Technology to find Rental History on a specific property?

Question

Hi there -

I was wondering if there are any tools / technologies out there that can find the rental history or estimations on specific properties?

Jack P. · Answer

@Paul Palo,

you can use Zillow to see the listed rental prices on specific properties.  Use the map view, zoom into the property in question, and click on the price listed (it doesn't have to be for rent/sale to do this).  Scroll down to the price/tax history, and look there.  If it's a multi-family, you may have to click on the 1 or 2 bd price.  Play around with it, but I think it caches all listings on the MLS.  You may have to switch between the "Rent" and "buy" sections.  I use it quite a bit to comp my properties.  Kind of scary actually, because it has the tax and sale price for every house I've ever lived in.

Kyle J. · Answer

Depends on how/where the unit was listed for rent.  Sometimes sites like Zillow, Hot Pads, Rentometer, etc will have historical data on previous/expired rental listings that are still accessible.  You can usually find them by just Googling the property address and/or checking those sites directly.  But if someone just threw a sign up in the yard saying the property was for rent for X dollars a month, no database is going to have a record of that.

Jacob A. · Answer

Paul,

I am not aware of any specific site for the rental history of a property, but I use the website www.rentometer.com as a guideline for the market rates in that area.

Be advised, this site doesn't take into account the conditions or upgrades or anything of that particular home nor does it compare the conditions of the properties it is calculating either. But It could be a good place to start...

Hope this helps

Andrew Johnson · Answer

@Paul Palo This might not help you immediately but I do have alerts set for rentals where I invest.  I have list of addresses and the rent they are asking for.  Overtime you can look at a specific neighborhood and at least posit if there's a "rent ceiling" or what the average unit will command for rent.  But as @Jacob Atkinson points out, it's hard to remember all of the upgrades and the algorithmic solutions out there do the same things.  Every once in a while the Trulia's of the world will have a rental history but just around previous asking prices.  You never know if they had to throw in a free months rent, if they collected a security deposit, etc.  So, like in most things, there's some guesswork involved.

Technology to find Rental History on a specific property?

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