Creative Ways to Gauge Rentability

[Noureen A S.]

When searching for potential rental properties, if I am unsure about how well rentals do in a particular area, I will post photos of the property "for rent" to Craigslist and see how fast and how many inquiries I receive...

(I'll keep the listing up for 48 hrs as this is unethical and, I'm sure, illegal (I don't own the property yet). I won't post the exact address, only the cross/between streets. This is enough information for "prospective tenants to find out the exact location anyway)

I've yet figure out whether or not this is an affective way to gauge the potential of a rental because...

1) I'm still a brand new investor and in the property analysis phase and...

2) This method only captures the demand of a property in a somewhat isolated frame of time (for instance, if the property needs renovations, I may not be able to rent it until 6 mths after closing, and by that time, demand can shift... By how much, I really don't know).

Does anyone else have any "creative" ways to gauge rentability if they don't have access to proper data?