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Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist real estate deals: how to find real FSBO houses and avoid scams
Updated · by the LowBaller team
You can find real houses for sale by owner on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist by searching the housing categories in your area, then verifying each seller against the county assessor's owner record before you visit or pay anything. Expect a mix of genuine owners, agents, wholesalers and scams.
Marketplaces are where many people first meet the word lowballer, usually in a listing that warns lowballers away. That is a fair reaction to rude offers, not to low ones. This guide shows how to sort real sellers from everyone else, the scam patterns to walk away from, how to send a low offer that gets an answer, and why the deepest discounts are usually found in county records instead.
Can you buy a house on Facebook Marketplace?
Yes. Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist both have housing sections, and some owners list there to avoid agent commissions or to sell quickly to a local buyer. The sale itself works like any FSBO sale: you agree on a price, sign a written purchase contract, and close through a title company or real estate attorney who handles the deed and the money.
The platform is only the introduction. Nothing about a Marketplace post makes the sale safer or riskier than a yard sign. What changes is who else is posting, and how easy it is for someone who does not own the house to pretend they do.
Who is really posting houses on Marketplace and Craigslist
Read every housing post as one of five types. Figuring out which one you are looking at takes a minute and saves you hours.
| Poster | How to spot them | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| A true owner (FSBO) | Name matches the county owner record; can show the house in person | Real negotiation room with the decision maker |
| A real estate agent | Brokerage name, professional photos, the house is also listed elsewhere | A listed house; the price reflects the market |
| A wholesaler | Words like assignment, cash only, investor special, or no inside access | They control a contract, not the deed; their fee is built in |
| A rent-to-own or lease-option pitch | Low down payment, monthly payments, owner financing language | Read every term with an attorney before you pay anything |
| A scammer | Price far below neighbors, cannot show the house, wants money first | Walk away and report the listing |
Scam red flags: rental and wire fraud
Most marketplace housing scams follow one script: a real house, copied photos, a price that is too good, and a reason you have to pay before you see it. Rental scams run the same playbook on people looking for a place to live. Wire fraud hits at the end of real deals, when a fake email sends you new wiring instructions for the closing funds.
The scale is real. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center counted 12,368 real estate fraud complaints and more than $275 million in losses in 2025, according to its annual report published in April 2026. Its real estate category includes rental fraud.
| Red flag | What it looks like | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Price far below every comparable house | A 3-bedroom listed for half what neighbors sold for | Assume a scam until the county record proves otherwise |
| The seller cannot show the house | Out of the country, deployed or ill; offers to mail a key | Never pay for a house or rental you have not entered with the owner or agent |
| Money before a viewing or contract | A deposit, application fee or holding fee to see the inside | Do not pay; real sellers show first |
| Wire, gift cards, crypto or payment apps | Asks for Zelle, Cash App, gift cards, crypto or a wire to a person | Refuse; send closing funds only to a title company you verified |
| Name does not match the county record | The seller's name differs from the assessor's owner name | Ask for proof of ownership; walk if it does not line up |
| Copied photos or text | The same photos appear on a rental site or an old listing | Run a reverse image search on the photos |
| Pressure to decide today | Other buyers waiting, a price good only today | Slow down; urgency is the scammer's main tool |
| New wiring instructions by email | A last-minute email changes where to send closing money | Call the title company at a number you looked up yourself before wiring |
Never wire money to a person
Closing funds go to a title company or attorney escrow account you verified by phone yourself. A wire sent to an individual is very hard to get back.
How to verify a Marketplace or Craigslist house before you visit
Run these checks before you visit, and always before any money moves. Our guide on how to find the owner of a property covers the county lookups in detail, and the free address distress check shows the public distress signals on any address.
- 1
Get the full address
Ask the seller for the street address. A seller who will not share it is not selling you a house.
- 2
Look up the owner
Search the address on the county assessor's website. The owner name should match the seller, or the seller should be able to show why it does not, such as an estate or an LLC they manage.
- 3
Check the latest deed
Search the county recorder for the most recent deed and any foreclosure notice. A notice of sale on a house listed cheap is a story worth asking about.
- 4
Reverse image search the photos
Run the listing photos through a reverse image search. Photos that also appear on rental or listing sites are a warning sign.
- 5
Meet at the property
Tour the house with the owner. Bring someone with you, and never pay a fee to see the inside.
- 6
Put it in writing and use a title company
Sign a written purchase contract and close through a title company or real estate attorney. Confirm the escrow wiring instructions by calling a number you looked up yourself.
