Google Maps Feature now on Rental Househunter

In an effort to continually improve the features found on Rental Househunter, today we have rolled out our Google Maps upgrade.  Now, whenever a renter performs a search for Rental Ads on our website, they will be able to quickly view where the listing is located on Google Maps.

In addition, this feature helps renters determine whether a rental listing is legit (check out this write-up on Craigslist scams and how to avoid them).

We hope you enjoy this new feature and find it helpful when researching your next place to live.

Avoid Craigslist.org spammers and fill your Rental Vacancy with ease…

One of our customers today forwarded us a Spammy-email that they received from their Craigslist Rental Ad, after they Activated Rental-BOOST (a free upgrade from Rental Househunter).  The message was quite cryptic and went something like this…

“Hi,
I’m interested in the ad you put up in Craigs-List.
I really like your post, however, I believe your replies would be lifted obviously once you view this:

tiurl.us/PTU7lFB

You will know the right way to get more replies from Craigs-List.

Sincerly,
Mildred Miller”

To me, this had “bogus-spammy-email” written all over it.

Let’s get one thing straight…
Craigslist REALLY IS the #1 website where renters go to look for Apartments, Rental Houses, Condos, etc.  The ISSUE with only using Craigslist is that this can lead to a heavy-dosage of time-wasting-spammy-emails.

Do you really want to reply to a message that appears like it came from a sincere, interested renter?
…and in the end get caught up in some fraudulent exchange of emails?

This is why we at Rental Househunter always recommend creating a Paid-listing  first (whether it be on Rental Househunter, Rentals.com, RentalHouses.com, Rent.com, etc).

WHY post a Paid-Listing first?
Well think about it and step into a renters shoes…
Would you trust a Property Manager who has only posted just a free listing on Craigslist (which any old Joe-Schmo can do)? Which could turn out to be a phony listing altogether…

OR… would you BETTER TRUST that a free Craigslist listing that is then LINKED to a PAID-LISTING on Rental Househunter would be much more legit?  Remember, Craigslist is still the King when it comes to attracting renters…

Most people choose the second option above and feel much safer in contacting the Landlord via Rental Househunter’s “Email this Property Mgr” button.

An added benefit to you, the Property Manager, is that this process of:

a) Renter finds a listing on Craigslist,
b) If Renter is interested and wants to rent this vacancy, Renter then clicks  the accompanying “View my full listing on Rental Househunter” link (that you’ve included in your Craigslist Ad – - by simply Activating Rental-BOOST),
c) Renter views your full, professional-looking Rental Ad on Rental Househunter (with 8 more photos and details)
d) Renter then sends a message to you via Rental Househunter (which helps you the Property Manager weed out 90% of all spammy emails).

Here at Rental Househunter, we try to provide you the Landlord / Property Manager with the tools and Great Insight to quickly fill your Rental Vacancy.

To find out more  about Rental Househunter’s Paid-Listings, click here.

“University Pages” Makes it Simple for Students to Search for Off-Campus Housing

Rental Househunter is introducing a new tool to help students search for Off-Campus Housing, while at the same time, making it easy to reserve their new place to live. Our website is partnering with Top Colleges around the U.S to help promote a huge inventory of rentals in different locations.

As rental inventories increase, rental prices should actually start to decrease, which in the end, will help students and their parents save more money.

Visit Rental Househunter’s “University Pages” now.

If you don’t see your college yet, please shoot us an email and we’ll work to get your school on our updated list.

How to add a Rental Vacancy to your new Landlord Website

One of the newer products that Rental Househunter now offers is Landlord Websites. Not only do we walk you through step-by-step on how to register your own URL Address in your name, we also make it very easy for you to add any rental vacancies you are trying to fill.

When you finally decide the time is right to get your new Property Management or Landlord Website setup, all you will have to do to upload your rental vacancy is open our pre-formatted page and start adding your Rental’s Price, Description, Number of Bedrooms and Baths, and then upload up to 20 photos.  It really is that simple. Then, once your rental vacancy is filled, you can temporarily remove the page from your website until it needs to be filled again.

Our pre-formatted webpage even includes an online form for interested renters to contact you via email. The best thing about having your own Landlord Website is that it can save you a LOT of time from answering calls from prospects. Make sure you include a detailed set of Rental Policies and rules for what you allow.  If you don’t accept pets, then say so in your Rental Policies page. If your rental is non-smoking and you do not take Section 8…  then list all of these details in your Rental Policies and save yourself time and a lot of calls!

Follow these 5 Tips to filling your Rental Vacancy in days…

When your current tenant gives you their 30-Day Notice, it’s every Landlord’s dreams to be able to fill that rental within just a few days. In order to do so, you need an Advertising Plan.

