A landlord or property manager’s work is never done. Between handling repairs, collecting rent and maintaining the property, there’s always something to be done. Add finding the right renter to the list, and things can get complicated in a hurry. That’s where rental listing sites come into play.
What is a Rental Listing Site?
Rental listing sites are websites that allow landlords and property managers to post information about their rental properties. These sites are used by potential tenants looking for a new place to live, or by people who are interested in finding additional properties to invest in. While some rental listing sites cater specifically to landlords and property managers (like Zillow Rental Manager), others also have information for potential tenants, such as reviews (HotPads) or financial tips (RentLingo).
How do Rental Listing Sites Work?
Most rental listing sites work in a similar way. Property owners or managers create an account on the site and post information about their property, such as the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, square footage, monthly rent price, and any special features or amenities that are included with the property. They can also include photos of the exterior and interior of the property to give potential tenants a better idea of what it looks like.
In addition to this information, some sites also allow landlords to include additional details about their properties, such as whether the property is pet friendly or if the tenant will pay utilities, neighborhood amenities, nearby schools, and requirements for renters, such as a credit score minimum. Once the listing is verified ready, it goes live on the website. The owners are later notified by the rental listing company if prospective tenants want to rent the property.
Why You Should Use Rental Listing Sites
Rental listing sites offer several benefits to landlords and property managers. Here are a few of the more important reasons why you would want to use them.
Reach a Larger Audience
Rental listing websites have a large audience of potential renters, sometimes in the millions. This exposure means that your rental listing will have a much greater reach than if you only advertised through word-of-mouth or local newspapers.
Tenant Screening
Rental listing sites allow landlords to do tenant screening by requiring rental applicants to provide relevant information. This process helps landlords gain a better understanding of the tenant and weed out unqualified renters. Make sure to use the best background check for landlords to vet your tenants properly.
Saves Time and Cash
By posting your rental property on a rental listing site, you don’t have to worry about advertising it in other ways. This can save you time and your hard-earned cash.
Stay Organized
Rental listing websites often have tools that allow you to keep track of the properties you own and manage, as well as information about tenants. This can help landlords stay organized and avoid mistakes.
Free Rental listings
It is free to list properties through the online platform of many rental listing companies, making it a quick and easy process for the landlords to find many prospective clients for their vacant units.
Direct Access
Listing sites also allow the landlords and tenants to communicate directly with each other, making it an easy process for both parties. This can save a lot of time in the process and make it more efficient.
No Agents or Brokers
If you use a rental listing, you don’t have to pay agents or brokers negotiating fees or commissions to find a tenant. This means you get to keep more money in your pocket.
Property Management Tools
Some listing sites also offer tools to help landlords and rental managers keep track of their properties. For example, Zillow Rental Manager allows you to store information about your tenants, generate lease agreements and automate rent collection.
Fraud is Prevented
It’s tough to fill vacancies if fraud is involved. Luckily, rental listing websites can prevent fraud by verifying the information landlords list for their properties. This option is better for tenants since they don’t have to rifle through the newspaper for a place to rent. It’s also better for landlords because they often don’t have to pay every week to list their properties.
Correct Audience
Landlords experience a 49% turnover rate in their rental properties. As a result, they and their property managers are often motivated to fill vacancies with qualified tenants as soon as possible to offset losses. Posting high-resolution photos of rental units on rental listing websites can attract the correct audience, including those who are looking for a place to rent immediately.
Advanced Search Options
Rental listing websites often have advanced search options that allow prospective renters to filter their results by things like the number of bedrooms, bathrooms and price. This makes it easier for potential tenants to find the rental property they want.
How to Choose the Best Website for Your Rental Listings
Not all rental listing websites are created equal. Here are a few things to keep in mind when choosing the best website for your rental listings:
- Size of the Website: The size of the website is often an important consideration.
- Type of Site: You should also consider what type of site the website is. Some websites are only for rentals, while others are for both sales and rentals. For instance, if it’s a vacation rental listing, property owners should research and find a vacation rental site where they can get a larger audience with good traffic for their vacation rentals.
- Features: The features offered by the website should also be considered. For example, some websites offer tools to help landlords manage their properties, while others allow renters to filter their results by price and number of bedrooms and bathrooms.
- Ease of Use: The website should be easy to use. It should be simple to post a rental listing and easy for renters to find the information they need.
- Pricing: Finally, consider the pricing of the website. Some websites charge landlords to post their rental listings, while other rental listing sites do not.
