How to tell if an apartment listing is legit and booking is valid?

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There is nothing in your description, which rings any warning bells for me.

Germany is still a very cash-centric country, compared to most other European countries. If it is a private rental, you can't expect the landlord to accept any kind of card payment. The landlord could probably accept a bank transfer, but bank transfers in Germany take some time to go through and can not be cancelled or reversed. It would IMHO reek much more of a scam if the landlord expected a bank transfer in advance. In Germany, there is no widespread service or network for instant money transfers between 'regular' persons.

The phone number you have got (07665/...) is in the area code for March, a village just outside Freiburg. I am not sure if you have agreed that you pick up the key at the landlord's place or if he will meet you at the appartment? Whenever I have rented appartments from private, we have always agreed to meet at the appartment, where I have paid and received the key.

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A quick search on Homeaway.co.uk took me to a page which says β€˜never pay in cash’ https://www.homeaway.co.uk/info/ha-guarantee/travel-with-confidence You will have no recourse if there are any problems with the booking (cleanliness, inaccurate description etc). At the very least you should consider using PayPal rather than cash IMHO

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