Rental comps, history, and vacancy rates

[Ben M.]

Is there a quick/easy way to get rental comps, history, and vacancy rates?

Is a property manager the best resource for this type of info? I guess they would be preferable compared to a real estate agent?

[Jeff Bridges]

Originally posted by @Ben M.:

Is there a quick/easy way to get rental comps, history, and vacancy rates?

Is a property manager the best resource for this type of info? I guess they would be preferable compared to a real estate agent?

 I use zillow and renometer to get a baseline for area rents based on bedrooms. Then I hone in my estimate by searching live listings so I could view photos and compare like style properties and renovation trim so I can get an apples to apples comparison based on neighborhood and property type. If I'm buying the property with an agent, I ask my agent to run sale comps and also rental comps for the immediate neighborhood for similar properties. That gets me pretty accurate rental comps. Vacancy rates you can do a google search of the city and find area vacancy rates. I generally just estimate 8-10% for my calculations which is conservative for my area.