I recently had a posting on Craigslist for a beautiful home for sale in Denver’s Stapleton neighborhood.
Scammers decided to hijack my Craigslist “Home for Sale” advertisement and repost it as a rental property – oh, and they advertised it at a ridiculously low rental rate for the home and for the neighborhood. You see, they were missionaries looking for someone to care for their home while they were doing good deeds across the globe…just wire your hard earned money to X as a deposit and the home will be yours for the year. Heavy sarcasm on the last sentence…
Coincidentally, I held an open house on this property, which must have been minutes after the scammers, reposted the listing as a home for rent. In this instance, I had not advertised the open house.
The good folks of Denver, who showed up at the home and saw the home for sale yard sign as well as me holding it open, recognized immediately that this was a scam. This was an amazing testimony to the goodness of Denverites – they started flagging the posting as fraudulent on their PDAs. They came into the open house to let me know something was rotten in Denmark. This continued for days – Denverites tracked down my cell phone and alerted me to the scam.
So, what to do? As a listing agent I use this lesson to educate home sellers as to the possible risk of posting on Craigslist. It is a tough decision as Craigslist does drive traffic to home listings and to open houses. On the other hand, think about renters showing up at your door ready to move-in who are unaware that they are victims of a scam.
One more caveat: If you are searching Denver rentals on Craigslist (or anywhere) be warned and do your homework on rental rates for the area. Meet the folks renting the property in person and don’t wire anything until you are positive as to the authenticity of their right to rent.
Technology is a beautiful tool when selling homes – don’t let opportunists ruin these tools – just keep your eyes wide open. Interested in additional real estate scams? Check this out: Can you name this Denver real estate scam?
Please feel to contact me with any of your Denver real estate questions.
Michelle A. Potter
Denver Realtor
RE/MAX Professionals
