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You can also visit USA.com, a website that compiles profiles of every city in the United States. The site's forum section even al- lows you to ask locals questions about everything from surrounding schools to the quality of nearby bass fishing. You should also search for online reviews of the management company (and specifi- cally the property manager) for the prop- erty you're thinking of renting in. While not everyone will have a web presence, most will have a page set up where you can read reviews from former tenants and get a feel for how it operates. Stave off rental scams It's important when renting a home sight unseen to make sure that you protect your- self from scammers. In one disturbingly common scam, per- petrators will try to rent out a home that they don't actually own. They collect the unsuspecting victim's deposit money and then vanish.This leaves the potential renter standing in front of a home that's already occupied. Five to six times a year I encounter the same sort of scammers. They pull my prop- erty description and photos from on-line and then make a new ad for the property and list it for half the price. They pull the owners name off of public tax records and make an email that appears to be from the owner. Interested renters contact the per- son and they then tell them that they are out of the country on a humanitarian mis- sion and to "just fill out the application and go by the property and look in the window" to see if you like it. After the potential ten- ants fill out the application the scammer then has their social security number. The tenants then may or may not go by and look at the property, if they do and they like it the scammer instruct them to send their security deposit to them and they will send them the keys. So now, they have the social security number and the money and they vanish. Beware. If you are unsure, at the very least, safe- guard yourself by asking for proof of own- ership of the property you're interested in renting. Do not mail money to an unverified person If a potential landlord asks you to wire money or send a money order prior to signing a lease walk away. These payment methods are the hallmark of scammers. If you wire money to a retail money transfer store such as Western Union, anybody with a fake ID can grab your cash and take off. Ditto with a money order. Always verify that the person you are doing business with is legit. Site unseen addendum Ask your potential landlord or management company if they will include a site unseen addendum in with the lease. This should specify that if there are any items (such as appliances) that are not working they will be fixed. Howevvver, it will not absolve you from the lease if you get to the property and asethically it is not what you expected. There are risks with renting site unseen, but there are also many ways to protect your- self if you put in a little extra work.