Since this thread seems to be the place to share scams that are going around;
I saw a house listed for rent on Facebook Marketplace. The price was significantly lower than similar options. The exact address was not listed, but when I showed the pictures to my wife she recognized the pictures as a house that had been listed
for sale on Zillow a few days earlier.
I sent a message to the guy who posted, asking to schedule a time for me to see the house. He responded giving me an email address to contact if I am interested.
I sent an email asking to see the house (without mentioning the Zillow listing), and got a response saying (edited for clarity);
1 - he was planning on selling the house but the agent was cheating him by renting it out for more than they agreed and not sending him the money. Once he has a tenant, the "For Sale" sign will be taken down.
2 - He is not dealing with agents anymore because they are bad people. I should only deal with him directly and I don't need to speak to the agent because what they will tell me is garbage.
3 - He can't show me the house, because the viewing session finished. He moved out of town because of his job and because his wife is very sick. I am free to go myself and look at the house (presumably just the outside) and tell him if I want to go ahead.
4 - If I decide to rent it, he is fine with me paying monthly or all upfront. Once I agree he will figure out how to get the key to me.
5 - They need a responsible tenant who will take care of things on their own, and that is why the rent is so cheap.
As an aside, the name that came up on his email was different that the first guy and also not the name that was included in the email. The person listed as the owner on the county registry was not the same as any of the people I contacted.
