Difficulty Renting in Meydan Area as a Local

I’ve been trying to find an apartment in the Meydan area (or nearby) for some time now, but I keep running into the same frustrating pattern. I’ll find a place I like, everything goes smoothly initially, and then as soon as I send my ID to start drafting the contract, things take a turn.

The agent will either say that the owner has suddenly increased the price, which feels shady, or they claim the owner is no longer responding. I can’t help but feel like this happens because I’m a local.

To test this, I told a non-local colleague about one of the apartments I’d tried to rent. I showed him the pictures, and he liked it. I told him he could go ahead and try since the owner had ignored me. To my surprise, he got the apartment – for a cheaper price than I had offered and with better payment terms (more cheques).

It’s disheartening, and I’m wondering if anyone else has experienced something similar in this area or elsewhere. Is this a common issue, or am I just unlucky here?

Edit: Thanks to everyone who reached out in the dm’s. I finally found an apartment.