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Profiting From Real Estate Investments
An Investor Newsletter From HomeVestors Of America, Inc.
By Marcie Geffner / Vol. 1 No. 15
08/15/2006
Internet Ads Help Owners Find Renters
Property owners who need to find a tenant for a vacant rental house or condominium can now turn to the Internet as an alternative that might meet their needs for an easy and affordable way to advertise.
Internet advertising is especially powerful in communities that have a large population of people who rely on the Internet for their information needs. In such places, property owners may find that a high percentage of well-qualified renters rely on the Internet--and perhaps even only the Internet--to search for a place to live.
A study that accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers conducted for the Interactive Advertising Bureau found that only 5 percent of the total amount spent on advertising each year in the U.S. is spent on the Internet. But don't be too hasty to write off the Internet as an advertising venue because of that low percentage. Advertisers spent a record $12.5 billion on online ads last year, and many experts expect that amount to increase substantially in the future.
Prospective tenants like Internet ads because they are an easy way to find out a lot of information about the rental housing: How many bedrooms and bathrooms does the home contain? How much is the monthly rent? What are the move-in costs? How long of a lease is required? Does the kitchen have a refrigerator or dishwasher? Are there laundry machines on the premises? Does the home have a backyard, a swimming pool or other outdoor space? Is there a garage, a carport or other off-street parking?
An online ad can answer all those questions and more as it can contain a specific description of the property and multiple exterior and interior photographs. Some online services also allow owners to update their ads, track responses from prospective tenants and even round up online rental applications through e-mail.
The best online rental ads are those that are well-written, include plenty of pictures and emphasize distinguishing characteristic of the home that might be particularly attractive to prospective tenants.
Here are some of the many Web sites that accept for-rent housing ads: - Apartments.com, www.apartments.com,
- Move, Inc., www.move.com,
- Craigslist, www.craigslist.com,
- Rent.com, www.rent.com,
- MyNewPlace, www.mynewplace.com, and
- Westside Rentals, www.westsiderentals.com.
Apartments.com, which is owned by Classified Ventures, offers weekly classified ads and ongoing display ads. The weekly ad starts at $65 for two weeks and includes a description of the property, a limited number of photos and an interactive map and driving directions. The ongoing ad, typically utilized for a large apartment building, costs $269 per month and includes a description of the property, an unlimited number of photos, a toll-free telephone number and ad response tracking reports for the advertiser.
Move, which used to be called Homestore, offers a monthly ad that costs $20-$35 or a pay-per-click advertising model. "Pay-per-click" means the advertiser pays a fee that's set by the company every time anyone clicks on the ad, up to a cap that's pre-set by the advertiser. The fee on Move.com might range from 25 cents per click in a rural area to perhaps $1 per click in a metropolitan market.
Craigslist allows property owners to post free ads and photographs in a public forum that's organized like a newspaper classified advertising section.
Rent.com, which is operated by auction giant eBay, and MyNewPlace both accept rental ads without any up-front charge, and then collect a "success fee" from the owner after a qualified renter signs a lease for the property.
Westside Rentals, a local service in Southern California, allows owners to post an unlimited number of free ads on its Web site. The company also gives away credit reports and for-rent yard signs, and hosts parties for landlords and tenants at its offices. Prospective tenants pay $60 to search and respond to the ads for 60 days.
Many, but not all, online rental services screen ads for compliance with fair housing laws. Among those that don't is Craigslist, which considers itself to be a "community-moderated commons" of people who "self-publish" their own ads. Property owners are obliged to obey local, state and federal fair housing laws regardless of whether the Web site on which they advertise offers any aid in such compliance.
Copyright 2006. Marcie Geffner. All rights reserved.
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