Landlords: Where are you advertising your properties?

[nobb]

A question for the landlords, but input from tenants would also be great. Where have you tried advertising your properties and what has been your response rate with the various methods of advertisement?

Kijiji is free, so obviously a given. Craigslist I find is dead. Rentfaster appears to be another popular one and I've had good luck with it in the past. There also seem to be other paid advertising boards, but not sure what the success rate is like on those.

Tenants: where do you typically go to look for a place to rent and what do you prefer?

[firebane]

Tenant: kijiji and rent faster

[woodywoodford]

As a tenant, I'll usually check Kijiji randomly because its quick and easy, but RentFaster.ca for sure. I get email alerts anytime a new listing comes up in my target neighborhoods, Kijiji can't beat that - especially since you need to move pretty fast to get a good place in this city.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

Landlord I threw mine on Rentfaster and it was taken really quick.

[gwill]

I hate rent faster although I post there because I think I need to and it doesn't cost much. I just rented a place for the end of this month and I had 20+ inquiries from kijiji quickly while only 1 from rent faster.

I was also tracking the ads on kijiji to see if there is even any benefit to paying for the ads there and I'm a bit torn on the outcome. Perhaps if your property is in a less desirable community I could see the value of paying for the ads but my paid ad only had about double the clicks then the unpaid ones.

In the end its a very minor cost but why spend if you don't need to.

What I noticed this time around were the number of out of town inquiries I received. Maybe because I offered it fully furnished which I haven't done before. The interest on this surprised me a lot.

[nobb]

Thanks for the feedback!

I have a slightly larger house in a less desirable neighborhood that I am trying to rent out right now and the responses aren't as great as I had hoped. In comparison, I have also rented out a nicer home in a nicer area of town and probably had 20+ responses in a week.

Maybe it's just because it's not month end yet.

[turbotrip]

I think I've tried most of the possible advertising sites over the years, and only Kijiji and Renfaster are worth using

[Rocket1k78]

With the way the market is now, if you're not getting slammed with replies on kijiji something is not right with your place. There is no need to pay for rental postings now. You're probably asking too much for your place. post up the ad and let us have a look at it.

[nobb]

Here is the place:

http://www.rentfaster.ca/calgary-house-for-rent/applewood/large-2500sq-ft-applewood-se-102434

Take a look, let me know what you guys think. Asking $2000 for upper suite, or perhaps $2500 for the whole house.

Was renting for $2800 for full house, but tenants were deadbeats and I had to kick them out. Basement is developed and I was thinking of renting upper + lower suite separate.

[Rocket1k78]

The reason you're not getting replies is the price/area. For that price the average renter is probably going to be more middle class and that area is not going to appeal to them. $2500 for a house in apple wood sounds insane. I havent looked at whats out there for rent in a couple months but even in the summer you were able to get some really nice houses in nice areas for that price.

Just did a quick kijiji search and im surprised theres so much available between $2000-$2500. You're asking too much for that area

[gwill]

Padmapper.com is a good site that allows you to see rents of areas via google maps. Could help with seeing prices in the immediate area.

[J-D]

Originally posted by Rocket1k78
The reason you're not getting replies is the price/area. For that price the average renter is probably going to be more middle class and that area is not going to appeal to them. $2500 for a house in apple wood sounds insane. I havent looked at whats out there for rent in a couple months but even in the summer you were able to get some really nice houses in nice areas for that price.

House looks passable but I'd never consider living there.

Da hood, yo.

[J-D]

Double post :(

[Rocket1k78]

Originally posted by J-D


House looks passable but I'd never consider living there.

Da hood, yo.

Exactly. Even the drive to get there will scare most peeps lol
The house is def passable and big but its the SE.

[nobb]

Alright, dropped the price let's see what happens. Like I said, I did get $2800/month before for the whole house...but in this area I realize that limits me to room-mates...of which I will NEVER make that mistake again! I figure I'd do a dual suite, that way the individual rent is more affordable for people.

[Rocket1k78]

Live and learn as they say. I always avoid the room mate situation because its such a risk, people get mad at each other and because theyre not married or dating they're free to leave at any time. You might have been getting $2800 but thats probably why you got screwed on it, multiple room mates is almost a guaranteed fail.

[Dr_Funk]

Kijiji hands down.

Last time I used rentfaster was 4-5 years ago. What a waste of $30...thr tenant I got found the place through the Kijiji ad so I have never used rent faster again since.

[Russian]

Landlord:
Last time I put my appartment on the market, I had 1 person from Rentfaster and like 20 people from Kijiji.
But that one person was one of few people I really want to keep.

My place is in Marlborough, but I'm picky about my tenants, so it's not value but quality that I look for in response to my ads. That's why I'll pay for Rentfaster again.

Tenants know that Rentfaster is a bit better quality too, plus not everyone likes Kijiji. I find Rentfaster is way more user friendly, so as a renter I would prefer to search there.
That's my logic.

[pheoxs]

Another thing to remember is this is the least desirable time to be looking to rent a place out.

All the university crowd is already settled in for school. All the families are already settled in for school. People are thinking about Christmas not moving and lastly no one wants to move unless they absolutely have to when its shitty and cold out.

Landlord: Had equal responses from rent faster vs kijiji but the quality of responses was better on rent faster. Ultimately both roommates I ended up with were from rent faster and couldn't be happier.

[Amysicle]

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[Speed_69]

Originally posted by Rocket1k78
The reason you're not getting replies is the price/area. For that price the average renter is probably going to be more middle class and that area is not going to appeal to them. $2500 for a house in apple wood sounds insane. I havent looked at whats out there for rent in a couple months but even in the summer you were able to get some really nice houses in nice areas for that price.

Just did a quick kijiji search and im surprised theres so much available between $2000-$2500. You're asking too much for that area
Definitely was the price/area. My parents have a rental house that is in a not so desirable area and it gets a large number of inquiries whenever it's posted on Kijiji and rents out extremely fast.

You were extremely lucky to be able to get $2,800 a month previously. I know someone who was renting a whole house and similar size in Evanston for less than that. Your asking price is much more reasonable now but if someone were to offer you $2,000/month for that, I would take it.

[mr2mike]

Originally posted by Dr_Funk
Kijiji hands down.

Last time I used rentfaster was 4-5 years ago. What a waste of $30...thr tenant I got found the place through the Kijiji ad so I have never used rent faster again since.
Umm, this is deemed advertising and is a business expense against your rental income, but what do I know?!

[TYMSMNY]

^ business expenses are still coming out of your pockets.... if he found a better site for free, whats the benefit of spending $30?

[pheoxs]

My view is at the end of the day any fees from these sites are a drop in the bucket compared to going a month without a tenant. I'd rather put my rental ad on multiple sites and pay a bit, than risk not finding a tenant / not finding a good tenant and losing a month of income.

Simple as that.

[quick_scar]

Landlordish here: Word of mouth. There is usually someone within a degree or two of me that is looking/knows someone. I have been lucky. Granted I just rent a room out of my house, it is still the same process.