Have you ever wanted to take a chance on someone?

[Tobin S.]

I have a small condo that's been sitting empty since last April. I've been trying to to sell it outright, sell it on land contract, or lease it. I've been open to any kind of offer. No dice. Not one offer for anything in over 9 months.

It's not in a bad area. It's in good shape. I replaced the carpet and painted the place. Everything in it is operable. In short, there is not a damn thing wrong with the place. Just move your stuff in and you're good.

My realtor says that since the condo only has one bedroom it makes it a tougher sell in an already tough market.

Anyway, I was looking on Craigslist today at the housing wanted ads on the off chance that I night run across a potential deal and I saw a couple of ads that intrigued me. One is from an out of work carpenter who is currently homeless. He has his own work truck and tools and I guess that's what he's living in right now. My bleeding heart instincts kicked in immediately. I got to thinking and it's in the middle of winter around here and there probably isn't much work for carpenters. But here in a couple of months it will probably be easy for this guy to find work. So, a 14 month lease, first two months free plus electric paid for the first two months. My place is probably going to be sitting empty for at least that long so it really isn't hurting me to let the guy have it for free for a couple of months. He gets in out of the cold and has running water.

I also saw an ad for another person that appears to be down on his or her luck. They were seeking an apartment like mine in the area where it is located. The catch is that their rent will be subsidized by a local charity that helps former addicts and alcoholics get back on their feet. It's for a good cause and my money would be at least partially guaranteed every month, but at the same time I know that person living there is coming with some baggage.

Do you think either one of those deals sound good? Or would you just let it ride?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Life is full of risks, my dear Tobin!

Either one of those sounds good to me. I'd surely explore them.

You need to get someone into your condo, and both these people need a place to live.

I would not let it ride; I'd get busy talking to either one, or both of them.

Good luck!

[Manifestor_of_Light]

2. Free legal advice: Whatever you do, get it in writing.

To quote Samuel Goldwyn: An oral contract isn't worth the paper it's printed on.

[Tobin S.]

3. 10-4. There will be a contract on any kind of deal.

I have a property manager who will keep me on the straight and narrow.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

8. Great. Property managers are quite useful.

[we can do it]

4. Good luck with anything on crazilist.

There are way more scammers there than legitimate deals.
People have been killed by craigslist kooks, "just sayin".

I'd probably do it if it was someone I knew, otherwise be very careful.

[KMOD]

5. agreed

My one and only experience with craigslist was when I was looking for a used truck for my son. Never again.

[Tobin S.]

6. I think that depends on where you are looking

I can usually spot the scams fairly easily. Where I live, over half of the job postings are scams and a good chunk of the cars for sale are scams as well. As far as real estate deals go, there are a lot of ways you can protect yourself and I have a property manager who knows how to do that.

What it basically comes down to is a greater risk of default and a greater possibility of having to evict someone from where I'm looking at it. Out of a desire to have some kind of deal on the place would I be taking an inappropriate risk? That's the main deal right there.

[we can do it]

7. I don't. Bad checks used to secure property who then let someone else move in.

There are people running this in at least 5 states for nearly 30 years- all nice homes, con man who looks like he just walked out of a country club.

[Tobin S.]

10. I didn't just fall off the turnip truck

Background checks. Credit checks. Reference checks. You just don't let someone have a place without checking them out. I've leased the place twice and I have all kinds of legal paperwork covering my ass plus a property manager who knows way more about real estate deals than I do. That's how you do it.

[we can do it]

14. OK I won't bother trying to help you. You already know everything.

[Tobin S.]

15. I clearly know more than you and I don't need your help.

[we can do it]

16. Clearly wtf

[we can do it]

17. Oh right you were driving the turnip truck.

[Tobin S.]

18. Truck driving is honorable work. Do you have a problem with that?

[we can do it]

19. No, I have family members who drive.

Most of them however aren't know-it-alls who bash people who try to help them. But you clearly know everything about everyone and everything. Have a nice life

[Tobin S.]

21. I wouldn't be giving you a hard time if you didn't deserve it.

That's what happens when you treat people like they are stupid.

[Sanity Claws]

28. The people you described will probably fail these checks

but still may be good risks.
I see the unemployed homeless carpenter as failing a credit check. The former addict will fail a background check; she may have a criminal record.
However, both may still be worth taking a chance on. The reference checks may be the most important.

[elleng]

23. I've found 2 good rentals on craigslist,

one a nice apartment and the other my fabulous cottage, 2 very nice landlords.

Use your best judgment, of which I know you have a lot, Tobin. and if you really think there'll be good work for the carpenter in the not too distant future, I'd go with that one.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

9. Ask for a certified check or cashier's check, not a personal check.

Solves that problem of rubber checks.

[Tobin S.]

11. Yes. There are some very easy ways to avoid scams.

One of them is to have an experienced property working for you which I do.

[olddots]

12. are realators not interested at all ?

if not you are going to have to qualify people yourself which you could be very good at or not .

[Tobin S.]

13. I have it listed with a realtor who is also my property manager.

The problem is that no one wants to live in the place. At least not enough to make some kind of offer on it. No one is even looking at it and it is advertised in every way imaginable.

[NightWatcher]

20. Would you be upset if it got trashed and the payments stopped?

If so, I'd stay away. Don't risk more than you are willing to lose.

[mackerel]

22. The only thing that might attract a good tenant is to lower the price point a bit.

That's what I had to do and even then I got one good tenant for 15 months. Once his credit scores moved up he moved to a place with a pool. The second tenant has never once paid the rent on time even with a credit for the tenant taking care of the yard work themselves.

[PasadenaTrudy]

24. I've never had one bad experience

with CL. Bought and sold many cars, rented out my apts. Its just people, use common sense.

[rug]

25. You'll probably get screwed. Do it anyway.

Your instincts are good. You'll do something good for someone, even if they blow it. In the end it's only money.

[mnhtnbb]

26. I use CL to advertise our studio garage apartment

and never had a problem finding a tenant--but it's walking distance to the UNC campus and on
a dead end (quiet) street.

I've also bought and sold stuff on CL--never a problem.

It's a useful service, but you have to do your work to check out whether people are reliable
and can be trusted. It doesn't hurt that in our case, the apartment is above our garage--in other words,
we're right here all the time--so we can keep tabs on the place. I think one of the risks you might face
is having someone move another person in--off the lease--doubling up the wear and tear on your apartment,
if your property manager isn't on top of the tenant once he moves in.

[BlueJazz]

27. I'd go with the Carpenter. Just because he's probably cold as an ice cube as I type these words.