Late Friday night, baby in the crook of my arm, bottle in one hand and phone in the other I found myself scrolling Facebook Marketplace (as one does) and was surprised to come across some familiar photos – those of a property I had recently listed and sold on the Esplanade.
Wondering what this could be, I clicked in to see a listing with the property apparently up for rent. That’s INTERESTING I thought to myself, given its owner occupied and about to be handed over in a few weeks. Even more interesting? It hadn’t been posted by the seller, nor by an overeager new owner. Potentially even worse – it was listed for rent at a bargain price half the market rate, in fact not far off what would be the daily rate of that home.
Now luckily I had a pretty intimate knowledge of that property and could identify a bad smell on the listing from a quick glance but what if you were desperately looking for a home and came across what looked like the holy grail of rentals? Beautiful home, great location, and dirt cheap! At best, the unsuspecting clicker could open themselves up to a new range of spam across their social media, at worst there could be risks of being sent malicious links or being duped into transferring money in advance for a property that doesn’t exist – or in this case, one that does exist but that certainly isn’t being offered for rent.
Social media can be a fantastic tool for finding that new couch or pre-loved tinny, and certainly has its place in property sales and rentals, but consumers need to make sure they do their online hunting with eyes wide open.
To start off, check the photos for an agency watermark and try and match the name to those advertising it – often it could be the real estate agent posting, but this is an easy first check. If there is an address, do a quick Google search too – you can see if its been listed from a sale listing or otherwise smells fishy from that. Next, look at what else the person is listing, and whether this is their only post (repeated 15 times), for another red flag. Don’t give out your personal information, and NEVER transfer money in advance. Meet in person where you can (and do extra homework where you can’t).
And if it looks too good to be true? Well, you know the drill.