Katerina1

Hi -

Does anyone have experience renting a flat through Facebook Marketplace? It looks a bit strange to be honest …

I am looking at Greater Manchester area and they show really nicely presented 3-bedroom flats going for 900 pounds per month.

I find it hard to believe as 2-bed standard looking flats are shown on Rightmove.com which is a trusted site.

Too good to be true maybe?

Many thanks for your thoughts !

Claire Crossley

I don't know about these listings specifically, but I'm sure you know the old saying that if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. Can you add a link?

Pollyana

Never heard of flat renting through marketplace, though I often use it for selling secondhand stuff. I do know that many people have been scammed by bogus rentals on Gumtree though, so I'd be very very careful.

Out of interest - Just had a peruse looking for flats in Brighton - immaculate 2 bed/2 bath on the seafront for 650 a month? Wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole. Sticking to the established agents has to be much safer.

Claire Crossley

Agree - probably it will go something like this: they will ask you for a deposit, to be paid online, before giving you the property details - and that'll be the last you hear from them.

Lion in Winter

Sometimes when you read more closely, or get more details, you discover that the stated rent is to rent a room in that house, not the whole house.

Moses2013

Well it's not as if £900 (€1,031) is cheap either. But I would agree to always verify the source.

penguinsix

I often found 'bargains' on sites like AirBnB were scams. One of the ways I did so was to take the image from the suspected scam site and do a Google Image Search on that image (i.e. upload and Google searches for similar images). I then found the exact same flat, with a reputable listing agency, at the 'real' price and that's how I was able recognize the bargain as a scam.

Katerina1

Thank you all for your answers!

Yes I also had a sense that some listings are too good to be true and therefore stayed away.

It is amazing that people can get away with taking deposits and disappearing , perhaps they don’t even operate from within the UK.

Either way will stick to Airbnb for short rentals and Rightmove.com for longer term rentals .

tdrinker

I saw a listing of apartments on Facebook when I was looking for an apartment to rent, but didn't pursue it as the rents were too low to be realistic - it had to be a scam.

Katerina1

Yes agreed , it looks a complete waste of time to be honest …