Ever happen to you? I posted my rentals online and got SLAMMED.

[Carol Venolia]

Hi all,

I've been landlording for a year now. Earlier in the year, I had two rentals available, posted them online, got plenty of applications, got good tenants, all pretty straightforward. I pride myself on providing good rentals, good service when repairs are needed, and a good demeanor even in the face of tenant weirdness.

Now I have two rentals available. I posted them on craigslist and on a Facebook group for the community where these rentals are. On the Facebook group, people started right in telling me I was charging too much, calling me names, telling me to have a heart, etc. What?? Soon others were posting in my defense ("she posted an ad, not an opinion poll," "if you don't want to rent this, just shut up"). 

I used the same process for setting my rents this time as I did before: I checked rentometer and craigslist, then set the rents at the average for the rental size and location. These are all newly rehabbed units, and everyone who's seen them is impressed with what a good job we do.

It amazes me that strangers are willing to be so unkind (AND so kind!) and to pass judgment when they don't know the details. Silly me, huh? But this didn't happen on the previous round, so... ??

All I can figure is that this is part of the fallout from the recent huge fire in that area. Lots of people lost their homes, and tension has been running high. Add to that the fact that Mercury is retrograde and a lunar eclipse has been simmering, and, hey! Why not bash the out-of-town landlord?

So, has anything like this ever happened to you? Are rentometer and craigslist a poor way to judge average rents?

obtw, I've been getting calls, showing the places, and taking applications. 

[James Wise]

Applicants say and do crazy things all the time.

Don't let it deter you.

Also look into using Postlets.com to advertise your rentals. It is free and in my opinion provides a much higher quality applicant than craigslist. In my experience craigslist applicants are usually the bottom of the barrel in the tenant pool. Postlets sends out ads to Zillow, Trulia and other sites like that. Still get bozo's but doesn't seem as bad as the craigslist bozo's.