16 Best Rental Listing Sites
Now that you know about the best rental listing sites for landlords, here are 16 of the best ones you can use to list your rental property, along with their advantages and disadvantages:
1. Zillow
Zillow is one of the most popular rental listing sites on the internet, and that means you’ll have a lot of applicant traffic. Its size and features make the platform a great choice for landlords looking to list their properties. In addition, their website features some of the best rental tools around for finding quality renters and managing ones you already have. Landlords can really make their property listings pop by uploading a 3-D view of it too.
Pros:
- Zillow is an established brand that has a large website of over 135 million homes.
- Built-in tools like the Zillow Rental Manager lets you screen tenants with background and credit checks. Having Tenants pay rent online is an option too.
- Zillow’s mobile applets property owners upload, edit and publish their listings. The app also lets property owners and landlords communicate with applicants and collect rent payments.
Cons:
- There is no way to categorize rental properties into specific neighborhoods.
- If you want to add a listing, it’s $9.99 a week for every additional listing after the first free one.
- While the tools to collect rent payments are a nice feature, landlords say they find it a challenge to manage financials like credits, security deposits and pet fees.
2. Facebook Marketplace
If you’re not utilizing Facebook Marketplace to advertise a rental, you are missing out on a huge pool of potential tenants. With roughly 800 million monthly users, the destination will give your listings a significant amount of exposure with its large user base.
Pros:
- You can easily add photos, descriptions and even videos to the listings in minutes.
- The marketplace lets you see who’s interested in your listing so that you can contact those people directly through Messenger or WhatsApp.
- Landlords can use features like messaging, filters and location tags to gain more exposure with renters in their area.
- Facebook offers tools that make it easy for landlords to view who posted listings and how many times they were shared or liked.
Cons:
- The site has far fewer users than some of the other popular rental listing websites.
- Renters looking for properties on Facebook Marketplace may not be as serious about finding a rental as those who visit other websites.
- Responding to inquiries can be difficult, as renters message you through the site or the app itself.
- This option might put your private data at risk.
3. Rentals.com
Rentals.com is part of the RentPath company, and it targets first-time renters, especially the millennial demographic. They operate in all 50 states, and they are the largest rental listing site that is focused on single-family homes, condos, townhomes, apartment buildings and rent-to-own properties.
Pros:
- You can influence your placement based on the entire time your property is listed with them vs. automatically sorting listings by how recently you posted them.
- They have an enormous amount of filters that make finding the right renter easy.
- Unlimited online applications from serious renters.
- Feature-rich landlord tools like video tours that show lots of property details.
Cons:
- The website can take a while to update and be glitchy, which is a big downside when listing real-time availability and collecting money from tenants is critical.
- Some reviewers on TrustPilot reported that they get very few to no leads from rent.com. Some even reported they got more leads from free listings than they did from rental.com.
- Their price range runs from $49.99 to $84.99/month, which can give some landlords sticker shock compared to other listing sites.
- Customer service reportedly can be slow to respond to inquiries.
4. AVAIL
180,000 people use the property management AVAIL app. It’s ideal for DIY landlords that have less than 10 rental units. With AVAIL, you can advertise your vacant units on high-traffic rental listing sites including Apartment List, Doorsteps, realtor.com, and Zillow. Tenants can pay rent on Avail’s easy-to-use online rental platform.
Pros:
- The app lets you easily collect rent and track rent credits and tenant expenses.
- An educational system walks you through the beginning, intermediate and advanced landlord topics.
- AVAIL has a very responsive help desk that operates 24/7.
- Their free tenant screening process goes way beyond typical credit and eviction history checks, such as whether the potential renter is on the terrorist watch list.
Cons:
- The site doesn’t have as many listings as some of the other top rental listing websites.
- There is a lack of filters on AVAIL, which can make finding the right property more difficult.
- They charge by rental unit, so the more you have the more expensive it is. Landlords with over 10 units or short-term rentals may find that AVAIL isn’t the best fit for them.
5. Apartments.com
Apartments.com is one of the best listing sites for attracting qualified apartment renters since they charge applicants a fee to apply on their mobile app. Why is that? This requirement separates qualified renters from the rest since applicants take their time and look closely to make sure the property’s size, price and rules are a good fit before handing over their application.
Pros:
- It is one of the largest rental websites (more than 1.1 million available units).
