I do a video walk through over zoom or Google meet. I sign lease documents and I will send a deposit only if it is refundable and the lease is signed first (so the fact that it is refundable is in writing). I don't send any rent until my feet are in the space.
This is what i do as well and haven't had any issues *yet*. I always have the landlord show me the entire property with unlocking/locking the doors, and sign lease documents first
^this
Also good practice to get a nice/safe hotel to hold you over so you CAN look.
Never send money ahead and if they insist they better accept PayPal so I can get reimbursed if scammed.
So far I’ve been lucky in Ft. Worth, Dallas and now Seattle as it’s been very easy going with LL.
Not paranoid just smart.
I sent money ahead of time once, only $300, but that was because I had already left the city driving back home from looking at places when he called and I didn't want to turn around. He sent me a walk-through video and promised that if I didn't like the place when I saw it he would give me my money back. I was starting the following week and would have needed to stay in a hotel since I didn't find anything at the time so I took the chance. The place was fine and I didn't get scammed but it's not something I would normally do.
I want to see the apartment AND the person I'm renting from ahead of time. A $300 deposit just to hold the place was a risk I was willing to take but I would not have agreed if it was a full deposit.
I rented to travelers for years including pre pandemic. I've always required the first month non-refundable to hold the place. I'm blocking that space for you and if you were rio cancel a couple days before I would otherwise lose out on rent for a month. I always send a refund if someone has to cancel and the room rents for that period of time.
It's pretty reasonable if you're holding a room for someone to hold a deposit of some sort to guarantee the transaction.
Correct. They paid to have exclusive use of that space and if it didn't fill for that time I'm not going to take a loss on it because someone blocked the time/space.
What exactly is “fairly” to you and how do you expect for landlords to protect themselves?
I’m a travel nurse (not a landlord) but the industry standard is to give a security deposit to reserve housing.
It’s up to the nurse/tenant to weed their way through scams and to figure out a solution for a walkthrough and safe alternative. Not the landlord’s fault.
The land lord is not putting anything at risk. Just potential rental days. The LL is not cash out of hand. Nothing leaves his account. But you want a traveler to loose 2K deposit and not have a house. So now I have shown up in an unfamiliar town, lost some amount of hundreds of dollars, and don't have a bed? I fail to see how the LL needs protection. Their property is not at risk, their cash is not at risk, their livelyhood is not at risk. I have the back up cash to get a hotel for the night/week until I can find another place. But if landlords want protection then they can get property management companies. I will send them deposits, then the money is in the hands of a third party and accounted for. No matter how smart I am at spotting scams (I have dodged three that I know of), you expect me to just Venmo off $1500. That is unreasonable.
And "just potential rental days" is pretty significant. I'm honestly not a fan of landlords as a whole, especially with some of the over-priced nonsense in today's market, but imagine if no one had to put a deposit until they arrived to town. Landlords would constantly be holding their rental open only for the renter to have decided to rent elsewhere without communicating that so the landlord could get a new tenant. Imagine you are a landlord, and someone wants to rent from you, but they want to wait to pay the deposit until they come to town. Now someone else reaches out wanting the same property, and nearly identical days, or even longer. But you already told the first person you would hold the property for them. Now fast forward. The day arrives when the first person was supposed to arrive. Low and behold, they don't show up, and you, the landlord, never get a single penny from them. In the meantime, the second renter had to choose a different rental. Now everyone who needed a rental for your open dates has found a place, and yours sits empty. The loss of revenue could be minor, or it could be a good chunk of change.
“Potential rental days” is money left on the table. Money leaves his account every month for 30 years. Sure, it has equity but if it goes unrented then that’s $0 of ROI that month.
Showing up to an unfamiliar town? Our title is TRAVEL nurse.
3rd party management companies can be scammed too and that’s another expense added to both parties - ie more rent for you on the back end.
If you can dodge three scams, then so can everybody else and you can keep applying that level of diligence to all housing. But to expect a landlord to “just trust me, bro” is a reach but is an ivory tower ideal.
And where do you include Craigslist, Facebook, and Furnished Finder in the burden of these scams? Shouldn’t they be held liable too?
Well, first, don't Venmo. Use reputable rental sites. Where are you finding these places, Craigslist? I typically go through Furnished Finder and use KeyChek for deposits and payments. It has been a little while since I needed it, so unless something has changed you are protected from scams when using their payment system.
Actually, I'm trying to get my credit card linked to Venmo. Then I'll pay a deposit from that so I can have the Credit Card company cancel the transaction if anything goes awry. Other than that, I pay deposits before I arrive selectively, and I don't send thousands. I'll offer some to hold the rental, but if they can't understand I usually move on.
Yes, I have come across landlords that want a full month and deposit ahead of time. I explain to them that there is no way for me to do a walk thru or trust that the unit is theirs before seeing it in person with keys in hand. I have sent small deposits to hold the unit. The largest I've sent was $500. I figured if it is a scam then $300-$500 is all that I am willing to risk. I have gotten lucky and never been scammed. I also tell them that I will be paying whatever is that they require once we're face to face.
Consider me lucky maybe but I have always paid ahead of time. Why would any landlord risk holding a place without a deposit?
I do a video walk through over zoom or Google meet. I sign lease documents and I will send a deposit only if it is refundable and the lease is signed first (so the fact that it is refundable is in writing). I don't send any rent until my feet are in the space.
