[Badger]

Got a great deal for the place I currently rent but my time here has come to an end. The landlord has finally gotten the permits and loan to rebuild the place. So I have started my search for a new pad and I may have found one in Renton. "Deep detached gar, spacious 800 sq.ft shop w/separate electrical panel & new roof. Lovingly cared for home features gleaming hardwood flrs & a light-filled living rm. Well designed kitchen features granite countertops." House is small - not tiny. My question is this- This seems like a deal to good to be true. I am not familiar with the Renton area so it may be right. But 600 bucks for a house and work shop? hmmm. Question- is there/how do , find out if this is a scam. Thoughts? Thanks in advance.

[nuclear_eggset]

Go there in person. See if you can find out anything from the neighbors? I'm with you, $600/mo for a 800sq.ft. shop in addition to a house (which I assume is at least as large) seems highly suspect for nearly all of Renton. (Zillow doesn't list much under $1000: http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_rent/Renton-WA/house,condo,apartment,duplex,townhouse_type/13480_rid/paymenta_sort/47.565871,-121.929703,47.370687,-122.375679_rect/11_zm/, and yes, houses are there, but way higher in price.) Is this maybe a situation where you're really only renting out a single room, but you'll have access to the rest of the house?

[Magellan]

I've seen a lot of BS ads for inexpensive rentals on CL. I get the name and do a records search. If they don't match...

[Matt Lemke]

What part of Renton is it? I live in Renton and can say 600 bucks is reasonable if it's in the hood. Other parts of Renton are better so I would say it depends on the location.

[Randito]

FWIW: A CL Scam to be aware of is folks that will advertise a property for rent that they don't own. There are many variations of this type of scam -- but the basic idea is to collect 1st, last and deposit and then stop answering calls to the pre-paid cell phone number that they have now tossed. Sometimes they collect money from several people who are all a bit supriised when multiple sets of people start trying to move in. This particular scam was very popular a while back when there were many foreclosed and empty properties available. Getting a verifiable ID from the landlord and comparing it to the county records for the property seems wise. Zillow.com makes it pretty easy to lookup an address and then find the owner's identity in county records. Another form of the scam is to request your identity information so they landlord can perform a credit check -- and then use that information to open various credit accounts using you ID. This one is tricky to protect yourself from -- requesting some form of state issued ID from the landlord might help discourage scammers.

[Badger]

All Thanks for the responses. I cleared my cash and reloaded the ad- it was pulled. Scam as I figured. But this does expose a niche market... I would think that an RE agent could verify this relatively easy for an acceptable fee. Granted that most ad's are legit but there are scams out there. This one was pretty obvious- others not so much. It would be nice to have a business/service out there that a person could turn to in this type of instance. Right now- none exist. Just a thought. Off to the hunt.

[Bedivere]

[Bedivere]

I was only ten years off. Heck, we may have run into each other down there back then. I would've been the punk kid in the blue Firebird cruising up and down the beach or hanging out with a girlfriend at Me Kwa Mooks. My brother lived over on 54th, just a block or two off the beach and I'd hang out there a lot too.

[Cyclopath]