- You can narrow your search by specific neighborhoods.
- Provides tools for saving money on rent and deposits.
- You can connect with many renters and lease the property 100% online.
- User-friendly search function.
Cons:
- App users report sorting features and updates are cumbersome.
- The site mainly displays larger apartment complex rentals.
- Neighborhood information is too limited.
- It is one of the more expensive sites to advertise on.
6. PadMapper
PadMapper has a motto and that’s “Making Apartment Hunting Suck Less.” We could all do with a little bit of that, and the property management tool offers simple ways to make it happen for renters. But the big question here is: does PadMapper suck for listing your apartment property? Let’s look at the pros and cons to find out.
Pros:
- It has an easy-to-use interface, and you can post an apartment, private or shared room or rental home to a “pad” in a minute or two.
- PadMapper is secure and safe to use. They also clamp down on spam and viral marketing ads like a frog eating a fly.
- Although they don’t splash it across the website like other listing companies, Pad Mapper has free rent collection and tenant screen tools.
- PadMapper has joined forces with San Francisco-based Zumper, so landlords can now benefit from the best these site partners have to offer.
Cons:
- There are not many options in the way of filters, so you may need to do some searching on your own before finding a rental that suits your needs.
- The site has a tendency to show irrelevant properties, such as those that are sold or no longer available.
- PadMapper’s rental listings expire, and you can only have one active listing at any given time without paying for an upgrade.
7. Oodle
Think of a mashup of Facebook Marketplace and Craig’s List, and you have the classified ad listing website Oodle. Landlords can list apartments, condos and home rentals online in their classified section.
Pros:
- Oodle is one of the biggest classified ad listing websites on the internet.
- You can list your apartment or rental home quickly and easily.
- There are many filters to help you find what you’re looking for, including an option to search by email address.
- The site is free, so you can list as many apartments and homes on Oodle as you own or manage.
Cons:
- You might be bombarded with spam emails from scammers who want your money without delivering any results for your apartment business.
- There are not any landlord tools to help you manage your property, and it doesn’t have any tenant screening services to make sure the tenant is reliable.
8. Rentometer
Rentometer is a website and app that landlords can use to measure the rentability and the going rate of their properties in seconds. It is a great resource for those who are curious about how much they could charge for rent, or if they should raise the rent on their current tenants.
Pros:
- Rentometer provides both short-term and long-term rental rate averages so you can get a good idea of what the market is doing.
- It’s easy to use-you just plug in your property parameters and it generates a report for you.
- Rentometer offers both monthly and yearly subscription plans, so there is something for everyone.
- The Batch Analysis tool provides statistics on properties and lets you know if you are charging too much or too little
Cons:
- Rentometer doesn’t have features for listing rentals.
- You can only use the site and app if you’re a property owner, so renters cannot access the information they need.
- The estimation for rental prices arent accurate at times.
- No mobile app for Android platforms.
- You have to pay for monthly and annual plans.
9. Trulia
Trulia is a real estate marketplace, MLS aggregator and subsidiary of Zillow. They have are over 3.5 million listings and information is provided to them by brokers, MLSs, website vendors and Zillow.
Pros:
- The listings are accurate and up-to-date
- You can filter and save your searches
- The website is easy to use and has many features, such as the ability to see how long a property has been on the market.
- Trulia gets most of its profit from ads and landlords can list their properties for free.
Cons:
- The website has a lot of advertisements, which can be overwhelming and detract from the listings themselves.
- There is no way to list directly with Trulia, and there are many false listings placed on Trulia’s site because of it’s free rental listing options.
- The website is slow sometimes, and it takes time to get updated when the property has already been sold or occupied.
10. Hotpads
Hotpads is a rental marketplace for apartments and houses throughout the U.S. Like Trulia, it’s part of the Zillow Group family of listing sites. That means you’ll have a lot of monthly visits to your rental real estate listing. You may have to pay a fee for larger rental property listings, but the added value from Hotpads is probably going to be worth it to many landlords.
Pros:
- It’s been around since 2005 and has built a great reputation among landlords and tenants alike.
- An easy-to-use interface with many filters.
- Their site connects landlords to the Zillow Rental Manager where you can post listings, collect rent, screen tenants and more.
- It lets you use custom keywords in your search.
Cons:
- Hotpads listing inventory contains a lot more apartments than homes. Therefore, if a single-family house is what you need, this site may not align with your goals.
