Investor Websites...Useful??

Question

I am considering building a website with all of information for each of my apartments. I wanted to do this because it will be easier to market them and therefore, easier to rent them.

I was thinking of a site that listed the available rentals with pictures, type, square footage, and about 20 other variables so that prospective tenants would be able to look at the rental via the internet. This would cut down on showing to people not interested.

I think the interent has given everyone easy access to information. So, in this information age we live in, prospective tenants will appreciate having the information at thier disposal.

Is this a standard practice for you? Why or why not? What would make this better?

Account Closed · Answer

Hey Kirk,

I quickly scanned through the title post and your original post. I didn't have the opportunity to read everyone else's post so I apologize if this is redundant.

One thing that I would say, and I say this, as a renter (in my OWN shoes), is to meet us where we are. Meaning, if you could present your listings to where we already reside. If you create a website, sure thats fine and dandy and I may find it but.... probably won't ever.

In Los Angeles, our place is Craigslist.com. Free and absolutely effective. Another would be westsiderentals.com, but they are a paying site and have slowly been run off by the freedom of craigslist. So, you could always hit em from every angle, but I feel Craigslist (at least in the LA area) is a MUST.

Good Luck. Don't spend unnecessary money. Wordpress.com is also a cheap and effective way to post blogs of your listings; integrated media (pics, videos) is simple in the blogs.

Robb Terranova · Answer

Kirk - We use the internet in the process of marketing our rentals.  We direct genuinely interested ad respondents to the property site where they can view additional information and photos.  We include a downloadable application PDF in the property profile, and a PayPal button for the application fee.  We do not process the signed, faxed/emailed application until the fee has been received.

Account Closed · Answer

No quick answer to this question.

A lot is going to depend upon your level of technical knowledge and ability, the time you are willing to put into this and your expectations and the amount of money you are willing to carry as a monthly cost.

A low cost non-database site can run for under ten dollars a month, we are currently spending about 35 a month for a database-based site running with SSL for login.

It is fairly easy to set up a site. But after that it starts to become hazy.

1- How big is your area ?
        If you are in a small town with no major cities right next store, then SEO to get listed on the first or second page of search engines is fairly straight forward and pay-click like adwords from google could be viable. You might even make a few bucks a month on advertsing using a service like google or CJ to help offset the costs.

If you are in a major city, forget about it. You will be lost in the hundreds of other sites and the costs of adwords will quickly become prohibitive.

2- How interested are you in leaning SEO to help get your ads in decent positions in the search engines?

There are literally tens of thousands of rental websites out there on the net and a lot of them let you list for free. Most offer some type of syndication ability, copying your ad to other sites, often creating a ripple effect across the net.

For example, list your unit on Oodle and it will appear on Facebook and dozens of other sites that use Oodle as a consolidator, my husband and I do this for our own site.

Given the continuing  non-justifiable costs these days of the paper adverts, it is wise to add the internet to your advertising for tenants, the costs and viability of your approach depend on some of the factors listed above.

GL