Stop the Scammers: 8 Ways to Spot Fake Homes for Rent Ads

Stop the Scammers: 8 Ways to Spot Fake Homes for Rent Ads

by Michelle Carr-Crowe, Top 5% San Jose real estate agent

When my phone started ringing off the hook with people calling about my San Jose Lynbrook High home for sale at 1197 Johnson Avenue in San Jose, I was thrilled.

Delight changed to confusion and then anger when I realized someone was using my San Jose Lynbrook High home for sale as bait to steal money from unsuspecting renters.

Apparently they keep changing the ads-so far, I've been told ads showing 1197 Johnson available were seen on Trulia, Craigslist, Yahoo, PadMappers and RealRentals.com. Essentially are offering the home at 40% below market rent, tell people we're having open homes daily, and even set up an account in my seller's name at Yahoo.com to make the deal seem more official.

Our local Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS(R) reported this has been happening to other homes for sale in Cupertino, West San Jose and Saratoga.

Here are the best ways to spot fake ads:

1) WAY Below Market Rent Price offered

2) Only want to truth their home to an ethical, God-fearing Christian/Muslim/Hindi family

3) Only way to contact them is via email & then snail mail

4) Mention another typical scam as the reason they are offering such a low rent:
     they are moving to/living in NIGERIA; 
     they won an OIL/GAS lease; 
     they INHERITED money from a distant relative in Ivory Coast or other African country; 
     they won a British/Canadian lottery; 
     they are partnering with a TOKYO/AFRICAN/NIGERIAN person formerly affiliated with the government and are helping them obtain unclaimed money, etc.

5) There is a real estate HOME FOR SALE sign in the front (NOT home for rent) 

6) They tell you to IGNORE the a real estate HOME FOR SALE sign in the front

7) They tellyou not to contact the agent (who's a "friend of theirs and understands they've made a change in plans"). 

8) They promise to mail you the keys upon you giving your word you ethically match their criteria and send your money - typically about $5,000.

Aloha & God bless you,

Michelle

Michelle C. Carr-Crowe, DRE #00901962, and the Get RE$ult$ Team (established by the late Judy Carr) are known as the "Lynbrook and Cupertino Schools Experts." Michelle is a creative catalyst for positive change in people's lives.She is a Silicon Valley-based multi-million dollar real estate consultant who works by referral only. Her designations include: Accredited Buyers Representative (ABR), Accredited Luxury Home Specialist (ALHS), Accredited Staging Professional (ASP), Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE),  Property Marketing Expert (PME), Real Estate CyberSpace Specialist (RECS), and Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES). In addition, she is an internationally-published freelance writer with over 1,000 traditional articles in print and online, as well as over 51,000 blog posts on Blogger, ActiveRain, MySpace, FaceBook, Realtor.com, Trulia, RealBird and others. She enjoys reading, traveling, animals, dancing, staging and praying. Check out her blog at www.activerain.com/results or visit her online at www.michellejudycarr.com or www.lynbrookhighhomes.com. For RE$ult$ ... Just Call ... (408) 252-8900.