Looking to try new apt listing services. feedback?

Hey MFH Marketing Pros,

I'm looking to try new apartment listing services to target new renters. Currently I use Rent.com, Westsiderentals.com (it's huge in California), and of course....Craigslist (the best one for us). I've also used Yelp featured business listing, which has worked somewhat for our higher income apartment buildings. Also, I'm already syndicated via RentSentinel to have postings on Google Base, Vast.com, and Oodle.

I just cancelled my featured listing with mynewplace.com as it barely brought new leads.

Please tell me your success or failures with sites, like Rentwiki, apartments.com, etc. Are these worth looking into?

Thanks in advance!

Adam

(Moderator Note: If you represent an ILS and want to respond to Adam's question, please review the forum rules prior to posting.)

Great topic, Adam. I'm glad you mentioned RentWiki - they are a sponsor here at Multifamily Insiders and are absolutely great to work with. I'm sure you'll find some people on here to give you solid recommendations for them.

I would also suggest looking at Occupancy100 and RentMineOnline , both of whom are also supporters of the site. That's not to say other sources are not worthwhile, but we try to "give back" to the companies that really make all of this happen around here!

[Note: RentMineOnline isn't a listing service, per se - they use social media to have your residents spread the word to their network - very cool service...]

Hi Adam,

Great question. I agree with Daisy that the strength of the ILS varies from region to region. In Colorado, Apartments.com works for us very well. When you break up the cost per lead, its often under $10 which is decent in our industry. My company does not use a tracking tool for email leads so I have found the best way to benchmark Apts.com is on a cost per lead basis vs. cost per lease. They syndicate to well over 100 other classified sites so the customer recognition is a bit low.

Regarding your note on MyNewPlace, you say you canceled your featured listing? Did you keep your community listed? My feeling is that their product can be misunderstood. Their leads are delivered via their online managers center. You likely noticed this too. When a lead comes through, our managers get an email saying "you have a lead. please log into the managers center to retrieve it". For us, our site teams were finding it a challenge to log into the managers center and retrieve the lead. So we asked MyNewPlace to deliver the lead directly via email and fax and bypass the managers center. I'm a fan of the pay per lead model so it works for us.

Rentmineonline is worth a try. We have a few communities who have had success with this FB referral program. For California consumers, I think its definitely worth your time.

Most everyone on MFI will agree that Rentwiki is also worth a try. You only pay for legit leads. No risk.

I also like a text product we've been testing. If you would like, email me your contact info and I'll send you the pros and cons I've encountered using the text product. Its too long to post here and needs its own topic thread!

Take care!

Melissa

Adam, I'm a fan of Apartments.com. In many markets they are also tied to the local newspaper online. They get tons of traffic to their site and they are a fair price.

I'll agree with the Rentwiki and RentMineOnline nods as well. Progressive companies!

Wow, thanks for the quick responses and advice!

@Brent
I submitted my contact information to RentMineOnline and am waiting to hear back from them. I think their unique services can work for some of our newer buildings which have a lot of students and young professionals. So thank you for the tip!

@Melissa
I put in a submit form to hear back from apartments.com as to their services. I looked at their plan structure and seem a bit confused as it seems as though it's a monthly service fee AND you have to pay on a cost per lead basis. Am I reading it wrong? Which plan/package has worked best for you?

In regards to Mynewplace, we had gotten some leads on their basic package, but we have a brand new building in the middle of a lease up so I opted to try a featured listing. The featured listing did not get too many results, but I will still keep their basic pay per lead plan.

@Mark
The reason why I wanted to look into apartments.com is because of their incredible site SEO. They always seem to come up in the top 3 on organic search in google. I will also try out RentWiki, but I'm waiting for RentSentinel to finalize their feed settings for RentWiki.


Thanks again. I'll let you all know in a month or so if I see any results.

Adam

Adam,

Another ILS that has great results in California is Move.com. Similar to Apts.com, but less expensive and month to month contracts. The director there is Mark Lacey [email protected]. I hope this helps! Good luck :)

Jackie

Thanks for the suggestion, Jackie. My only concern is the demographic of Move.com. Do you happen to know if the user base is educated or affluent? Also where are most of the users/visitors from in California (LA area, SF, San Diego)?

Hello Adam! I work for www.MOVE.com , #1 Real Estate Website, (an Internet Listing Service) for So. California, I would be happy to go over your current needs and what would work best for you. My email is [email protected] or my cell or 800# is:
c. 714.673.9262 | p. 800.978.7368 x54856. Looking forward to hearing from you!

[Moderator note: Meredith, can you please contact us as soon as possible? Thanks!]

Adam,

With any ILS, demographic users are usually the same. I just emailed your question to Gabe Castaneda. She's so much fun and has a lot of knowledge on the internet and more specifically your market. I know she has some demographic power point slides that are extremely interesting. Gabe is a very busy lady....if for any reason she can't get them to you today, I'll locate them for you.

Jackie

Adam
Apartments.com is a subscription based service that includes a listing on our website and syndication across our network of partner sites. Reach out to [email protected] or let me know if I can provide more information.
Lee Rosenthal, VP Marketing, Apartments.com

Renters who use ILSs are still finding them by search. Results vary by submarket. Type in the name of your city, e.g. x apartments and x ca apartments and see who shows up. That's where you should try advertising.

move.com, by the way, has very good search engine positioning in a lot of markets and is a lot less expensive than any other national ILS in markets where they work. BTW, I don't use them - in fact I'm a competitor and do not own their stock, for what it's worth.

I don't know much about them, but you might want to check out RentLinx. Amanda Schneider has been a member here for a long time, so I'm sure she could give you information.

I've heard some great stories about ApartmentMarketer.com. Talk to Todd Tyrell.

(Moderator note: Sorry, but no self promotion in the discussions area. Please see the rules for more information.)

Sorry, just answering his question and providing helpful information!

(Moderator Note: No worries! I'll send you a note soon about some ways to get the word out about your company.)

I am wondering how some of you may feel about this.
Rentwiki records every phone conversation that you or your staff will have with a Rentwiki provided lead. Having a third party retain phone recordings increases the risks of potential liability from honest mistakes. As an owner, why would I want to increase my exposure to potential litigation? In the Chicago area we do get "shoppers" from local agencies checking our adherence to fair housing rules and regs. If a shopper were to use Rentwiki and decided to initiate a claim for a rule infraction, would Rentwiki turn over the voice recording if they had a request to do so?
Does anyone see the value of having a third party retain voice recordings from any and all of your leasing agents?

Jim, we record all our calls from any marketing source we use. We use them for training purposes so that we can continue to improve the way we answer calls. I also believe honest mistakes can be fixed. It's the mistakes that people make over and over that we are not monitoring that can bite us. I honestly believe the recordings can help you more than they will ever hurt you.