How to send a respectful lowball offer on Marketplace
On Marketplace, lowballer is mostly an insult for buyers who send a one-word number and vanish. A low offer is fine. A lazy one is not. Our explainer on what a lowballer is covers the difference, and it comes down to three things: a specific number, a reason the number makes sense, and terms that make the seller's life easier. For FSBO pricing in depth, see how to make a lowball offer on a FSBO.
Reply inside the Marketplace or Craigslist message thread on their listing. Do not move to texting their phone unless they give you the number and ask you to. Be honest about who you are: if you plan to assign the contract to another buyer, say so up front. Here are three messages that follow the rule.
- After you have seen the house: Thanks for showing me the house today. I can offer $182,000 cash, as-is, closing in 21 days through [Title company]. The number reflects the roof and the HVAC we talked about. Happy to send it in writing.
- Before a viewing, when the photos show obvious work: Hi, I am a local buyer interested in your house on [Street]. From the photos it needs a roof and a kitchen. If the inside matches, I would be around $165,000, paying cash and covering the closing costs. Could I see it this week?
- When they say no: Understood, and thanks for the quick answer. If it is still available in a month, I am still interested and can close fast. Good luck with the sale.
Facebook Marketplace vs Craigslist for real estate
Both sites carry the same mix of posters, but the way you talk to people differs, and so do the risks.
| Feature | Facebook Marketplace | Craigslist |
|---|---|---|
| Who you are talking to | A Facebook profile you can look at, which can still be fake | Often anonymous, through a relay email |
| Common posters | Owners, agents, wholesalers, rent-to-own offers | Owners, wholesalers, rent-to-own offers |
| How you reply | A Messenger thread on the listing | Relay email or the contact the poster lists |
| Best use | Local FSBO sellers and small landlords | Local markets where people still post there |
| Biggest risk | Hijacked or fake profiles with copied listings | Anonymous posters and copied rental listings |
Why county records beat marketplaces for real distress
An owner who posts on Marketplace has already decided to sell and set a price. Every other buyer scrolling the same feed sees it at the same moment. That is the opposite of an off-market deal.
The owners with the most reason to accept a low offer rarely post at all. They are behind on a mortgage, owe three years of property taxes, or inherited a house in another state, and that pressure shows up first in county records. LowBaller ranks properties on exactly those records, and the signals a marketplace post can never show you carry the most weight in its model.
To see how many owners like that are near you, the free market scan takes about 2 minutes, with no card. For the full playbook, see how to find off-market properties.
Signals a marketplace listing will not show you
Frequently asked questions
Is it safe to buy a house on Facebook Marketplace?
It can be, if you treat the post as an introduction and nothing more. Verify the seller against the county owner record, tour the house in person, sign a written contract, and close through a title company or real estate attorney. Never wire money to an individual or pay a fee to see a house.
How do you spot a fake house listing on Craigslist?
Look for a price far below nearby sales, a seller who cannot show the house, requests for a deposit or fee before a viewing, and payment by wire, gift card, crypto or payment app. Check the owner's name on the county assessor's site and reverse image search the photos before you go further.
Are houses on Facebook Marketplace really for sale by owner?
Some are, but many are posted by agents, wholesalers who control a contract rather than the deed, rent-to-own promoters or scammers. The fastest test is the county assessor's website: the owner's name on the record should match the seller, or the seller should be able to explain clearly why it does not.
How do I make a lowball offer on Facebook Marketplace without being rude?
Reply in the listing's message thread with a specific number, one sentence on why, and the terms you can offer, such as cash, as-is and a quick close. Thank them either way. Rude lowballers send a bare number and vanish; respectful ones explain the offer and make the sale easier for the seller.
What does no lowballers mean on Marketplace?
It means the seller does not want offers far below the asking price, usually because they have received many rude, one-word offers. You can still negotiate politely. Ask whether the price has any flexibility, explain what you have seen in the house, and make a reasoned offer instead of a bare number.
Why are some houses on Facebook Marketplace so cheap?
A very cheap house on Marketplace is usually one of three things: a scam using copied photos, a wholesaler's contract on a house needing major work, or a rent-to-own pitch where the advertised number is not the price. Genuine bargains exist, but verify the owner on county records before you trust the price.
Put this to work in your market.
Scan any US ZIP and see every motivated seller near you, ranked hardest-first.
Find motivated sellersKeep reading
- Lowball offer on a FSBO: how to negotiate with a for sale by owner seller
- How to lowball without offending the seller (and when it is rude)
- Lowball offer scripts: phone, voicemail, email and reply text
- How to find off-market properties: 12 methods ranked by cost, speed and deal quality
- How to find the owner of a property: 7 methods, from free county lookups to skip tracing