@Drew Cameron,  Almost every time there's a huge upfront fee for things like this it's a scam.  

I can let you know if it's ever been inspected and what to look out for.MA real estate laws say that you can't rent to a family with kids under 7 unless you have a lead certificate on file with the state and the anti-discrimination laws say you can't notrent to a family because they have a kid under 7 (even if it's because you know there's lead paint), so they basically made it so that any rental with more then 1 bedroom has to be deleaded.

As an example, if my home owner was "john smith" the Nigerian scammer would snag "johnsmith at yahoo.com"The scam was that "john smith" was currently working as a missionary in Nigeria. 

DA is interested in hearing from victims of his scam.

True Story of How my First Real Estate Investment was a Scam

@Tim Vecchioni Any HML that offers no money down is either a scam or could very well be out of business before your deal funds

Granted, his grammar isn't stellar, but English may be his second language, and poor grammar (while annoying) isn't necessary confirmation of a scam. 

I would bet the farm that this is a scam.

There are alot of scams that are originated through craigslist.

The online review of them make them sound like they are scam???