Experience with Rentometer?

[Tyler Rosenstein]

For a property I am considering, Rentometer says the average rent for similar homes is 2300, with the lowest in the area being 1700. However Zillow has the house next door listed for rent at 1350. This house next door did not even show up on my rentometer report as a comp. Does anybody have thoughts on how accurate rentometer typically is?

[Brett B.]

I think it really depends on the area.  I was in a similar situation as you and Rentometer was coming in about $300-400 higher than Zillow.  The property I was analyzing was near a popular beach destination down the NJ shore and I think the comps were not accurate because of that.  There is also a "rich" side of town near the beaches and the numbers were really off.

For me, Zillow was a much better estimate as to what ASKING rents are.  Keep in mind these might not reflect actual market rents if they have been listed for a long time and not renting.