Rental Property Listing Made Easy: Where (And Where Not) To List Your Rental Properties!

The Rental Property Listing Rollercoaster: Finding Your Perfect Match 🎢

Welcome, fellow landlords, to the wild world of rental property listing! We’re about to embark on a journey through the best (and worst) places to promote your long-term rentals. From the tried and true MLS (Multiple Listing Service) to the unpredictable worlds of Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace, I’ll go over where I previously listed my rental properties, what were the benefits and drawbacks, and what works best in today’s market.

I’m Alyse, a landlord since 2008, in both Florida and NJ. Over the years, I’ve learned from my many mistakes, and hopefully I can save you from making some of the same. Of course, you’ll be making some unique mistakes of your own, but not to worry – someone, somewhere, has had the same problem and when we share stories, we learn from each other. If you’d like one-on-one coaching or mentoring, I’m also available for that!

And be sure to check out our next blog, which covers how to actually qualify a tenant, once you’ve gotten past the rental property listing part of our program 🙂

Already have questions? Drop them here!

Should I List My Rental Properties With A Realtor On The MLS?

I’ll start out by saying that I work with several outstanding realtors in Florida, but I do not list my rental properties on the MLS. Realtors are highly skilled in finding, selling, negotiating and closing actual sales of properties, but by their own admission, most hate dealing with rentals. No one is more invested in finding qualified, stable, long term tenants than an actual property owner – even though that owner must pay at least one month’s rent to a realtor to have their rental property listed on the MLS. 

Perceived Benefits Of Listing On The MLS:

There are a few misconceptions about turning this over to a realtor; let me clarify some of these:

• Maximum exposure to real estate agents and potential tenants. Generally yes, but that doesn’t mean that any of these potential tenants are qualified.
• Detailed property information and professional photography. Again, maybe. Some realtors may take the cheap way out and take their own property photos. Just because they “have a nice camera”, doesn’t mean they know lighting, angles, or cropping for the best effect. The listing information may simply be copied from older listings, and not include your specific requirements or an HOA/condo association rules and regulations. Make sure your listing includes specifics! Hire a professional photographer. People react immediately to images, not text.
• Credibility and legitimacy in the eyes of renters. These are actually the only benefits I would agree with. However, scammers abound, and most realtors will only do a credit check and a cursory background/employment check. 

Definite Drawbacks:

• It may seem that giving up one month’s rent as a commission is worth it if you get what you pay for, but again, no one is more invested in finding qualified, stable, long term tenants than the actual property owner. Once the tenant signs the lease and the realtor collects their commission, their job is done. Thorough research and application verification is critical, and goes far beyond what a realtor or even a property manager will generally do.
• One month’s rent may be a lot to a landlord, but it’s really not much to a realtor who has to show multiple properties and do a lot of administrative tasks, and then turn over a portion of that commission to another realtor and/or broker. And sometimes a tenant will find something on their own or with another realtor, and then there’s nothing to show for all that time. It’s not easy for them, and listing/qualifying tenants is something every landlord should understand.

Craigslist: The OG of Rental Property Listing

Of all the free sites, Craigslist was the original and best. Yes, it was full of scammers, but most renters and landlords found it very resourceful. It was free, easy, quick and had a huge audience. Today though, it’s kind of antiquated, and the last 2 years have yielded almost no responses – for me, anyway. I still list rental properties there for old time’s sake, but I don’t expect anything but crickets.

Facebook Marketplace: Where Friends Become Tenants (or Not)

Mostly, they become abusive. When I started putting my rental property listings on Facebook Marketplace, I would get hundreds of responses. Of those, most people seemed legit and at least lucid. In the last 2 years, however, every keyboard bully and scammer has taken over the Marketplace for rentals. Forget the bots, these are simply angry, paranoid people looking to vent about the highway robbery they believe is committed by all landlords.

I’ve heard ranting about everything from the rent (“How can you charge that much for rent?! I’d never pay that! Will you take $500 less?”), employment requirements (“I plan to find a job when I move there in 3 months”), to criminal background checks (“Hey, that felony occurred more than a year ago”), to the requirement of a security deposit (“Waiting for my tax refund, that’s why I don’t have it, and why do I even need it?!”).

Yes, it can be comical, but it’s mostly a waste of time. I no longer list my rental properties there. But it’s still a great place to find cat toys.

So, What Are The Legitimate (Free) Sites?

Don’t despair, there are plenty! 

Let’s start with Avail.co. This is a portal that’s part of the Reator.com network which syndicates to multiple other rental sites. Avail.co offers a lot of landlord tools, but I just use it for listing my rental properties. I’ve had great luck with this site, it’s easy to use and most responses appear to be legitimate.

The other big one is Zillow.com, which also owns Trulia.com and HotPads; Apartments.com is good and free, as well. There’s also Rent.com, but I haven’t tried it yet. I’ve quickly found qualified tenants mostly through Avail.co and the Zillow family of sites.

Here is today’s bonus tip: List on all the free sites and give it about 48 hours. If you don’t get any responses, your rent may be too high compared to similar properties. I use Rentometer.com to get a general idea of what rents are going for in a particular area for a similar property. I will then make a rent adjustment, and give it another 48 hours, until I hit the sweet spot and get multiple responses in one day. Remember, the goal is to get the most qualified tenant, not the most money. Desperate tenants may offer even more than you’re asking, but there’s a reason for that, and you don’t want to find out what it is after the lease is signed.

Share tips, successes, and pitfalls of where you list your rental properties. Drop me an email or subscribe to my newsletter, and I might feature the issue and the resolution!