Travelers and renters beware because the number of fraudulent vacation homes is becoming popular day after day. Scammers have grown their skills and can now draft real estate agreements to lure you. This article will give you tricks and traps used by real estate scammers.  Read on

Too Good to Be True Deals

If the rent appears too good to be true, you might be dealing with scammers. Watch out for prices which are lower than those in the official listings. Many times the overly low priced is a scam. Genuine vacation homes are priced at par with other properties in the market.

Baits

Scammers post glamorous photos of vacation homes. They will display photos of modern kitchens, expansive rooms, spas and lavish pools. On showing interest in the mentioned houses, they will tell you that they are already sold out and will divert your attention to other less desirable properties. To be safe, ask for specific physical address and actual photos of the house. You can take it a notch higher by asking the agent to show you the property through tools like Skype or FaceTime.

Upfront Payments

Agents who ask you for security deposits are in many cases, scammers. They will ask you to make payments to save the house. They will have specific money transfer systems. If you must send money to book the house, use PayPal or credit card because you can open a refund claim with them.

No References

Scammers will not give you references. Many of them will claim that their previous renters want their privacy maintained hence they could not share their contacts. Others will provide you with contact details of their friends, who will pretend to have rented the house before.  Never rent an apartment without talking to the manager and asking for references. To get more details about them, go online and see what previous renters are saying about them.

Beware of Double Book Scam

This is when the agent rents the house to two different people. The person who arrives late is sent to another less quality house along multiple sincere apologies. To avoid such scam, make payments to agents with a refund scheme. This allows you to get your money back if the house you had booked is already taken. ..