I’m having literally the same issue. Or the ones that are legit, you try to get a showing but someone already got the apartment within 24hrs

There's been so little new construction over the last 10 years and population has grown. New developments in progress but the crunch makes people desperate and the scams easier as a result.

I preface this by saying i dont have any immediate suggestions that you havent already probably looked into. But what are you looking for? Size, price range, location?

Simply put, there's insane demand and low supply. Manchester has a rental vacancy rate of around 0.5%, meaning that at any given time approximately 99.5% of apartments are occupied or being transitioned to a tenant. A healthy and balanced rental market is around 5% vacancy and we are significantly outside of that. Another factor is many people who were receiving hotel room assistance are about to lose it in a few days and they are frantically looking as well.

Most towns in the state have made it very challenging over the last few decades to build multi-family housing, leaving the few cities we have to bear the burden of housing everyone else. There are ~1,400 apartments and condos under construction or permitted at the moment within Manchester, but the pain will be felt for at least the next few years as people continue to move to New Hampshire for the lack of income tax, quality of life, and other factors.

We need at least a 2 bedroom, under $2400 with dogs allowed. We don't care where as long as it is in a safe neighborhood, and not in a huge complex...

Couldn't have put it better myself.

You want to own a pet? As a renter? In the Live Free or Die state?

You got guts, kid. Freedoms are for property owners.

How do you know they are scams? I see a lot of rental listings right now and just curious, want to avoid the scams!

Often times the exact same listing posted by multiple people, usually for different prices or you reach out and never hear anything back.

We have lived in the same place for 16 years. We have had our dog for 13 years. We aren't going to give her up when she only has a few years left. We weren't expecting to move for a couple more years, after she had passed.

The first one, we paid an application fee to someone other than the person i was texting. (which i did get refunded btw), we get to the place for a tour, the person i was texting isn't there. he wants me to VENMO him $1800 BEFORE i even see the place. NOPE. We left immediately.

The 2nd one, we saw it on a bunch of sites, and it was the same number and name on all the ads...We get to the place at the time we were supposed to meet and the house still has someone living in it.

My napkin math and google skills indicate there are about 250 total unoccupied units in the city right now.

I thought you would assume the /s on my statement. My bad. Of course you shouldn't give up your dog.

NH is a terrible state to rent in. I've lived in multiple states and a handful each of private and commercial properties and I've never signed a longer lease with more restrictions than in good old live free or die NH. I also met my number one slimiest landlord in Manch.

It's a downright terrible place to rent. I can't recommend it at all.

It all started when people turned basic human rights into "investments"

Respectfully, if your budget is $2400 or lower why not look to buy a home, townhouse, condo etc.?

$2400 for a 2BR? That's EXPENSIVE. What were you paying before? Are you looking for long term rental?

If it's a house with lots of pictures, especially if the price seems really good, do an image search and see if the house was recently listed for sale on a real estate site.

I nearly got scammed by two of these when I moved here three years ago... The scammers took pics from houses that had recently been sold, then listed them on Craigslist for rent.

I found a bunch of other fake listings once I realized what was up. The scammers aren't even local - one wanted me to send money to a residential address in Houston, TX. I can only imagine this has gotten worse in the last couple years.

Hi, Brady Sullivan probably has a property for you. They are pet-friendly, in your budget, etc. Definitely give them a try! Feel free to PM me for more questions.