5 Tips to filling your Rental Vacancy in days:

1. Advertise your Rental Ad Online
   The popularity of newspaper classifieds are continuing to drop.  Why advertise somewhere that renters aren’t even looking – - especially when your Classified Ad only appears for 1 weekend?
2. Track your Visitors
   One of the most frustrating aspects of rental ads is not being able to see a return on your investment.  Newspapers don’t allow you to see how many sets of eyes viewed your ad. Online Ads (like those on Rental Househunter) do let you Track the Number of Visitors.
3. Research Other Rental Prices in your Area
   Why would a renter want to pay $300-400 more for a place when they can get the same value for a lesser price somewhere else.
   (edited: Research Average Rental Prices here.)
4. Advertise in Multiple Outlets
   What’s the old Stock Market saying? …”be sure to diversify your Portfolio”.  This means, don’t put all your eggs in one basket.  Same theory applies in advertising your rental.

   Rental Househunter’s easy fix to this is it’s Rental-BOOST Free Upgrade.  Rental-BOOST allows you to create a Rental Ad on Rental Househunter then sync up your ad on Craigslist (which is a Top 10 website in terms of receiving traffic). Craigslist alone opens yourself up to scammers.  By posting your Ad first on Rental Househunter, then following our Rental-BOOST upgrade, you help protect yourself and renters from the whole scammer-equation.

5. Provide Lots of Photos
   Renters aren’t likely to click your ad without a photo.  There are too many listings out there that have photos from them to choose from, so they won’t want to waste their time with any ads without a photo.

Back by popular demand are our $4.99 Rental Ads.

Rental Househunter has brought back its $4.99 Rental Ads to help Property Managers of both small and large-sized properties advertise their vacancies.

As a landlord, you want to see results.  And you get them when you post your Rental Listing online and combine that with Activating Rental-BOOST for your listing.

Rental-BOOST is a way for you to automatically sync up your Rental Househunter ad with Craigslist (which currently receives 50 million unique visitors per month – - which is Top 10 on the Internet).

Two things that Craigslist doesn’t provide by itself to landlords (which makes Rental-BOOST so powerful) is that Rental-BOOST allows you to track the number of renters who have viewed your listing and it adds a much needed amount of trust-worthiness to you as a landlord.

WHY?
Well, a part of Craigslist’s Internet traffic is in the form of scammers, who feed off of being able to create free listings.  When you have to pay a small amount for a listing, landlords are seen as legit and will attract a lot more business via Craigslist and Rental Househunter.

Landlords, give Rental-BOOST a try today.

An interesting article straight from the California Association of Realtors shows what the median house prices in CA are (along with CA’s top 10 highest priced cities)…

“Statewide, the 10 cities with the highest median home prices in California during September 2009 were: Manhattan Beach, $1,502,000; Burlingame, $1,401,100; Saratoga, $1,297,500; Los Altos $1,275,000; Palos Verdes Estates, $1,163,500; Calabasas, $1,073,500; Newport Beach, $1,050,000; Los Gatos, $1,050,000; Santa Monica, $1,025,000; Cupertino, $950,000; and Rancho Palos Verdes, $912,500.” …per the Examiner article.

In Comparison – Rental Prices in CA
In comparison, the average rental prices in San Jose, CA still tend to be on the high-end for the U.S.

As the overall rental prices continually increase, Rental Househunter provides a quick look at its Top 10 List (each month) of the MOST AFFORDABLE San Jose Apts in the area.

The latest Top 10 List of Affordable Apartments in San Jose, CA is now available.

As you know, each month we scour the Internet for the best prices for apartments and homes for rent on the market. We compare these prices with our average rental price tool for that area and then apply a rating for them.

Check out San Jose’s Top 10 List of Most Affordable Apartments available.

A number of you have emailed us comments about how you’d like to see a “summary” of the top rentals in various areas around the U.S.  We’ve listened to you and started with San Jose, CA.

We have over 500+ listings in San Jose and wanted to pull together a new “Top 10 List” feature to help you find your next place to rent. We compare monthly rental prices for the area, amenities, and overall appeal.

San Jose – Top 10 List of the BEST Available Rentals:
Visit our Top 10 List of Best Apartments available in San Jose, CA.

Tenant is being sued for $50K because of mold claim on Twitter…

OK, now this is bizarre.  An apartment complex located in San Francisco is sueing a recent tenant of theirs for a post that she made on Twitter.  Of course you can only say but so much in a 140 character Twitter post, but this Apartment complex didn’t like the claims.

Apartment Absurdity?

The tenant claimed that the Apartment complex was okay with it’s tenants having to sleep in a moldy unit.  Here was her exact Twitter post…

“Who said sleeping in a moldy apartment was bad for you? Horizon realty thinks it’s okay.”

If you’re a Twitter user and are part of the 21% of account users who have never posted a “Tweet”, you have nothing ever to worry about (like us).  For this case in San Francisco, the Apartment Complex must’ve thought that their tenant is one of these RARE Top 5% Twitter users, who actually account for over 75% of Twitter’s overall activity.  It’s doubtful though.

I’d bet instead that this tenant is one of the 93% of Twitterers who have fewer than 100 followers, which really makes this a non-story.

What’s your thoughts?  Are you going to start watching out what you write about in Twitter? Or will you be like Cincinnati Bengal WR Chad Ocho-Cinco who submitted a Tweet after being pulled over by a cop?