Ok, so perhaps I am just a bit excited about my new Android phone, but I really like this new app from Trulia. We work with Trulia frequently for advertising and listings, and although listings in New York City are a bit flooded by brokers (just check out all the listings with the "Address Not Disclosed"), Trulia remains one of the best listing websites out there. The coolest feature is the location-based search. I work on 23rd street near Madison Square Park, and now I can search the Trulia database for rental listings near my office just by turning on my GPS. And, of course I can filter by rent, beds and baths, square footage and a few other features.
Trulia has typically been a much more sales (listing) oriented site, but New York City is a far more rental-driven real estate market, topping the list of Trulia's Rent vs. Buy Index. But with this new app, exclusively dedicated to rentals, Trulia appears to be focusing a bit more attention on the rental side of the market. And we really look forward to any new tools that enhance a user's search for an apartment.
From the App Description:
Trulia - For Rent: find homes or apartments, share notes and photos - on the go!
Designed specifically for apartment-hunters on the go, Trulia - For Rent takes all of the pain out of finding your next place to live. Quickly find homes for rent or the apartments you like, share notes and photos with your roommates, and stay on top of what’s new on the market. Find your next rental on Trulia!
FEATURES:
• Personalize your search - Quickly find properties you like by GPS or location, get rid of the ones you don’t
• Remember what you liked (or didn’t) about the place - Take notes and photos, and also share them easily with roommates and family
• Never miss out on another rental - Sign up for email alerts right from your phone to know when new properties become available
• Quickly see what’s new - Marker colors help show you what properties you haven’t seen yet
• Find open houses near you and easily add them to your calendar
• Find properties using voice-based search – Just say the city, # of beds and bath, and price range
What changes have taken place since Zillow acquired Postlets in April?
For one, last month we developed the ability for real estate agents, sellers, property managers, and landlords to post for-sale and for-rent listings directly from Zillow to Craigslist — for free!
Today, we’re thrilled to announce that the Postlets Pro program is now free. That’s right — we are opening up this program, which was previously a paid, subscription-only program, to everyone, for free!
That means that starting today, all new for-rent and for-sale listings on Postlets are free and will include:
- up to 18 large photos
- a rich listings template with multiple tabs
- the ability to embed community information (i.e. Walk Score, school data)
- video capabilities
Previously, these enhanced listing features were only available to paying Postlets Pro subscribers. And, of course, Postlets is still committed to listing syndication, which distributes your listings across 13 real estate and social media websites.
Postlets now has multiple tabs for richer property information
Large photo display of up to 18 photos
Real estate agents, landlords, and property managers, we hope you are as excited about this announcement as we are! Start uploading your for-rent and for-sale listings to Postlets today, and continue to look to Zillow for innovative tools and resources to market your listings and grow your business.
via zillow.com
Today, we’re announcing an exclusive agreement with hyper-local real estate website Blockshopper.com to power its real estate ads and expand the online reach of agents and brokers.
This partnership between Move, Inc. and Blockshopper will make it easier than ever for home buyers and sellers to find Realtor experts in specific neighborhoods, search for houses online on a block-by-block basis, and get accurate, up-to-date information on houses in any Blockshopper neighborhood or subdivision.
Move will start offering two BlockShopper products later this year:
- Local Notes—allows Realtors to make notes on properties, which can be shared through social media.
- Agent News Releases—a tool for Realtors to write about their listings, sales and more to appeal to home buyers and sellers. Blockshopper currently covers 20 local markets, with more to be added soon. The site is part of a growing movement on the web to focus on local coverage.
We’re happy to be joining with them as they grow, and we look forward to the launch of Local Notes and Agents News Releases. Stay tuned for more updates and announcements, and Happy Househunting!
via move.com
Zillow has always been a resource for people in every stage of the home ownership process, whether they’re buyers, sellers, or homeowners.
In late 2009, we added renters to that mix when we launched rental listings on Zillow. And today, we’re delving even further into the world of renters and landlords as we launch Rent Zestimates – estimated rent prices for more than 90 million homes.
Renters make up 70% of all people who move in a given year, but up until now there hasn’t been a way for them to figure out how much they should be paying for rent. I’ve experienced this firsthand, both as a landlord and a tenant. In fact, according to a survey we recently fielded with Ipsos, nearly two-thirds of current renters didn’t do ANY research into fair rent prices before signing their lease.
Enter Rent Zestimates. Computed using a proprietary algorithm that takes public record information, as well as information from hundreds of thousands of rental listings on Zillow, they are starting points in determining a home or apartment’s fair rent price. Combine this with information on comparable homes and apartments for rent on Zillow, and a prospective renter will have many more data points to figure out how much they should pay for a rental. And with Rent Zestimates now on Zillow’s mobile apps as well as on Zillow.com, it’s also easy for renters to arm themselves with data on the go, while they’re out looking at apartments or when walking into a lease negotiation.
It’s not just renters who will benefit, though. Landlords – especially “accidental landlords,” who want or need to move out of their homes, but don’t want to sell in a down market – can use their home’s Rent Zestimate as a starting point to figure out how much they should ask for rent.
via zillow.com