rentometer - reading accurately

[Daria B.]

Hello,

I use a number of sites including tapping the knowledge of property managers.

PMs know better the trends in renting; what's renting better in an area (ie 4/2,3/2,3/1) and what it's renting for but I don't want to always call them on every property. I call on the ones that I am about to or strongly considering putting a contract on.

I've been using rentometer, zillow, and realtor to get an idea of what people are asking for and in some cases zillow will show off-market and what it was listed at (whether it rented at that amount of not). Craigslist just doesn't have any organizational pages that I feel I can get any information. I search for an area and get other areas.

How do I read the rentometer ticks on the map? I found 2 red ticks, one was 'current' and the other was 'historical'. Their FAQ doesn't have anything on reading the map. The green and yellow can also have the same descriptions.

Thanks