Is this some type of home rental scam?

[2QUIK6]

My wife inheritied a house along with her brother. It's been sitting empty for about 2 years, they just got control of it about 9-10 months ago.
2 days ago a gentleman calls inquiring about the house. It does need some trim repair on the outside, its a brick 3 bd rm house.
He asks if it is available to rent and says he can fix it up also that we do not have to worry about doing or paying for the repairs.
Says he's in a jam and needs to move very quickly and he will pay us $850/mo rent... I did not even throw any type of amount out, he just came out saying this. My research shows that is about right for this area the house is in.

Well the phone he called from matches the number he said to call him back at, but the name on the caller id is not the same, number comes back as a cell phone... I'm thinking if that's his cell number to call him back at, why is it someone elses name, he gave me his and his wife's name.
I try to call back the next day and I get a standard msg "This number is no longer accepting calls at this time".
He calls today from a number that I trace back to a bar. He claims he dropped his phone in some water and its not working....my wife did the exact same thing and hers rolls to her voicemail, not "I'm not accepting calls".

I Googled various scams and can't seem to find anything, I know I need to have any repairs done in writing as part of the contract so he can't put a repair lien on the house.
Any other ideas?
Thanks

 

[RIFF RAFF]

yep sure is !!

it starts all good .. then the repairs dont get done house gets messed up . it all ends with a lawyer telling you you have to pay to move them out .. because if the court gets involved it will take two years .. makes you fell warm at heart to help some one but dont get burned .. if you do it ..make it a month 2 month rental and you do the repairs to avoid court later.[ he said she said bullchit ] will get them time in your house for free. think ahead no one down on there luck is going to fix your house for free and pay rent ..scammers suck

 

[87GNSteve]

If they move in and make one payment and stop paying you, it may take a long time for the eviction process, use a Realtor to do a credit check on people you rent out to.

 

[usetaboost]

If it was me I would do what needs to be done to the house and sell it and move on.

 

[2QUIK6]

If it was me I would do what needs to be done to the house and sell it and move on.

Yeah, thats exactly what we were planning to do. I just talked to an old friend that rents commercial buildings and such and he said anyone that said they are "in a bind" and need to move quickly means they fell out of paying their current landlord no matter what their story is. A legit renter would have looked at the "for rent" ads rather than looking for a vacated home and wouldn't be calling from various places of business even if he did drop his cell phone in the water as to why it wasn't working.

All of these things I suspected, just needed a little comfirmation. Thanks!

 

[Gary Wells]

Rob:
I wouldn't touch that one with a 10 foot pole. As previously stated, fix it, sell it, and move on. However, if you decide to move on that other offer:
I'm in a bind, I need to move quickly, how soon can I move in? Don't worry about the repairs or paying for them and I'll pay you $ 850 a month rent means that I will probably do 1 repair just to get your attention & faith and I'll pay at least 1 month's rent, and you will play hell getting anything more out of the deal.

 

[87GNSteve]

Now is a bad time to sell.
A rental property is a great way to have additional income and a way great way to have a comfortable retirement. But it must be done right and carefully.

 

[tufbuick]

Gypsy's pull that sh!t all the time.

Move-in with a B.S. story, don't pay rent and ride on your free apartment until the court throws them out 6 months to a year later.

Stay FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR away from that dear, that is no deal.

 

[2QUIK6]

Now is a bad time to sell.
A rental property is a great way to have additional income and a way great way to have a comfortable retirement. But it must be done right and carefully.

Yep, kind of why its just been sitting right now. We have another property that is rented currently, it was a shack that needed tons of work. The guy wanting to move in was a friend of a friend, he supplied all of the materials to fix it up and fixed it up to make it livable before he even moved in, worked out great so far...but he was kind of a "known" person, he actually works for my friend, so we knew he had income.
That property was strictly commercial investment, never intended it to be lived in...but the commercial possibilities went south with the economy for now.

 

[2QUIK6]

Gypsy's pull that sh!t all the time.

Move-in with a B.S. story, don't pay rent and ride on your free apartment until the court throws them out 6 months to a year later.

Stay FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR away from that dear, that is no deal.

Good point, didn't even think of that, they travel in large groups and this is a pretty good sized house....I'm going to drive on over and make sure he is not camped out over there, he already had asked if he could stop by and walk around it...he hasn't called back for me to say no we are not interested any longer.

 

[turbo39151]

If you're going to be in the rental business be prepared for some issues... Everyone has a story... Tell the guy you need him to fill out an application with references (call and check the references), run a credit check and take a deposit. If he doesn't pay have him evicted... Pretty easy. No risk, no reward.