Do I need to list my Rental on the MLS?

Question

Good afternoon everyone,

I have a house listed for sale that isn’t selling (Seminole, FL). I’m considering renting it out and managing it myself. Does it make sense to list the rental on the MLS or would listing it just on Zillow Rental Manager suffice? I appreciate the help!

Best,

Marcus

Ahmed Omran · Answer

Hi Marcus,

Is your property located in unincorporated Seminole? I ask because you can turn this property into a short-term rental on platforms such as Airbnb/ VRBO. I am a local real estate agent who owns and manages short-term rentals in Indian Rocks Beach, Largo, and Seminole. If you need any advice or want information on how to do this, just let me know; I would love to help.Thanks

Ahmed

Russell Brazil · Answer

I get like 90% of my renters from Zillow.

John K. · Answer

Hi Marcus, since you are self managing I would recommend listing it through Zillow rental network. If you list on the MLS, you'll have to pay typically 1 month's rent in commission to the realtors.

John

Marcus Smith · Answer

Thanks @Dan Maciejewski

I appreciate the insight!

Dan Maciejewski · Answer

With the rent demand in our area, you don't really need to put it in the MLS.  It would feed out to all the other sites that prospective tenants will be using but you should get enough traffic from just using Zillow Group and maybe FB Marketplace.

I tell all my clients that it's not worth it in the current market to bother with the MLS.  There are enough qualified tenants that want good housing that they WILL find you!

Marcus Smith · Answer

Thank you @Lily Rodriguez!

That makes sense! I appreciate your guidance!

Lily Rodriguez · Answer

Marcus,

If you want more exposure you can list it on the MLS, and you will have to pay a fee to the agent that brings you the tenant then you will have to do a credit check and background check yourself for each applicant however for my clients I prefer to list it on Zillow rentals only, because I can manage the applications directly from there and the prospective tenant only pays $35 application fee once and can apply for different properties with the same application fee. It's a win win for everyone.

I don't do property managment, we do free tenant placement for all our investor clients that purchase a house with us.

Also you can put it on Facebook Market place for more exposure and then redirect them to the zillow link for more information and application process.

I hope that helps.

Best Regards,

Lily Rodriguez - Investor friendly Broker