good advice you're receiving here, but to add some general advice about scams on craigslist (because I have heard of people actually falling for them):

1) Don't rent from anyone who emails you back with a response that says they are in Africa (or somewhere else out of the country) doing missionary work. This is a scam. 

2) It's best to only contact people on craigslist who post a phone number (though not having a phone number doesn't necessarily mean it isn't real.)

3) If the deal seems to good to be true, it probably is. Especially if the post is for a house. Try googling the address (if they provide it) often scammers steal photos of houses that are for sale and post them as cheap rentals. 

 

You can also check to see if your university has classified ads, which would likely be on the student website. I have gotten roommates this way, and have a friend who rented a place that way, sight unseen, and it was great. 

[geographyrocks]

I just found a great example!  It helps to spot scams if you've already looked at a lot of houses in the area so you know the going rental rate.

http://albuquerque.craigslist.org/apa/4448104627.html

 

Notice the low price of a 3 bed 2 bath: Scam.

 

Notice only one photo that looks like it came from a realtor magazine: Scam.

 

Notice all the funky shapes going on: Scam.

 

Notice that there is no address listed: Scam (this isn't always a scam. Some people prefer to put the intersecting roads instead of an address)

 

And finally

 

Notice the email address: DEFINITE SCAM

 

No one gives their email addresses on craigslist.  They use the default email craigslist gives. 

[omegamarkxii]

My school explicitly states that they don't have any more housing for grad students, that's why I have to look up and find off campus housing. I've never been in the situation so I'm quite nervous about it. 

Thank you guys so much for all the advice! They're definitely very helpful to me! 

Have a great day! 

[hj2012]

I agree that you shouldn't rent sight unseen. Does your school run an off-campus housing site where you could get in touch with other grad students looking for a roomie? That might be a safer way to go. 

 

I also echo everyone else who has suggested a short term stay (even a week in a motel!) to search for housing.

 

Good luck to you!

[IRToni]

Me and some friends I know have moved into places sight unseen. I skyped with the person, had her show me around the apartment. I did, however, find this nit via something like Craigslist, but via a much more limited email list, where I could be reasonably safe, I would say. I also did not have to put down a deposit. Some friends of mine have rented places sight unseen via Craigslist, though, and it worked out for them, though it was only short-term. In Europe, you can get back any money you transfer to someone else's account within 4 weeks, which makes this somewhat easier than in the states, from what I heard. I did the same thing when I moved to India, also not paying a deposit (my excuse was: too complicated to make an international transaction), and it was fine. I did have him send me a copy of his passport and vice versa.

Otherwise, if it is necessary to rent unseen, I would 1 trust your instincts, 2 make sure you don't pay all the deposit up-front (they usually want something, but if they want first and last months rent, I would walk away), 3 have a Skype conversation with the person renting it out where they show you around the place ideally. I would also make sure that any contract you sign is legit, and allows you to leave in a reasonable amount of time, in case you find the place doesn't suit you. Most of the time, scammers do not want to take the time to Skype with you etc., so if they're very reluctant, just leave it be. Also, better to walk away from a potentially good deal than to deal with not getting your money back etc.

[omegamarkxii]

I agree that you shouldn't rent sight unseen. Does your school run an off-campus housing site where you could get in touch with other grad students looking for a roomie? That might be a safer way to go. 

 

I also echo everyone else who has suggested a short term stay (even a week in a motel!) to search for housing.

 

Good luck to you!

 

My school does have an off-campus housing office where I can contact, I contacted them and haven't got any reply yet. I'll keep you guys updated if I find anything! 

Thanks very much! 

[juilletmercredi]

I don't post my phone number on CL when I list rooms, but I will respond in an email by giving them my phone number.  I don't want spam callers or weird unsolicited calls.  I also NEVER put my exact address on CL when I listed my totally legit place.  I didn't want random strangers showing up at my apartment.  I put cross-streets so they could get a sense of where it was located and scope it out on Google Maps.  So I wouldn't say those things are red flags, necessarily.

Also, depending on your city, first and last month's rent might be standard.  It is in mine.  I wouldn't pay all of that until the first day, though.  I might give them first month's rent ahead of time and agree to pay security (and last month's if they request) on the first day of the lease when I arrived.

[reinhard]

Someone should make a "is this ad a scam or not" thread.

 

 

All good advice you're receiving here, but to add some general advice about scams on craigslist (because I have heard of people actually falling for them):

1) Don't rent from anyone who emails you back with a response that says they are in Africa (or somewhere else out of the country) doing missionary work. This is a scam. 

2) It's best to only contact people on craigslist who post a phone number (though not having a phone number doesn't necessarily mean it isn't real.)

3) If the deal seems to good to be true, it probably is. Especially if the post is for a house. Try googling the address (if they provide it) often scammers steal photos of houses that are for sale and post them as cheap rentals.

 

1) why is that?

Edited May 8, 2014 by reinhard

[danieleWrites]

If you're an international student, get in contact with the school's office for international students. You aren't the first person to have this problem! If nothing else, they will be able to put you in contact with people who can help you search for housing. Many schools have an off campus housing office, or at least person, who handles available listings for such accommodations. Further, if you make contacts with people who either are international students or work with international students (many universities have local students as ambassadors or helpers), you already have someone you know before you get there.

I'm not a Craig's List fan, so I would never use it. However, I've yet to find a town that has a university large enough for a graduate program that doesn't have a newspaper. Look for the local newspaper online and look at their classified ads. You may have to pay a bit for a peek. Many of the larger towns are serviced by real estate websites that will look for rentals for you. I've never used one, so I have no recommendations, but a few that I'm aware of are zillow.com, rent.com, hotpads.com. There are many more.

Many people don't think of this, but you can contact a real estate agent in the area. Realtor offices are often property managers for various rentals.

A final thing to consider is finding your ethnic community or an ethnic community of your neighbors in the town you're moving to. America is the melting pot because we have communities from everywhere! Even if you aren't religious, you can find help from the local churches, mosques, temples, synagogues, and so on. They have contacts in the community that they can put you in touch with. You can use yellowpages.com and look for churches or worship services. These communities take care of each other. They may help you for free, or they may ask for donations, or they may charge for services, but they may help. If nothing else, you have a contacts with people who understand your culture before you even get on the plane. I worked for a Korean family for a while and for a month or so every August they would have a couple of university students live with them until they could find their own place to live. It was in one of the more expensive locations in the US.

[RomulusAugustulus]

 

1) why is that?

 

It's just a classic craigslist scam. They send an email telling you that they are doing missionary work in Africa (to make them sound trustworthy) and they tell you there isn't anyone to show you the place and they can't send you the exact address because there are still people living there (um, yes, in fact they probably own the place!) or in an even creepier version they say you can go 'peek through the windows'. Then they try to make people send them a deposit first month, etc. and they will mail you the keys (because for some reason they took the keys to Africa and didn't leave them with a friend who could show their apartment?). Anyway like I said it is just a classic cglst scam. If you email 10 ads you'll probably get at least two of these emails. The worst part is people actually do fall for these. Often the price of the apt/house is really just way too low for what is is as well, which is a tip off.