A Scam on Craigslist Taught Me Something

I just had a scam happen to me on Craigslist. One of my listings was posted as a rental. The contact person informed potential renters that the sellers were in Africa, and would rent it for only $700 (a house priced at $174,900).

While it took 3 days for Craigslist to finally take it off their site, I received about 60 calls from people wanting to take me up on the offer of inexpensive housing. They drove by and saw my real estate sign and called me directly. I have no idea how many more just went straight to the poster. Or sent them money as a deposit (time will tell).

What I learned was that Craigslist does get a ton of traffic from our area (I have just started using it), and also that that many people are looking for a rental. Our market is getting very tight for rental housing, and I have a feeling it is going to get worse.

It looks to me that if an investor wanted to cash in, now is the time to buy rental housing. What's it like in your market?

P.S. - The house is not for rent!