According to theNational Apartment Association, landlords experience an average 46.9% turnover rate in their rental properties. Landlords and property managers, therefore, are motivated to fill vacancies with qualified tenants as quickly as possible to minimize temporary losses.Rental listing sites online and in mobile apps can ramp up exposure to renters on the move so that landlords can get their properties in front of, in some metropolitan areas, thousands of eyeballs. We reviewed 20 websites to see how easy they make it for a landlord to create an attractive and informative listing. Among the criteria we examined were the application and screening tools they offer, the geographic area they cover, and the pricing models they use. We also tested how simple it was to create a listing. Here are the best rental listing sites to fill a property quickly with qualified tenants. Best Rental Listing Sites Best Rental Listing Sites Final Verdict Compare Sites FAQs Methodology Why We Chose It Zillow Rental Manager is the best rental listing site overall due to its sheer breadth of data and services. It has the largest inventory, the most site traffic, and offers services that take the landlord from marketing to rent collection. Pros & Cons Pros Very large database of properties Built-in tenant screening tools Easy to create an informative and attractive listing Simple procedure for listing and renting Useful mobile app available Cons No option to categorize the property in a specific neighborhood Only the first listing is free Tools to manage security deposits and other fees hard to use Lease builder feature only available in some states Overview Founded in 2006, Zillow Rental Manager and its parent company Zillow cover the entire United States. Landlords can help their property listing stand out by uploading a 3D view. In fact, applicants can even focus their search to see only listings that have a 3D tour uploaded. Beyond the basic amenities, landlords can also attract attention by checking off whether they allow large dogs, small dogs, or cats. If the renter is seeking a specific view, they can sort their search for city, mountain, park, and water views. Zillow Rental Manager has made creating a listing a simple process. Add property details and images, set your monthly rent price, and then publish the listing. Landlords can update their profiles online whenever they want. The built-in tenant screening service keeps the process moving. Once the landlord receives an application that meets their initial criteria, they can use Zillow Rental Manager to run a background check and credit score report. Landlords have limited expenses with Zillow Rental Manager. Renters pay only a $35 fee which allows them to apply to an unlimited number of participating rentals for 30 days. The fee also includes the cost of their credit and background reports. Zillow Rental Manager also has the most applicant traffic and listings, an integrated application, rent payment tools, and volumes of education about the daily responsibilities of being a landlord as well as pertinent laws and regulations. Why We Chose It Avail’s tenant screening process goes above and beyond criminal background checks and credit history, which of course it also does. Avail includes prospective tenants’ eviction history, and advanced criminal checks such as whether the applicant is on a terror list or sex offender list, to name a few. Pros & Cons Pros More screening reports than other listing sites Tenant pays for screening reports For landlords on the premium plan,no fees when tenants pay from a bank account Allows landlords to collect rent easily Transparent system for tracking repairs, expenses, and rent credits Cons No mobile app Tenants pay fees on each payment when landlord is on the free plan Small listing inventory Short list of search filters Overview Founded in 2012, Avail has created a rental management platform that serves every state in the U.S. and is our pick as best for screening prospective tenants. Landlords create their listing with Avail, and Avail then syndicates it to Doorsteps, HotPads, Zumper, Apartments.com, Zillow, Trulia, PadMapper, Abodo(now Rentable), Realtor.com, Apartment List, andWalkscore. In addition to syndication to other listing platforms, Avail also makes it easy for landlords to share their listings on social media channels and use a custom marketing and portfolio site that includes a tenant portal. Avail enables the landlord to communicate with applicants from all 17 of the syndicated sites from the Avail platform. Avail is weak when it comes to creating ways for the landlord to highlight their property. There are unlimited image uploads, but the list of filters that applicants can use to search is short. Avail offers a free unlimited plan for landlords, and its premium plan, called Unlimited Plus, costs the landlord $5.00 per unit per month. If the landlord uses the free plan, tenants would pay $2.50 per bank transfer. If a credit or debit card is used, a 3.5% processing fee is added to tenant payments regardless of the landlord’s subscription plan. Avail provides credit history and nationwide criminal background and eviction checks for $30 each, or you can buy them as a bundle for $55. The tenant pays these fees (although the landlord can choose to cover them). Avail also offers nationwide terror and sex offender list checks and employment and identity verification. Why We Chose It Apartments.com is best for attracting qualified applicants because it charges applicants to apply on its mobile app. This is a benefit to landlords because it makes an applicant look closely at a listing to make sure the property’s price, size, and rules are a good match before submitting their application. Pros & Cons Pros Several map overlays for renters to pre-qualify their search Covers condos, apartments, houses, and townhouses Prospective tenants pay a fee Cons App users report updates and sorting capabilities can be frustrating Overview Apartments.com syndicates listings over a network of seven additional websites, offering the landlord leveraged exposure at ForRent.com, ApartmentFinder.com, Apartmenthomeliving.com, Apartamentos.com, and others. Apartments.com walks the landlord through its simple process to create a listing, which can be completed in minutes. The landlord can tag their listing by neighborhood to stand out for those applicants who seek a specific area of a city. Another way landlords can capture renters' attention on the platform is by completing the amenities list in the listing profile. Apartments.com also facilitates online tour scheduling, application