Zillow just announced they have expanded their real estate web presence with the addition of rental properties. As of yesterday, when I checked, the website had the “New! Rentals” tab listed on the “Homes” search tab at the top of the page. If you search properties for Salem, Oregon there are currently 0 rental listings since the service is literally a day old.
I know that I’ve had a tremendous amount of success with listing rental properties for myself and friends (those needing help to post) with listings through the ever so wonderful Craigslist.org. I’m sure I’ll write about this again sometime in the near future as we begin to see some traffic on Zillow’s rental tab. The immediate downfall of Zillow is a cost. Craigslist is loved mainly because it’s free and people know to look there. Currently potential renters don’t know to look to Zillow unless they are also conducting some research on a possible purchase. However, the cost to list a rental is not significant. From what I’ve read it looks like it will run you $9.95 for a 180 listing. That’s not too bad.
Personally, I like Craigslist. However, I mainly post there because I know people are looking. Zillow is well known in the online real estate search category so I expect this new rental search to be pretty darn hot. I can see property management companies and personal investors flocking to a single location where all properties can be viewed. Craigslist will still be alive. And depending on your location (i.e. the Bush Park neighborhood here in Salem) a sign in the yard may be all it takes for you, but if you need some additional help in getting your rental listing viewed, you might want to try www.zillow.com.
That’s a great idea Conrad. I’d never thought of using Zillow for rentals.