- Reviewers on Sitejabber have complained that the reality of the property doesn’t match up to the nice photos of it on the site.
- Critics say Hotpad is sometimes slow about updating listings and that they advertise properties as available when they’re not.
- Hotpad’s no-frills website, apps and search engine aren’t as advanced as some other sites on this list.
11. Apartment Guide
Offering a nice apartment finder for tenants in big cities is Apartment Guide. It is one of the most popular rental listing sites on the web, and you can count cities like Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles and Phoenix among some of the big cities on their apartment list. They also have their focus on leasing single-family houses, townhouses and condos.
Pros:
- It takes just a few minutes to create an account and list your property.
- An easy-to-use interface that is easy to navigate.
- It’s free. There are some pricing plans that are designed to give your listings an extra boost. But they probably aren’t necessary for many landlords.
- A lot of great photos and descriptions of properties (e.g., square footage).
- Advanced filtering options.
- You can save your favorite searches.
Cons:
- Reviewers on TrustPilot said that the pictures of properties can be deceiving.
- Customer support can be uneven.
- The search engine does not contain as many listings as some other sites on this list. This means you may have fewer results for larger properties like single-family homes and condos, especially if these are not in major cities or metropolitan areas where Apartment Guide focuses its attention.
- There are some issues with the way their software maps properties, which can potentially get in the way of how tenants find your properties.
12. ByOwner
By Owner has been in business for over 20 years, and they can list the homes, condos, apartments, townhomes and villas for rent. Additionally, it is the top-visited rental digital platform for renters looking to lease straight from owners. They offer a complete online toolbox, such as online rental applications for prospective renters, to make a landlord’s job easier.
Pros:
- They offer a 14-day free trial.
- The website is easy to use and navigate.
- You can post up to 50 pictures
- Your ad stays active for six months from the day you post it.
- They have a rental guarantee: you get 3 months free listings if you don’t rent your property in 3 months.
Cons:
- Some reviewers on SiteJabber say they have poor customer support.
- It is difficult to get in touch with them over the phone if you have a question.
- The listings are $39/month after a 14-day free trial. An MLS rental advertisement on several high-trafficked sites is $349/month.
- Byowner caters to major “for rent” cities, so their services may not be available in your area.
13. Homes.com
When it comes to traffic homes.com has it going on, as they are the sixth-largest web portal for people scouring the Internet for rental property. They focus on single-family homes, along with townhouses and condos.
Pros:
- Balance Small Business ranks them as “the best rental listing site for single-family properties.”
- Since it has high traffic, a lot of people will browse listings.
- They provide concierge services that provide you with custom real estate advertising that’s powered by machine learning.
Cons:
- You can create a profile for free, but you have to buy leads if you want to list your rental property and have much success on homes.com.
- Critics on Consumer Affairs say they can be very attentive on the sales side—but uneven on the customer support side.
- There is only a contact form or way to sign up for an account on the site, making it hard to navigate the process and find out what to do and how to get started without talking to an agent.
14. MyNewPlace
MyNewPlace (formerly RentJungle) is a good go-to site for landlords who want to lease their single-family homes and apartment units. One feature they have, that is different from most, is that landlords only have to pay when potential tenants contact them through an ad on MyNewPlace.
Pros:
- Mobile users are a big pool of renters you can reach with their iPhone app. It has quite a few filters that allow for specific neighborhood searches.
- You can advertise and reach millions of people looking for rental homes and apartments
- They offer different levels of service that you can buy, which gives your rental listing more exposure on the website.
Cons:
- You have to contact the company directly to advertise with them.
- It can be hard to get in touch with customer service if you need help.
- Critics on Yelp, San Francisco state that the sorting features aren’t so great and it can be hard to get in touch with customer service if you need help.
15. Doorsteps
Doorsteps is a house and apartment finder for renters that’s powered by realtor.com. Their website has thousands of listings collected from direct feeds from property management companies, city & state MLS sites and through their partnership with apartments.com, Cozy and Avail.
Pros:
- You can create a custom listing in minutes that showcases your rental’s most desired features. The company offers tenant screening, lease creation, renewable listings and rent collection with their basic plan—all free and 100% online.
- The website offers accurate, up-to-date information
- There are many visitors, especially in college towns.
- Syndicates your rental listing to the top 12 listing sites.
Cons:
- Their payment structure is similar to how AVAIL lists their apartment units at $5/unit. So, the more units you have, the more expensive it is.
