Don’t know about SFBA rentals. If they are really rich (a lot of them are) I guess that can be arranged?
I use both CL and Zillow/Hotpads/Trulia. I tend to focus on CL for furnished room rents and Zillow for full place rentals. I have had good luck with Facebook groups as well, but more for the furnished rooms.
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Right. A lot of ads I see in my group are for rooms. Not necessarily furnished though.
Yes, but we had some smart young non Asian tenants who knew of this “roadblock” so when they called about an apartment in Chinatown they figured even if the owner is Chinese speaking he /she probably has an English speaking son/daughter who would help them. Smart girls, they enjoyed a 3 bedroom flat for about $1,500/month for awhile. We liked them so we were cool with them…
With FB and wechat the non Chinese won’t even see the ad. That’s the beauty of high tech.
aka dragonboy.
I like phone inquiries. Even if they are just texts, make sure you use a number that is accessible. People are reluctant to leave messages. The scammers have hurt Craigslist. But I love Craigslist… As far as Zillow and Trulia… lots of email inquiries… 90% are worthless, especially the ones sent late at night. I respond with phone calls. Half the younger set can not or will not talk. Follow up with texts.
Renters flake a lot won’t show for appointments and don’t bother to call to cancel. I will not meet unless I pre qualify on the phone… even then some flake… I try to have at least three groups show up for viewings, saves time and puts urgency in their minds. Plus safer also for me. although in Eldorado county it is easy to get a concealed weapons permit…lol
Yea, one thing I get from Daly City listing is like you a lot of inquiries. I normally sent back my qualification criteria and then they went silence.
I do group showings ONLY. Create sense of urgency as well as to save me from no show. What do you ask on the phone to pre-qualify them and what do you say to them if you don’t want them?
I have found that nextdoor is very good for generating high quality leads in leasing out garage spots. I figure that the reasoning is that people looking for garage spots are already in the neighborhood, so they are using nextdoor to find something as close to them as possible.
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The last 6 vacancies, I did not advertise at all. Just got referrals from my other tenants. I have a waiting list too. Got a notice this morning and already 2 candidates to move in.
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Students? I heard many students looking for housing in Santa Cruz neighborhoods.
yes
I have not seen traffic coming from Craigslist as a professional for sometime. eMail coming ans were rejected not able to reach. They look like spam.
I put them on MLS with a lockbox and my site it will syndicate to all sites. The rental market is soft since late 2016. Some are still coming for jobs. It saves a lot of time and effort since agents who come have the tenants screened. The minute MLS cost certainly will keep the place occupied sooner than DIY.
I do not have any “student rentals” but… yes… 1 apartment is occupied by a young couple … both students
How much do you need to pay the tenant’s agent?
For your landlord client, they would need to pay both you and the tenant agent. What’s the total cost by industry standard?
I work with an agent to find tenants. She is independent and does rental management but I just work with her for tenant screening, because she’s really awesome at it. I do the management myself but with a good tenant it is not much work.
She charges 2/3 of a month’s rent but it has been very worthwhile. She is very diligent and the tenants she has found are amazing. She looks for tenants who will be really happy in my home and well suited to it, and will be easy for me to manage.
She is old school in her methods. I used to question them but she gets results so I don’t interfere 
She uses mostly Craigslist (plus her personal network, but usually Craigslist is the main source) and then she talks to prospects on the phone or via email. Then she schedules individual appointments for them to see the place with her. She does not do group viewings. I think the individual appointment gives her more of a chance to ask questions and get a feel for whether it’s the right tenant for the place.
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I do the same thing. My wife and work the groups if need be. It is actually kind of fun. I have talked to hundreds of prospective tenants in just Tahoe alone. There are thousands of people moving up here, and no room for them. People call me from all over the US and South America. Lots of Argentines come for the winter. I prefer locals, who will stay at least a year, but many have little money or credit. Anyway it has been very interesting learning the demographics of South Lake Tahoe. Plus meeting all the vendors, tradesmen, even the bureaucracts
Been much more interesting and lucrative than stock investing.
I have learned the average long term tenant stays 2-5 years. Then there are seasonal tenants that stay 3-4 months. Seasonal tenants have to pay in advance Apartments are much more lucrative than houses, but more work. Higher maintenance and turnover
Rents are higher in summer than winter
The dead season is April May tillJune 15
And Sept 15 to Dec 15.
We also have a vacation rental in Stateline, Nevada.
Vacation rentals get between 100-150 days occupancy if lucky.
They are a lot more work than long term, but you are paid in advance and the tenants are higher quality than the short term. The average vacation rental is only 3 days,
Nobody comes up for a whole week except Cristmas, New Years… the most expensive rents of the year.
There is an extreme housing shortage. Especially for min wage workers… all government caused. TRPA and zealous building officials allow only 18 houses a year to be built when we need 500 units a year.