Is craiglist vacation rentals legit?

[ViviTheMage]

I feel like I could easily get scammed, but they have some great prices in NYC - Chelsea area. I am only there for 3 days...and they offer a lot more for 100$~ then any hotel in the area could.

Anyone ever use them for vacation rentals, and have a successful outcome?

Some examples :

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/vac/1897925314.html

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/vac/1897962045.html

http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/vac/1897669305.html

 

[Newbian]

What's the worse that could happen...other then getting tied up and raped and then killed at those places?

If you log into that person's computer and their screen name is oldsmoboat I suggest you run away very fast.

 

[ViviTheMage]

What's the worse that could happen...other then getting tied up and raped and then killed at those places?

If you log into that person's computer and their screen name is oldsmoboat I suggest you run away very fast.

haha, anyone have a success story by using em?

 

[amdhunter]

What's the worse that could happen...other then getting tied up and raped and then killed at those places?

If you log into that person's computer and their screen name is oldsmoboat I suggest you run away very fast.

How could getting tied up and raped be a bad thing? ^_^

 

[Gothgar]

What's the worse that could happen...other then getting tied up and raped and then killed at those places?

If you log into that person's computer and their screen name is oldsmoboat I suggest you run away very fast.

it's far too late at that point

 

[EagleKeeper]

As long as they do not ask for a large deposit up front.

Also, investigate the place - possible verify the actual owner via property records to make sure that that is who you are in contact with.

If you are renting a rental; get a name and verify with the landlord that the person is legit.

if a rental agency - check with the BBB on their reputation. Use a commerically published phone number to contact the rental agency, not a provided phone over the internet.

Use common sense to ensure you are not scammed.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Is there a place I can check public property ownership records online?


This site seems to have a few, great places to rent :

http://www.airbnb.com

 

[AreaCode707]

We've rented from there several times. One place in southern Oregon was a GEM! Nicely decorated, high end, quiet and private, just overall charming. Another place in Vancouver BC was in a nice home, kinda "leftover" bedding and sparsely-furnished room but clean. Worth it for the cheap price since we mostly just wanted a place to crash in between exploring. No bad experiences yet.

 

[AnyMal]

I've used it last year to find a rental property in Gulf Shores and my family was very happy with our choice. We were going to return this year, but thanks to assholes at BP our vacation plans were totally screwed. Anyway, another good source for vacation rentals is vrbo.com

 

[Lifted]

A friend of mine has apartments in NYC that she and her husband rent out for short term stays. They have a cleaning crew, and the apartments are in nice neighborhoods in prime locations around the city. They advertise on craigslist.

There may be scammers out there, but i feel comfortable saying the large majority of short term stays in NYC are legit.

Doing some basic research you should be able to find out if they are legit and have been around a while.

EDIT: You should not contact the owner of the building, as Eaglekeeper suggested, without asking the advertiser if it is okay with them first. The mangers/owners of the the building may or may not be aware of what is going on, and even if they are, they may decide that 50 random calls per day asking about this one apartment is enough of a reason to decide the situation is not working for them anymore.

 

[EvilYoda]

airbnb's a good website - if you look back in the travel archives of the nytimes, they had a great article on rental vacation sites maybe 3-4 weeks ago.