- Another downside is you’ll be out of luck if you are listing something other than apartments or houses for rent.
16. Rentdigs
Rentdigs promotes itself as the #1 place on the internet to advertise home and apartment rentals. The website was created by landlords for landlords, so it has a lot of juicy tools and features for free that will help you get qualified tenants. For instance, you can create custom screening questions and applications, and you can use their rent collection service.
Pros:
- You can add single and multiple home and apartment listings to Rentdigs for free.
- When you list, Rentdigs automatically posts to other sites renters access, such as MyNewPlace, Oodle and Trovit.
- Site statistics give you the number of viewers and how often they are looking at your rental property.
- You can create personalized links for prospective tenants
- Rentdigs indexes great on Google, Bing and other search engines
Cons
- Some of Rentdig’s features are less advanced than other listing sites.
- The site doesn’t get much traffic as sites such as Cozy or Zillow.
Bonus: People with Pets
About 72% of renters in the U.S. have pets, and only 7% of landlords allow pets. That means if you are in the 93% of property managers and owners who don’t rent to animal owners, you are not tapping into this niche. If you do allow animals to live with their owners, you’ll want to use this resource to let pet owners know. You can also use it to let them know that you accept a security deposit or pet deposit, what the rules are for having an animal on your property pet in your property and so on. The premium membership to list at People with Pets is $9.99/month.
Pros:
- Responsive website you can access with all mobile Devices.
- Property Description; up to 12 photos; unlimited floor plans
- Direct link to your website & social media
- Direct communication with your property via email, phone or fax
- Access to their Listing Management Console and the ability to add/edit your own listing
Cons:
- There are no landlord tools to screen your tenants, so you may have to list with another company simultaneously to use theirs
- Many listing companies allow people to filter “nearby pet-friendly properties” as part of their services, so People with Pets may not be needed if you are with another listing company.
- There isn’t as much traffic as with some of the property listing companies on this list; this could result in fewer pet owners and other renters seeing your listing.
Free Rental Listing Sites
There are a few free sites like Oodle and Trulia that offer rental listings at no charge. Also, Zillow offers the first listing free. However, when you’re looking for a great rental listing site, it’s important to consider what features are the most important to you. Sites that offer free listings can be a great option, but they can often be filled with ads or have less traffic than those that charge a fee.
How much do rental listing sites cost?
That depends on a number of factors, including the listing site, the area and how bad you want to get your property rented. Some sites offer a la carte features so you can choose what’s important to you, and others offer a variety of packages with standard features.
For the most part, the price range can vary greatly. For instance, at Zillow, it’s about $10 a week for every additional listing after the first free one, but with BuyOwners no holds barred approach to getting your place rented, it’s nearly $350 a month. Then, there are those like AVAIL, where you can be wind up paying a little or a lot, depending on how many rental units you’re listing.
How do I list my property to rent?
The process of listing your property to rent will vary depending on the rental listing site you choose. Generally, you’ll be asked to provide some basic information about your real estate, such as square footage, number of bedrooms and bathrooms, price range and amenities.
Many rental listing sites also require photos of the real estate or a video tour, and, at the very least, you’ll want to post multiple pictures of your property for people to see as they browse listings. You may also be asked to provide information about the neighborhood, including schools nearby and local attractions.
They will also verify your identity and address for security purposes. Once you’ve submitted the information and been notified that your listing is live, it’s usually a waiting game to see if someone bites.
Should I list my rental on multiple sites?
Yes, and you’ll want to list your real estate on sites that are most relevant to your target renter. For example, if you’re targeting a specific city, list it on rental listing sites for that area. If you’re targeting vacationers, list it on travel-based rental sites. There’s no need to limit yourself to just a few sites—the more the better.
If you’re using property management software, it should automatically list your rental on all these sites for you. Be sure to check with each site before listing and make sure that they allow multiple listings from single users so there are no problems later on down the road.
Is Zillow free to list a rental?
If you want to list rental property on Zillow, your first listing is free. After that, you’ll have to pay roughly $10 each week.
Is it free to list on rentals.com?
No. Their price range starts at the basic plan for $49.99 to a premium plan with extra features and exposure for $84.99. (source was a phone call to rentals.com)
Image: Depositphotos
This article, "16 Best Rental Listing Sites for Landlords and Property Managers" was first published on Small Business Trends
via https://www.aiupnow.com
Joshua Sophy, Khareem Sudlow
