craigslist-How many responses?

Question

How many responses do you get on a craigslist ad? I created a few dummy ones for an area I hope to buy in and have only gotten a handful.

Justin Robert · Answer

I have recently sold a property off of CL and one off of FB Marketplace. You weed through more junk and spam "leads" but it is free to list and I have been happy with the turnouts of both.

Jay Hinrichs · Answer

not sure as I don't deal in rentals much.. but with all the fraud on craigslist.  IE fake landlords trying to scam people out of money.

seems that some folks might not cotton to the idea of dummy adds I know I wouldn't..  so they just don't call..

I was contemplating building a 100 unit apartment complex on the Oregon coast some years back or should I put up 80 town houses.

I did run a COMING SOON  add in the local paper.  but it clearly said coming soon and subject to being built.. that was in 07 and I still get calls LOL.. well maybe not now but I did for years after..  there was demand problem was rental rates would not support the cost of new construction..   just like you cant build new construction in many parts of the US because existing homes sell for far less than replacement costs..

Rigo V. · Answer

@Ryan Blake so my ads are mainly focused on renters. I put a dummy ad on craigslist advertising a rental and have not more than a handful of replies. I think the area my not be a good rental market.

Carlos Zapata · Answer

With Craigslist I have found that you have to have either a ton of ads going at the same time or simply pay for it, it works amazing but sometimes you gotta work with it a bit harder than usual! Also, don't only rely on craigslist, go with different places to promote, try facebook, zillow, and stuff like it! You can also go with gosection8.com, there are some that don't have vouchers, so contacting them first might work better for you!

Travis Wylie · Answer

As @Karl B. said try Facebook Marketplace as well.  It's market specific for sure, but in my Market I certainly get most of my rental leads from that followed by postlets (zillow, trulia, hotpads), and then craigslist.

Renee Potoczny · Answer

@Rigo V. I haven't had luck on finding tenants on Craigslist. I still post there, however, I post on the MLS as well.  That's where they have been coming from in my area.

Karl B. · Answer

It depends on the market. When I posted an ad in L.A. I got many more ads than when I posted in my main market (Pennsylvania).

However, in my PA market posting in local Facebook groups/pages (related to rentals) absolutely crushes Craig'sList. I would venture to guess I get 15X more responses VIA Facebook (of course, most applicants don't meet the rental criteria but I digress - it's how I've filled most vacancies when I've purchased a new property).

Anthony Wick · Answer

The "funny" thing is, you can't tell much of anything until people actually show up for the showing and then until they actually fill out an application. If I had to guess, I'd say the show up rate is about 75% (and I specifically put in my ad that background and credit checks will be done, so no surprises for people). Of that 75% that show up, maybe 10% fill out an application. Then actually getting somebody to pay the $40 background/eviction/credit check is even lower. So, even if it was a great dummy ad (not a fan of the dummy ad idea), and you got 30 calls, I'm still not sure you could learn a whole lot.

I tend to look at local ads on Craigslist, Zillow, Facebook, etc to see the number of vacancies. For example, in my area I know there are very few vacancies for duplexes (they rent quickly), and I know what those duplexes rent for. However, for a certain type of townhome here, there always seems to be vacancies. And those same townhomes do not appreciate much, btw. It might narrow down the type of property in the area I look to buy. So many factors...

Karen Rittenhouse · Answer

@Rigo V. Every area is good for rentals if you have the right properties and rent prices.

There are areas, however, where I don't want to own rentals.

That being said, Craigslist is not a way to test the strength of a market. I successfully used Craigslist to find tenants for years, by the way.

If you want to know the strength of your rental market, talk with property management companies in your area. Where do they have the most strength? Where do they need more properties? Speak with landlords at local Landlord Association meetings.

And hook up with your local REIAs and real estate investment groups to find out what local investors are saying about the market.

I think I know the answer you're looking for, you're just asking the wrong question.

Anthony Wick · Answer

Show us what your dummy ad says, exactly. How did you do it? No address listed I'm presuming. Pictures? Maybe your dummy ad isn't that good. Why not talk to realtors in the area and ask how strong the rental market is. What are the current ads on Craigslist for the same type of property you are looking to buy? I'm not sure how much you can learn from a dummy ad.

craigslist-How many responses?

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