Which is best for rent estimates?

[Jon Blackburn]

Has anyone found that one tool/website works best when estimating rents for the Central Ohio area? I'm seeing such wild variations between the BP Rent Estimator, Zillow estimate, Rentometer, actual rentals on Facebook/Craigslist/apartments.com/etc. 

What are you doing to feel confident about potential rent?

[Amanda Roderick]

Personally, I don't trust automated valuations as the final say in determining rent, though they're helpful to see to make sure you're pricing your unit within a realistic range. I used to work for a couple of companies that did market studies for developers of apartment complexes and other large developments, and we used the sites where renters find apartments to see what others are charging to help estimate a market rent for the subject project. A lot goes into the consideration - amenities, finishes, size of units, occupancy rate, proximity to area conveniences, even ease of ingress/egress into the community, among many others. Not all of those factors directly apply to single-family or smaller multifamily renter, but I use the same overall approach to pricing our rentals. Right now, I find the most common sites for rentals to be Facebook Marketplace and Zillow. I periodically keep an eye on rentals in our same neighborhoods, but I always check what the other available options are right now to help determine the market value for mine right before listing. Know your competition. How does your unit compare to the others currently available around yours? It's also a good idea to look at how long a rental listing has been listed to help determine what is too high to ask. 

Everyone has their own strategy though! Just thought I'd share mine in case helpful ... :) Best of luck to you!