Comments on: Zilpy vs Rentometer: Renters Beware of the Bling

By: easy come easy go

easy come easy go — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 09:02:15 +0000

[…] understand. I sit agog staring at any screen I can reports flickering across my eyebalbeefbagel.comZilpy vs Rentometer: Renters Beware of the Bling Sellsius broke the news of Zillow getting into rentals back in January of last year Zillow tells […]

By: si

si — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 07:37:43 +0000

[…] you your heart??s fulfillment Bo Bo Go Sing! May every step be higher and higher Thewww.woodka.comZilpy vs Rentometer: Renters Beware of the Bling Sellsius broke the news of Zillow getting into rentals back in January of last year Zillow tells […]

By: A Sobering Reminder Of Whats Going On In California at World Flat

A Sobering Reminder Of Whats Going On In California at World Flat — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 07:11:22 +0000

[…] Rentometers map has stick pins, and satellite, map and hybrid views. As with Zilpys map, most of the rental properties are outside the 10314 zip code. But you can identify each property, rental price and location by clicking the pin. .Zilpy vs Rentometer: Renters Beware of the Bling […]

By: Joseph Ferrara

Joseph Ferrara — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 00:28:56 +0000

Good point Mike. Only those familiar with a local market can identify those factors which add or detract from value.

By: Mike Brown

Mike Brown — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 00:17:47 +0000

As a Realtor who sells a number condos and townhomes in a resort market I thought this would be a great tool to share with my buyers and investors. Unfortunately there are no/very few results for my area. Another huge flaw I noticed for any resort town similar to mine is that rentals ON the ocean tend to rent for a significantly higher rate than those a few blocks away even though they may be on the same street. I may be wrong but I don’t believe either application takes these factors into account.

By: Something Zilpy at Condo Blog

Something Zilpy at Condo Blog — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 20:46:58 +0000

[…] I came across something neat over on the Sellsius Blog (what else is new!) It was about this new online rental evaluator called Zilpy. Its actually a […]

By: Joseph Ferrara

Joseph Ferrara — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 16:09:15 +0000

Also, there is no specific information on the rental properties. So it is extremely difficult, nay impossible, to make a useful comparison from one unit to the next. No photos. No lease terms. What’s not included in the rent, what is included, is there parking, a washer-dryer? yada yada yada.

So what happens is you spend a lot of time getting general sense of apartment rentals and you still have to look at the apartments. And that will never change. Besides, you get a general sense of value and going rates when you hit the pavement and see what computers can’t.

By: Carey Frankel

Carey Frankel — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 13:05:32 +0000

Both websites will have trouble getting a complete database of homes for rent in any market until they pull information from Realtors and Newspapers.

It seems Rentometer’s source of information would be more accurate but less complete since the information is coming from leasing companies. This is based on my local market (Jacksonville, Florida) where there are more rentals in the newspaper then there are in the MLS. And I am assuming that a leasing company would price their homes closer to market then an actual owner.

On the other hand, Zilpy’s data would be more complete if they are able to grab the rental listings from all the local newspapers. From you article it seems they don’t pull data from all the sources available in your area.

I totally agree that a Realtor’s local knowledge of the area and the particular properties can provide insight that the websites can not.

It would be interesting to see which website gets more complete data coverage first.