Looking to rent an apartment for 5 adults in July for 2 nights. I've found some great properties but... price seems too good to be true. How do I go about making sure they are legit? Any experience with short term vacation rentals in San Fransisco? We are very familiar with the city and want to stay near Chestnut street/Marina anyone have a lead on places to stay?

Have you considered looking at the apartment rentals on booking.com?

If the price seems too good to be true, then it is. Craigslist is definitely a buyer-beware platform. You have to really do your homework to find out if a listing is legitimate.

I don't know how you can be sure on Craig's List, november_moon put it perfectly. I know I wouldn't feel confident about it.

You should be able to check real estate records for ownership and see if names match and the property exists. Craig's list is a dice roll.

I would never rent a short term rental off craigslist especially if I wasn't so my local or could have someone go check it out. So many scams on craigslist – especially for vacation rentals, I would never take a chance.

Read this, SF has some limits on short term rentals:
https://shorttermrentals.sfgov.org/about

Check real estate records???? I mean OK saving money is fine but to have to DO that is IMO ridiculous, sorry.

It would be easy to do, but wouldn't actually prove anything, as you still wouldn't know if the person you're dealing with is who they say they are. If you can search records online, so can a scammer.

"Check real estate records???? I mean OK saving money is fine but to have to DO that is IMO ridiculous, sorry."

I agree that it is ridiculous, but pretty much anybody can post anything they want on Craigslist. The OP asked how one would know if a listing is legitimate and that is one way to get some information.

I thought it was pretty easy to find owners name on Trulia or Zillow or something but I mgiht be wrong.

Maybe your idea of cheap is different from mine as I don't see anything on there in that area for less than $4500 a month as a short-term rental.

But this agency advertises on there and has one for $5K so I would think that would be legit, I would hope an entire agency isn't a scam
http://www.jwavro.com/rental_details.php?id=87011174-0

However, I suspect you are going to find most rentals on there are really for a month or two if they are short-term, they may not even want someone for 2 nights.

You are rolling the dice with Craiglist in San Francisco.

The "offer" may be legit as far as the person offering the apt is concerned, but there is probably a 99% chance it is NOT legit as far as San Francisco "government regulators" are concerned. AirB&B & Homeaway is/are going-to-be complying with new rental regulations - but Craiglist is not. You'll have to hope that the owner has complied with the law (1% chance of that happening, IMO). You may get lucky for July because SF has not fully "staffed up" yet to police the new laws. But you could find a "locked door" if they do "zero in" on your apt.

Read jamie99's link to the new laws.

Stu Dudley

Personally, would not rent off Craigslist when there are other agencies that I have had good luck with. I have used Airbnb and booking.com with great success. With Airbnb, I have had lots of correspondence with the hosts or owners first, over a period of weeks or even months. I have also used VRBO with success.

While you're on Craigslist SF, let me know if my Spanish coin pendant w/ gold necklace is listed, which was stolen from our rental car there last November. (Halfway kidding)

I list bridges for sale on Craigslist.

Seriously, use something else. The piece of mind alone will be worth the $.