Also, be careful of the scam where they send you a larger check and you deduct the monies and return the rest.....BOOM their check bounces and they already have your cash too,

craigslist is filled with tons of agent ads, overpriced owner properties and aspiring wholesalers trying to get you on their buyers list .It is also sprinkled with some overseas scams and an occasional deal might be found.

(He lives in same building as landlord)My concern is I'm reading a lot of scams on how Chicago tenants try to work the system and the landlord is stuck in a battle for months.

I'm always extra cautious from any lender online, due diligence is important...Originally posted by @Jay Hinrichs:that sounds too good to be true frankly.. caution unless this is a personal friend or family member if its a private lender you met on line.. good chance you will lose any up front money you give them too good to be true terms from on line lenders or someone posting on facebook linkdin  or BP  ( on BP they will send you a PM)many times are fake.. and just want your up front fee and as much as they can squeeze out of you.usually they need 500 up front or something like that for an app fee.. they string you along and then right before closing all of  a sudden they need a grand or two.. then you send that in then they say there is a problem with the file we cant close sorry bout that. and you have formally been scammed. 

THIS IS NO GIMMICK OR SCAM....

Are you a scam artist?

I reckon the only time a non-refundable deposit is not an outright scam is when the property is being sold as-is anyway, with no You-can-get-out-of-it clauses. 

Sounds like a scam.

I’ve gotten some individual private lenders reaching out to me but they seem like scams.

They wrote a novel they are probably scamming for something.