New Landlord - where to list and screen?

Question

Hi BP community! Newbie here. We are preparing to list our current home for rent and become landlords. This will be our first investment property. I'm a little overwhelmed on where to list and where to screen and the more I read, the more confused I get. I've seen mixed reviews on Zillow Rental Manager. It seems while it's a great place to list, it's not the best for screening. I don't know if the type of property makes a difference in where you list or screen, but it's a large SFH in a desirable suburban neighborhood in the DMV area (Class A property). It will rent for about $4600/month. I have a couple leads already through word of mouth from my local neighborhood FB groups wanting to see it and apply once I list it.

Should I list in multiple places (Zillow, Hot Pads, Realtor, Marketplace) and screen through one screening service? What screening service is best? When you use a screening service outside of Zillow, do you send the screening link directly to the interested applicant if they find it on Zillow? I appreciate any insights and help. Thank you!

Should I list in multiple places (Zillow, Hot Pads, Realtor, Marketplace) and screen through one screening service? What screening service is best? When you use a screening service outside of Zillow, do you send the screening link directly to the interested applicant if they find it on Zillow? I appreciate any insights and help. Thank you!

Mackaylee Beach · Answer

The more exposure the property gets the better!

INNAGO has been working great for me. You are able to market properties, once posted it allows you to sync your listing into different rental websites. An application link generates and it's what I send to my prospects. Leads them to reviewing my requirements and application.

Michael Bailey · Answer

@Nathan Miller thank you for the RentPrep shoutout! We always appreciate it.

@Catherine Jacoby congratulations on becoming a landlord! If you have any questions about how our services work, please feel free to reach out to us directly via our Live Chat feature and a live screener will answer any questions you may have. You can also message me directly and I can give you more details that way as well.

Nathan Miller · Answer

@Catherine Jacoby If you are using landlord software it can help you automate this process.  There's about 30 different listing sites you can post your property to and you can do them one by one by copy/pasting in your property data and images to each, but that's time consuming.  Or you can use landlord software which will automatically publish your property details and all pictures for you saving tons of repetition.  There's a lot of software options that do this like Appfolio, Buildium, Rentec Direct.  Pricing varies, but some of the options are very economical for landlords.

For ala-carte screening, I like RentPrep and ApplyConnect.  Both work well for landlords of any size and can be used ala-carte if you don't have software.  But if you are using landlord software, that will be built into the software too.  Software would automate those listings by publishing to all the sites, provide an online application your tenants can fill out, which flows into the screening process so you can select the best tenant.

Tim Miller · Answer

@Catherine Jacoby You are correct, sites like Zillow that try to be an all-in-one service never really do everything great.

So, list your home on Zillow, Apartment.com, Realtor.com

For screening we use Myrental.com by Core Logic. It's one of the better screening service out there.

For collection rent, there are a number of sites, Avail, Zillow, Apartments or Innago. We use Innago, it's fairly simply for both landlord and tenant to use.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or concerns. Good Luck!

Sean McKee · Answer

I think you should gain as much exposure as reasonably possible. So listing on as many sites as possible is the way to go. Turbo Tenant is pretty good. You can list to multiple sites at once and it’s pretty easy to keep track of leads. I’m sure there are plenty of other sites like it.

For rent signs is another way I bring in tenants. Although this is probably market dependent.

You can keep it simple and use Transunion to screen tenants. You can send them a link. They will pay for it and you will get the results. Just pay attention to local laws as they can be all over the place with what your allowed to screen for.

Mary Smith · Answer

Hey @Catherine Jacoby I would highly recommend listing your rental to multiple listing sites. Apartments.com and Marketplace have been doing very well for me in the past year.

I would also recommend that you find a free property management software to manage both your listings and tenant screening. We use Innago, and screening applicants is a very easy process here and they use TransUnion so the data is verified as well.

Patrick O'Sullivan · Answer

Having your screening criteria written down before taking applications is key. Whatever platform you use, apply the same income, credit, rental history, and other lawful requirements consistently to every applicant. Being upfront about the criteria can save everyone time.  For listing, I’d go for maximum exposure like Zillow, Apartments.com, Realtor.com, and Facebook Marketplace.

Rachid Abadli · Answer

For listings: Zillow/Appartments are free and get the most eyeballs. TurboTenant syndicates to multiple sites from one listing. Facebook Marketplace is surprisingly effective for local rentals — I've filled vacancies in under a week from FB alone.

For screening: have your criteria written out FIRST (minimum credit score, income-to-rent ratio, no evictions in X years). Then use whichever platform you're already on for everything else — TurboTenant or Avail both include screening. Run the same check on every applicant, no exceptions. Consistency is your Fair Housing shield.

Catherine J. · Answer

Account Closed Thank you! Innago is what I went with! And I'll also list other places that it doesn't sync to. What do you use as your requirements in your listings and how do you word it and your Innago application process? Looking for some examples.

Nathan Miller · Answer

Congratulations on making a software selection!

I like to be up-front with applicants about the screening requirements.  For example:  "We will check your criminal history and we deny anybody with a felony within the past 7 years.  We require a credit score of 650+".  It saves you from receiving applications from applicants that won't qualify which in low vacancy rate markets like ours, can save you from looking through dozens of applications.

New Landlord - where to list and screen?

New Landlord - where to list and screen?

Most Popular Reply

12 Replies