Just curious as to everyone's thoughts on Rentometer. I've used it a little while looking at places in the market that I live (Roanoke/Salem VA) and there are generally not enough results to make it seem worthwhile. Most of the time, when I search within 1 mile of the property (the standard 2 miles it gives seems to wide to me) it will typically only return 1 or 2 properties. Is this pretty typical or is it maybe market specific...?
I've used it for a couple of years in my markets and in those 2 it's pretty accurate. But I love Ian's point @Ian MacDougall. I offer cute, clean, well-maintained properties and I can usually get 10-15% more than Rentometer says I can get. It does give me a good picture of my competition.
@Jason Davis It really depends on your market. I am a subscriber of the service. It is excellent for me and my clients. And, seems to be pretty spot on or Kansas City market. However, I also use zillow, facebook, and apartments.com to get other guestimates on rental rates. Hope that helps!
@Alex Olson is right--it's highly dependent on the market and availability of data. I use it as a quick sanity check when evaluating properties, but I'd always take a good local PM's opinion as a trustworthy source over the websites.
Same here it's good for a quick check, but I always check comps in the MLS myself - especially how nicely updated a home is can make $100 of a difference. let me know if you need any data happy to pull some for you!
Definitely market dependent. As the others mentioned, I suggest using other resources to double check that you can get a certain rent number (agent, zillow, property managers, etc.). I used Rentometer for my first (town)house hack deal in Lynchburg. The townhouse is a 3bd 1.5br which I rehabbed this past summer. Rentometer said $1200 was too high for the area, but I got countless inquiries and rented the place out within a week listing at $1200. You can always drop or raise the price if you're not getting bites. Remember too, that you don't want rent too low that you get undesirable tenants or too high that all tenants are priced out of it. Good luck!
I've used it for a couple of years in my markets and in those 2 it's pretty accurate. But I love Ian's point @Ian MacDougall. I offer cute, clean, well-maintained properties and I can usually get 10-15% more than Rentometer says I can get. It does give me a good picture of my competition.