How accurate is rentometer?
Hey investors! Just a quick question for you guys. I'm looking at some properties and trying to come up with accurate rents. I came across https://www.rentometer.com and was wondering if any of you guys have heard and used it before? I'm not using this only but looks like a helpful tool!
I'm interested to see what you guys think.
Thanks!
Kyle
Most Popular Reply
Its only ballpark. And it is only based on published data like listings on Zillow, Trulia, Realtor, or other sites. But many rentals are not advertised on those sources, so there are properties that they don't have visibility of.
Additionally they only consider number of bedrooms, they don't consider:
1. number of baths
2. fireplaces
3. garages
4. source of heat
5. utilities that are paid
6. condition
7. part of town, while they do look at the town, there can be different types of neighborhoods in the same zipcode or town.
8. whether the property is an apt (neighbors above, below and on both sides), townhouse, or single detached house.
9. Square footage
10. size of yard
11. off street parking
12. busy street
13. close to public transit
All of the above and more can determine the rent on a property
If you need a very very ballpark figure, it's good. If you need to account for property type and baths and sqft then probably you need something else.
Search on Craigslist for rentals in your target area. It will give you actual data on rents.
Thanks @Bogdan Cirlig and @Shawn M. !!
It will give you a very good generalized market rate but it's only one tool to be considered as the others have said.
Craigslist is good for seeing what landlords are *asking* for rent, not what they're actually getting for it. I've used rentometer.com many times, and found it very accurate. The one time I priced a rental $200 over what it said, I had a vacancy for 3 months while I slowly dropped the rent.
It seems to be fairly accurate in the Rockford IL market.
I have also found that Zillow's Rent Zestimate is pretty accurate. I use a combination of Zillow, Rentometer, and Craigslist to determine rents. Craigslist is usually the best since you can see pictures. The finishes in the property can demand higher rent.
I'd give it another vote for being pretty accurate, at least when I use it for my market. Like a lot of people I use it along with craigslist listings and feel that together they give me a pretty good picture of market rents.
Just to give an example of how I adjust from the average I get from rentometer: in my area I feel that there is a slight premium people will pay for a 2-bed duplex, and an even bigger premium renters would pay for a 2-bed SF. Rentometer does not differentiate between those and a 2-bed in an apartment building - so I factor that in when evaluating my duplex units using rentometer.
Awesome Thanks everyone!
Its only ballpark. And it is only based on published data like listings on Zillow, Trulia, Realtor, or other sites. But many rentals are not advertised on those sources, so there are properties that they don't have visibility of.
Additionally they only consider number of bedrooms, they don't consider:
1. number of baths
2. fireplaces
3. garages
4. source of heat
5. utilities that are paid
6. condition
7. part of town, while they do look at the town, there can be different types of neighborhoods in the same zipcode or town.
8. whether the property is an apt (neighbors above, below and on both sides), townhouse, or single detached house.
9. Square footage
10. size of yard
11. off street parking
12. busy street
13. close to public transit
All of the above and more can determine the rent on a property
- Residential Real Estate Investor
- Kansas City, MO
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As Bogdan said, it's good for a ballpark figure but thats about it. It doesn't differ between houses and apartments or account for conditiom, sq ft, baths, garages, etc. Its also all based on other people's estimates. When you put in your charge it shows up as a dot on the map so we don't know how accurate those comparables are. I would use the map feature on craigslist or pay for something like rentrange to get better comps.
I look at rentometer, craigslist, newspaper, other landlords, plus I have pretty good idea because most properties are in my wheelhouse.
Great minds....
- Residential Real Estate Investor
- Kansas City, MO
- 5,102
- Votes |
- 10,504
- Posts
Or terrible minds... let's hope you're right!
Rentometers accuracy is probably area specific, but I know in my area it is usually pretty reliable.
Just like Zillow's Zestimate, rentometer rents are only as good as data in. The data is based on zipcodes, so where zipcodes cover smaller geographical areas the data tends to be better. for areas where zipcodes are 10 miles long or more, not so much.
I have found the best rents barometer is running test ads on craigs. When I get 20 responses in one day, I can feel confident. Forward prospects to nearby PMs or keep as future renters list. I have let folks know I am going to be a landlord in this area and I am looking for good tenants in the area for this property. I have even gone as far as having them doing drive bys while in escrow to see if we are one same page.
IMO, its only meant to be general pricing to provide a ballpark range for renters/landlords as any other source you use (i.e. zillow, trulia, craigslist etc) as a guide. The other options would be to ask around the neighborhood to see what others are actually renting their house/apartment for. Most people won't mind sharing what they are paying in rent for their place of residence, if you ask nicely.
Kudos,
Mary
I use Rentometer, zillow, Craigslist, and primarily my realtor looks at the MLS. Whatever we think the rent is during analysis I round it down to a lower amount. So, if I think it will rent for $1,275, I use $1,200 to determine if I'll buy or not. Rentometer and Zillow are usually low, but the MLS is always right for my areas.
In my market rentometer has been way off when ever I have tried it. Zillow I have found to be more accurate but still obviously just for ball park purposes. CL lets you see what people are asking... which helps.
But if you think about it... "ball park" is really as close as you can ask for. Because every rehab is different, every layout is different, deposit amount, quality of tenant etc.
There are sooooo many factors that skew the data. For example how many landlords accept tenants that you would not accept? You can't get that data from rentometer or zillow or anywhere... you can maybe get that info from a local property manager's records but they still can't show you credit reports and confidential info on the tenant. They will have rent ledgers and be able to show how long people stay and if they pay late, etc.. but there will never be software that can spit out a magic "optimal rent amount" number. It has to correlate with the right rehab, the right tenant, the right vacancy rate, etc, etc.. In my opinion the "optimal rent amount" can be a somewhat abstract concept thats learned over time through experience. I think the best way to learn rental rates the fastest is being involved with leasing and property management.
- Ryan Mullin
Hi! Josh from Atlanta here. I'm a newer buy/hold investor, and I have found Rentometer to be a helpful tool in determining rental rates in my market. Like others here, I use several tools to gain an accurate perspective.
A great exercise is to look up the comps on Rentometer, Zillow, and CraigsList, make a list, and then go drive / walk the neighborhood. The combination of online research and the old 'boots on the ground' will do wonders for understanding rent values.
Bring along a few business cards to give to the neighbors you will inevitably meet and a pen to write down the phone numbers from the FSBO signs you will see.
I wish you all the best with your investments. Cheers!
