All Forum Posts by: Jeffrey Levy

@Account Closed  Hi Louie.  That is great.  In your case, the free listings matched current listings that you found elsewhere.  It won't for all locations based on what Rentometer discloses.  

As a side note, I canceled my paid subscription with Rentometer recently when I was researching this property:   421 N Washington Street, Jacksonville, FL 32202

Rentometer (Paid) showed 1BR at $1,026 and 2BR $1,318. Rentometer showed several locations within 1 and 2 blocks away. There were no sub-$1,000 listings in that area according to Rentometer. I went to 2 property management companies which both said that the rents were to cheap in that area and they wouldn't handle the property (an 8-plex). When I told one of the companies what Rentometer showed, the representative emailed me 2 rentals on MLS with listings $495 for 1BR and $750 for a 2BR. These MLS listed rentals were not even listed as outliers with Rentometer. There might be a good reason. But, because of this, I decided to cancel the paid account and realized that I just have to do the work myself and look for the real sources (like you did checking craigslist) and make sure that you are comparing apples to apples (not Hi-rise to Lo-rise). I am sure that Rentometer will work perfectly in many areas (maybe even most areas), but I am not going to risk investing 6 figures on a property without "knowing" the rents and comparing the properties myself.

@Account Closed  Hi Louis.  I am not sure what you are trying to tell me.  The free version includes BOTH current listings AND listings up to 3 years old.  Depending on the area where you are researching, there may not be 3 year old listings.  These are the words of Rentometer themselves - not mine.

@Amy Edinger

I just sent it to you in a colleague request.

@Amy Edinger I would be interested in the first one of 52 doors.

Interested

I had the same question this morning while doing some research.  I decided to ask Rentometer themselves regarding sources, age of data, whether it they are "for rent" prices or "rented" prices (not that they would differ much).  Here is the answer that i got:

"We collect predominately listing (asking) rents although we do have some actual rental data in the system.  Our Basic (free) service uses data up to 3-years old. Our Pro Lite version has a MaxAge filter of 12-months and our Pro version has a MaxAge filter of 3-months."

From my take, the "free service with data up to 3 years old" is not going to be so helpful in a rising or declining market.  The paid plans would seem more reliable at 3 months and 12 months old.  If the paid versions are accurate, then it might be worth the $15-$30 monthly for the ease that the data is shown with just typing in an address and bedroom count.  I am not yet convinced that they are accurate since I was told in separate email "Rentometer collects rental listing data and rent data from a variety of sources including: bulk syndicated data, our proprietary rental data survey, and user generated input and listings of rental data".  Without naming any sources or the distribution ratio between the 4 mentioned mediums, it is difficult to determine from the user's end.  On the other hand it might be the most accurate available.  If anyone learns more about the accuracy of the paid plans then I would be interested to hear about it.  I would also be interested in any other company that might do the same thing but clearly state their sources.

@Marlon Seecharan

Hi Marlon,

Have you spoken to an attorney since?  Can you share what you have learned about this?

I am considering the same situation: Live in NY, Deleware LLC and a Florida purchase.

Look great.  Did you do any exterior work?

@Troy Norwood

How low of rents do you expect to get and for how many bedroom/bathroom?

Have you used the rental calculator on the property? Use a higher than normal Vacancy rate in the calculator. Also, ask local property management regarding speed and cost of eviction. With expected problems, a higher NOI seems to be needed to cover those costs and make it worthwhile.