submittals, tenant screening for credit and background checks, lease signing, and rent collection. Renters can research properties for free in both the app and on the website. Applicants can also pay to apply in the app. That means landlords are getting fewer applicants that waste their time because the applicant has a financial stake, compared to listing sites where they can apply for free. Why We Chose It Rentometer is our choice as the best site for finding cost comparables because of its proprietary technology that provides rent comparison based on input from other landlords. Pros & Cons Pros Rent comparisons available in seconds Easy and short form Free seven-day trial Cons No mobile app Fee for most higher-end services Overview Founded in 2012, Rentometer offers detailed rental comparisons nationwide. The site is used by landlords, agents, and renters—every time a renter inputs an address in your property’s area, your listing will appear on the results page. Property search results yield a robust report of key metrics, such as average rent, median rent, 25th and 75th percentile rents, map view, sample size, and sample radius. You can filter by age of listing, radius and distance, and by building type. You can analyze results by entering your property’s street address, your current location, a neighborhood, or a city. Subscriptions range from $29 per month for basic service to $199 annually for more features. All Pro subscriptions include three-year trend and moving average charts, average rent by bedroom charts, an interactive map with street view, year built, tax and last sale data, and Excel and PDF reports. The quality, depth, and breadth of information Rentometer provides when researching cost comparables is far superior to all other rental listing sites. With high turnover rates, landlords need to make sure they're using the best rental listing sites to help them find qualified tenants. Zillow Rental Manager is the best overall, offering features landlords need such as a wide range of data and services, including built-in tenant screening tools. Additionally, Zillow offers a free listing option that allows you to post one rental for $0 without upgrading to a premium listing. So, you have the opportunity to test out Zillow's platform before making a payment to see if the site is right for you. Zillow has the highest number of rental listings compared to other similar websites. It also has the highest web traffic, with 198 million average unique monthly users in the fourth quarter of 2022. Rentometer recommends that spring is the best time to list a rental property, from the start of April to the end of May. There are a few reasons for this: People receive tax returns and, thereby, have more money; there's better weather for viewing and moving into properties; and renters have ample time to move before a new school year. According to Zillow, Thursdays are the best day of the week to list a rental. Thursday is the most popular listing day because renters often want to tour properties as quickly as possible and it provides enough time for potential renters to see the post and schedule showings before the weekend. The majority of data about the best places to make money on property focuses on the real estate market overall rather than rentals specifically. PricewaterhouseCoopers found that Nashville, TN, is the top-ranked real estate market in the U.S. for 2023. Nashville has had consistently high population and job growth, which is beneficial for those renting and selling properties. To select the best rental listing sites, we reviewed 20 sites, evaluating each based on how large of a geographic area it serves and whether landlords can provide listings based on communities because many renters search by neighborhood. We also looked at how many categories a listing form included to assess whether landlords would have ample opportunity to add details that would help their listing stand out. The listing creation process had to be simple and quick, with the ability to syndicate the listing to more than one website to maximize visibility.In most categories, we favored all-in-one listing sites that took the landlord from creating a listing to marketing, communication, application, tenant screening, lease signing, and rent collection. Finally, we analyzed pricing models, paying attention to whether certain costs seemed prohibitive, justified, and in some cases, helpful in screening out casual shoppers. Article Sources Investopedia requires writers to use primary sources to support their work. These include white papers, government data, original reporting, and interviews with industry experts. We also reference original research from other reputable publishers where appropriate. You can learn more about the standards we follow in producing accurate, unbiased content in oureditorial policy. National Apartment Association. "National Apartment Association 2021 Survey." Zillow Group. "Zillow Group Reports Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year 2022 Financial Results." Rentometer. "What Is the Best Time of the Year to Advertise Your Property?" Zillow. "The Best Times to List and Show Your Rental Property." PricewaterhouseCoopers. "Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2023."Best Rental Listing Sites of 2024
Best Overall : Zillow Rental Manager
Best for Screening Prospective Tenants : Avail
Best for Attracting Qualified Applicants : Apartments.com
Best for Cost Comparables : Rentometer
Final Verdict
Compare the Best Rental Listing Sites
Company Cost of Listing Fees Features Zillow Rental Manager Best Overall $0 listing or $29.99 premium listing $35 fee for renters Built-in tenant screening service Avail Best for Screening Prospective Tenants $0 unlimited plan or $5.00/unit per month Unlimited Plus plan $55 tenant fee for bundle of required background checks, $2.50 bank transfer fee if landlord has $0 listing plan Multiple types of tenant screening reports Apartments.com Best for Attracting Qualified Applicants Contact for pricing information $29.00 + tax for screening reports and application Can tag listings by neighborhood Rentometer Best for Cost Comparables $29 basic plan to $199 annually for all features Additional cost for higher-end services, specific price not listed Rent comparisons Frequently Asked Questions
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Methodology
Best Rental Property Management Software Best Background Check Sites of March 2024 Best Tenant Screening Services of 2024 The 7 Best Real Estate Websites of 2024 Best Accounting Software for Rental Properties Best Real Estate Apps