Advertising Vacation Home Rentals On Craigslist

Hello to all,

we are growing here at Villa Marketers , so much we’ ve hired many new staff members to help keep up with the demand of our needed services. As part of our training session this week I discussed how to advertise vacation rentals online with members of the new crew. The subject of advertising vacation rentals on Craigslist was discussed which is always one of the most interesting advertising websites we talk about.

Craigslist is a great place to advertise vacation rentals but it comes with its issues.

Because of these issues many owners and vacation rental managers refuse to use the free vacation rental website. I personally think they are missing opportunities for their rental business if Craigslist is not part of the advertising plan. However I do understand the reasons why owners and property managers prefer not to use Cragslist to advertise their properties. Craigslist is like the old wild west anything goes! Your competition can tear down your ads, you might get messages from an angry competitor (like I did), inquires from unqualified renters and of course the scammers.

If you decide to advertise your vacation home rentals on Craigslist be aware that you will eventually run across a scammer who has developed a strategy to try and take your money or worse. I’m certain vacation rental owners are falling victim to these scams because if they weren’t the scammers would quit trying.  This is why I wrote this blog, to share the dangers of advertising on Craigslist and to teach vacation home owners how to spot and avoid getting taken.

When you create an advert on Craigslist you have access to millions of travelers who may be interested in booking out your property.

Vacation rental scammers also are aware of this too and they hope to feed on your greed, ignorance and desire to rent your vacation home.

Below is the results of an experiment we ran at Villa Marketers to illustrate to our new staff members the scams that are out there on Craigslist.

I had posted a few vacation rentals on Craigslist and waited to receive a response from Craigslist. I finally did receive an “inquiry”  a few hours after posting the ads.

Here was what the first FAKE rental inquiry looked like:

Hello,i will like to know if you have october 26st ,27th ,and 28th available,i want you to get back to me with the cost and availabilities.

To the unsuspecting vacation rental owner this appears to be a legitimate vacation rental inquiry. However it isn’t.  As an example for the staff I sent a response to their inquiry letting them know that the vacation home is available for their requested dates.

Below is the the response we received back from the Craigslist scammer.

Hello,
Thanks for your email which was quite understood,moving date is 0ct
24th and departure time is Nov 1st,we have no pets and i do not smoke
neither my wife and we wont be coming with any of our kids we are
coming for our Wedding Holidays .We would really appreciate to have
your place for our convenience (Honey Moon)however, we would be
sending you certified check for the amount covering the rentals fee
and Agent fee along with the Check I hope i can trust you with my
Balance you will deduct your rent fee and send the rest to my agent
via money gram? for the nights as scheduled  let me know the total
cost. I would appreciate if you send me the following details to
proceed.

1.Your full name as it will be written on the check.
2.Full home or office address No P.O box for Ups express Delivery
3.Total amount covering the nights.
4.Office and home phone number for quick contact.

I would appreciate to have the above details so that the date can be
pen down are requested.I will patiently wait to read back from
you.Write my name Angelina Smith and Mark smith  on my Application
lease All the necessary document will be sign in person before we move
In to the Place.

My Best Regards.

Angelina Smith and Mark

This is a Craigslist scammer  attempting to defraud you and get you into criminal trouble.

This scammer is trying to offer you more money than your asking for your vacation rental rates and then forward the extra monies to their ‘agent” . This is an obvious scam no one sends more money than they have to, thats an easy point to spot.

Also look for the language the word ” move in”  this advertisement was for a vacation rental property not a residential one, so this word is a clue. They often tend to explain alot and talk to much. They say things like they are non smokers, no pets etc. They do this to get you to put your guard down and not to ask more questions in hopes you consider it to be safe to deal with them.

Be very careful when handling  any vacation rental inquires that emailed you through Craigslist.  On the other hand rental inquires you get thorough your own website directed there from Craigslist are a bit more trusted than those that are sent directly from the Craigslist website.

If you need help advertising your vacation rentals on Craigslist or on any online venue consider using the powerful advertising strategies of Villa Marketers. Marketing vacation rentals since 2005

Contact us today 407-749-8159

https://villamarketers.com