If you want to find tenants but youâre unfamiliar with sites like Facebook Marketplace or donât know how to use Craigslist to post your rentals, there can be a slight learning curve.
Fortunately, weâve outlined how to use Craigslist to post your rentals below so you have an easy mini-guide to help you get started!
What is Craigslist?
Craigslist is a free*, online classifieds platform.
Users can post ads for everything youâd find in traditional newspaper classifiedsâeverything from community activities, local services or jobs, housing, items for sale, and discussion forums.
For the housing category, users are able to post apartments/houses, housing swaps, housing wanted, office/commercial spaces, parking/storage, real estate for sale, rooms/shared, rooms wanted, sublets/temporary, and vacation rentals.
If you are more interested in a long-term tenant, you will likely want to explore the âapts/housingâ sub-category, listed under the âhousingâ category. However, if youâre new to using Craigslist to post your rentals, you might benefit from exploring the entire category! Who knowsâyou could even find your next deal under the âreal estate for saleâ sub-category!
Getting Started on Craigslist
Setting up a Craigslist account can be done in 5 simple steps, which weâve outlined for you below.
- From Craigslist, click create an account in the upper right hand corner of the Craigslist site
- Enter email address
- Click âCreate accountâ
- Check your email for a verification link and click it
- Create a password or go passwordless
Done!
You will be able to see all your postings (when you start using Craigslist to post your rentals) under your account
How To Use Craigslist To Post Your Rentals
- Go to www.craigslist.com
- Ensure your location is correct
- Click âCreate a Postingâ
- Select the type of posting it is (e.g., âHousing Offeredâ)
- Select a category (e.g., âapartments / housing for rentâ)
- Write in the listing details
- Add photos & publish your listing!
*Note: in select areas, you may need to pay a minimal fee for posting your listing on Craigslist. This is likely in an effort to prevent or reduce scams on the platform. Read more below.
Add Your RentRedi Listings Page on Craigslist
If youâre a RentRedi landlord, you can add in a little something extra special to when using Craigslist to post your rentals by also pasting in the link of your RentRedi listing!
When you create a vacancy listing in RentRedi, we automatically create a listings page the beautifully showcases your available unit. Additionally, applicants can prequalify to your unit using the RentRedi prequalification feature.
This prequalification form asks prescreening information (such as credit score, income, pets, smoking, and more) that you can use to filter out any initial applicants who donât meet your minimum criteria.
You can paste in a link to your RentRedi listings page when you use craigslist to post your rentals under the âlistings detailsâ section in Craigslist to provide applicants a way to directly prequalify to your rental!
Avoiding Rental Scams on Craigslist
When it comes to posting a listing on Craigslist, youâll want to take steps to ensure that youâre protecting yourself from rental scams.
Beware of the following:
- Willingness to rent a property without seeing it first
- Say they are out of the country
- Want to send a cashierâs check, Western Union, etc
- Payment is for more than the agreed-upon amount
- Try to instill a sense of urgency
- Email or text that uses poor grammar/spelling & is extremely vague about details
- Refusal to see the rental in-person
- Unwillingness to complete your application process
To avoid or report a scam, read more regarding Craigslist tips and advice.
Craigslist Fees
*As noted above, Craigslist is a free posting service, with the exceptions of:
- Job postings in US and selected CA areasâ$10-75 (fee varies by area)
- Apartment rentals in Boston, Chicago, and NYC areasâ$5
- Commercial real estate in the USâ$5
- All for sale by-dealer categories in the USâ$3-5
- Cars/trucks by-dealer in the US, Vancouver BCâ$5
- Furniture by-dealer in Vancouver BCâ$3
- Cars/trucks, RVs, and motorcycles by-owner in the USâ$5
- Gigs in US and selected CA areasâ$3-10
- Services in US and CAâ$5
(Source: Craigslist)
Final Thoughts on Craigslist for Rentals
When it comes to managing rental properties as a means towards gaining passive income, a significant factor in reaching your financial freedom goals that many first-time or new real estate investors donât realize is that finding tenants to fill your rentals can often eat into your rental reserves or cost you money initially.
If youâre determined to quickly fill your investment property, there are a myriad of platforms at your disposal where you can secure tenants. There are âtraditionalâ listing sites like Zillow and Realtor.com.
But, there are also social media platforms or classified ad sites like Craigslist you can use to post your rentals on as well. Many landlords have had success finding tenants (especially if renters in their area tend to be younger), as more people use sites like Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist to find their next home.