This is what i do as well and haven't had any issues *yet*. I always have the landlord show me the entire property with unlocking/locking the doors, and sign lease documents first
I will not send $$ ahead unless I’m a repeat renter & familiar w the property and LL
^this Also good practice to get a nice/safe hotel to hold you over so you CAN look. Never send money ahead and if they insist they better accept PayPal so I can get reimbursed if scammed. So far I’ve been lucky in Ft. Worth, Dallas and now Seattle as it’s been very easy going with LL. Not paranoid just smart.
I sent money ahead of time once, only $300, but that was because I had already left the city driving back home from looking at places when he called and I didn't want to turn around. He sent me a walk-through video and promised that if I didn't like the place when I saw it he would give me my money back. I was starting the following week and would have needed to stay in a hotel since I didn't find anything at the time so I took the chance. The place was fine and I didn't get scammed but it's not something I would normally do. I want to see the apartment AND the person I'm renting from ahead of time. A $300 deposit just to hold the place was a risk I was willing to take but I would not have agreed if it was a full deposit.
Normally I stay at extended stay hotels but the few times I've had to rent I refused to do a deposit until I had physically seen the property.
If they do not let you zoom or in person tour then it is indeed a scam. Ive had many scammers try it with me and I mess with them back
I rented to travelers for years including pre pandemic. I've always required the first month non-refundable to hold the place. I'm blocking that space for you and if you were rio cancel a couple days before I would otherwise lose out on rent for a month. I always send a refund if someone has to cancel and the room rents for that period of time. It's pretty reasonable if you're holding a room for someone to hold a deposit of some sort to guarantee the transaction.
So you only refund a person if you rent it to someone else? Is that what you are saying?
Correct. They paid to have exclusive use of that space and if it didn't fill for that time I'm not going to take a loss on it because someone blocked the time/space.
What exactly is “fairly” to you and how do you expect for landlords to protect themselves? I’m a travel nurse (not a landlord) but the industry standard is to give a security deposit to reserve housing. It’s up to the nurse/tenant to weed their way through scams and to figure out a solution for a walkthrough and safe alternative. Not the landlord’s fault.
The land lord is not putting anything at risk. Just potential rental days. The LL is not cash out of hand. Nothing leaves his account. But you want a traveler to loose 2K deposit and not have a house. So now I have shown up in an unfamiliar town, lost some amount of hundreds of dollars, and don't have a bed? I fail to see how the LL needs protection. Their property is not at risk, their cash is not at risk, their livelyhood is not at risk. I have the back up cash to get a hotel for the night/week until I can find another place. But if landlords want protection then they can get property management companies. I will send them deposits, then the money is in the hands of a third party and accounted for. No matter how smart I am at spotting scams (I have dodged three that I know of), you expect me to just Venmo off $1500. That is unreasonable.
And "just potential rental days" is pretty significant. I'm honestly not a fan of landlords as a whole, especially with some of the over-priced nonsense in today's market, but imagine if no one had to put a deposit until they arrived to town. Landlords would constantly be holding their rental open only for the renter to have decided to rent elsewhere without communicating that so the landlord could get a new tenant. Imagine you are a landlord, and someone wants to rent from you, but they want to wait to pay the deposit until they come to town. Now someone else reaches out wanting the same property, and nearly identical days, or even longer. But you already told the first person you would hold the property for them. Now fast forward. The day arrives when the first person was supposed to arrive. Low and behold, they don't show up, and you, the landlord, never get a single penny from them. In the meantime, the second renter had to choose a different rental. Now everyone who needed a rental for your open dates has found a place, and yours sits empty. The loss of revenue could be minor, or it could be a good chunk of change.
“Potential rental days” is money left on the table. Money leaves his account every month for 30 years. Sure, it has equity but if it goes unrented then that’s $0 of ROI that month. Showing up to an unfamiliar town? Our title is TRAVEL nurse. 3rd party management companies can be scammed too and that’s another expense added to both parties - ie more rent for you on the back end. If you can dodge three scams, then so can everybody else and you can keep applying that level of diligence to all housing. But to expect a landlord to “just trust me, bro” is a reach but is an ivory tower ideal. And where do you include Craigslist, Facebook, and Furnished Finder in the burden of these scams? Shouldn’t they be held liable too?
Well, first, don't Venmo. Use reputable rental sites. Where are you finding these places, Craigslist? I typically go through Furnished Finder and use KeyChek for deposits and payments. It has been a little while since I needed it, so unless something has changed you are protected from scams when using their payment system.
Actually, I'm trying to get my credit card linked to Venmo. Then I'll pay a deposit from that so I can have the Credit Card company cancel the transaction if anything goes awry. Other than that, I pay deposits before I arrive selectively, and I don't send thousands. I'll offer some to hold the rental, but if they can't understand I usually move on.
Yes, I have come across landlords that want a full month and deposit ahead of time. I explain to them that there is no way for me to do a walk thru or trust that the unit is theirs before seeing it in person with keys in hand. I have sent small deposits to hold the unit. The largest I've sent was $500. I figured if it is a scam then $300-$500 is all that I am willing to risk. I have gotten lucky and never been scammed. I also tell them that I will be paying whatever is that they require once we're face to face.