are trying to wade through all the emails.

Could be someone has already said they'd take it, but they're waiting to take the ad down because they haven't been able to reach references, or haven't yet met the people, or haven't gotten deposit money yet.

Could be they forgot/didn't think to take down the ad after they got a tenant.

Could be a phishing scam to get your email / phone / other personal info so they can spam you or otherwise target you.

Cragislist is an oddity. I can't tell you how many emails I've sent to people advertising everything from housing to garden supplies to cars to personals with no response whatsoever. I suggest letting go of ever hearing from them. You'll be happily surprised if you do end up hearing back from them, but you won't be crushed if you don't.

Funny that I'm now in apartment I found through craigslist, 3+ years ago, NW Maryland approaching mountains, great landlady, and was thinking of keeping BOTH apartments as one I'm in now is VERY reasonably priced, so could have mountain and 'beach' homes!

Will TRY letting go of ever hearing from them, as you suggest!

It's a good point that posts are often phishing for email addys.

But just be aware that the reverse can also be so, or at least, enough of a concern that people may not reply to emails.

That is, someone posts an ad and uses the CL anonymous email which expires after some period. They make their appropriate connection, buyer, seller, whatever and then neglect or forget to take the ad down, since it will eventually expire anyway.

They now have the issue of what to do about all of the enquiring emails they got. Do they 1) write back to all of them saying "Sorry, already sold/filled/etc? or 2) just ignore the emails, knowing that a no response will ultimately be interpreted by seasoned CL users as "no longer available/relevent/whatever"?

The risk with option 2) is that they seem like a jerk to people who don't know who they are. The risk with option 1) is they reveal their email addy to a bunch of people solely for the purpose of politeness, but with the potential that perhaps some of those people will then use their personal email for other purposes.

Some choose option 2) because it's the path of least resistence. And imho, the more logical and safe option. FWIW from a seasoned CL user.

SO FUNNY the timing of these things! Sounds very nice, and I will try to meet him and see the place soon this week! Was sorry he hadn't contacted me before.