After you’ve cleaned, photographed, and prepared a rental property for showings, you have to advertise rental property somewhere so that potential tenants can find your property. While offline advertising through word-of-mouth, newspapers and yard signs are still useful, the best places to get people interested in your rental property are all online.
Nowadays though, there are tons of rental listing sites online you can use to list your property. But how are you supposed to keep track of the ones that are worth using? Lucky for you, we’ve created a list of 20 of the best rental listing sites for you to post on.
Find out some basic details below on these rental property websites so you can be prepared next time you need to advertise your rental property.
Apartments.com
This website boasts the most rental listings of any site, with over a million condos, apartments, and houses listed at any given time. The site has “Top Markets” and “Popular Searches” sections, making it easy for prospective renters to find listings that meet their needs. The more specific you are in your listing, the easier it will be for people to find you on all the rental property sites.
If you have policies on pets or include utilities in the rental price, make sure to include that when you write your rental ad. You can list apartments for free, or pay a fee and have your rental ad shown to more people and kept at the top of search results for a month.
This is the best rental listing site for posting rental ads for individual units. Prospective tenants can schedule showings and apply directly on the website or through the app.
Apartment Finder
If you offer tenants great deals like rent discounts, free appliances or other amenities, Apartment Finder is a great site to use. Tenants can also see if a unit they’re looking at is cheaper than similar ones in the area. It’s designed to get tenants the best deals possible but its also free to post listings on, making it a great deal for you, too.
Apartment List
Apartment List is one of the more expensive on the list but you only have to pay the fees if you successfully sign a lease through the site. Fees start a $359 but if you list multiple units, you receive a discounted rate. This tool also asks those searching for apartments to complete a survey and are given a list of apartments that match their criteria.
Apartment List puts trust in its targeted approach, which will hopefully lead you to finding qualified tenants who are happy with your property right off the bat and choose to stay for a long time. This will ultimately save you money because you won’t have to re-list the property every year.
Avail
Avail is a rental listing platform that syncs with a ton of the other rental listing sites on this list like PadMapper and Zumper. Avail also lets you manage questions from prospective tenants and schedule showings online or in person. You can even request and store tenant applications on the platform.
If you struggle to come up with creative and catchy listings and titles, Avail would be a good platform to use. The system can generate the copy for you after you give it a little information about your property.
You can also perform tenant screening, get tips on creating lease agreements, and take care of rent collection through Avail, making it useful for many different aspects of property management in addition to property advertising.
Craigslist
Craigslist is probably one of the oldest rental sites out there. Tons of people know about it already and might hop onto Craigslist before looking for rentals anywhere else. This does mean you have to be careful when using Craigslist, as it’s a target site for scammers who can duplicate your listing and take advantage of interested tenants.
Make sure you include details on your process in your post or first interaction with potential tenants so they know not to give their security deposit away before signing the lease or seeing the apartment. Craigslist can be a great tool and it’s free to use, just be wary when using it since it’s an unregulated platform dedicated to a lot more than just property rentals.
Doorloop
This is one of the more expensive options on our list because there is no free version. There are three plans available for $59, $99, and $139 per month. The Starter, Pro, and Premium listing plans all include accounting information, access to a tenant portal, tools to collect rent payments and perform tenant screening, and a maintenance request portal.
With the Pro and Premium options, you can list your property on six rental property websites including Zillow Rental Manager and Trulia through doorloop. There are other benefits to purchasing the more expensive plans and the site often offers discounts and deals for money off your subscription plan.
Doorsteps
In addition to being a great tool for posting your rental property listings, Doorsteps also has some interesting and unique features. It allows those searching for rental homes and apartments to select a city they’re interested in from a dropdown menu.
They also have a tool for renters to calculate how much they can afford to spend on rent each month, so they’re only looking at rental properties within their budget. There is also a blog with tons of useful information on moving and budgeting. You can also pre-screen tenants and organize showings on this platform.
Dwellsy
On this rental listing site, you can list single-family homes or apartment buildings with multiple units on this site. The site also offers users two options: Dwellsy Direct and Dwellsy Feed.
The direct option is for landlords or managers who only own a few properties or smaller apartments. Feed is meant for professional property managers and investors who own a large number or rental properties.
Facebook Marketplace
Facebook Marketplace allows users to list things they’re selling. You’ll find everything from lamps to cars on this platform. Although it’s not dedicated to property listings, it’s pretty user-friendly and a popular place for apartment hunters.
It’s a free rental listing site and since it’s integrated into Facebook, it makes communicating with potential tenants easy to do. Unlike Craigslist, there is a bit of regulation on this platform and posts can be flagged if they appear to be scams, although you will still have to be wary.
HotPads
If you manage a lot of apartments in urban areas, HotPads is definitely a listing site to check out. A lot of other platforms list homes for sale and apartments for rent. HotPads is exclusively for listing apartments for rent, meaning you can target prospective tenants looking for exactly that.
This platform will notify people searching for apartments when new listings are posted that match their criteria. This can be helpful for you, too, since they’ll be prompted to get in touch with you as soon as the listing goes live.
PadMapper
PadMapper is a great tool for listing properties. It has a unique feature that allows people searching for apartments to zoom in on specific areas of a city map. They can also filter by preferences, so you won’t bring anyone to your listing who can’t afford it or is looking for a larger space than you’re offering.
PadMapper is owned by Zumper, so your listing will get automatically added to that site, as well. The mobile app is free to use, easy to post on, and user-friendly for both those posting and people searching for listings.
Realtor.com
Although this site is used most often for buying and selling properties, you can also use it to market rentals. Some of the other apps mentioned on this list will also allow you to automatically post a listing on Realtor.com, making it easy to reach a wider pool of potential renters.
One of the great features of this site is that it categorizes listings based on their key features, so renters can look at pet-friendly rentals, rental with in-unit laundry, and even properties with pools. This is another reason to make your property listings detailed so that prospective renters can find exactly what they’re looking for.
Rent.com
Rent.com is owned by real estate giant Redfin. Any listing you create can easily be added to three other listing sites, including Redfin. You can also post that same listing on 10 other sites for a small fee. This site makes it easy to list any size rental, from a single-family home to an apartment complex with dozens of units.
You can screen tenants and request applications from interested renters right on the site, making it an all-in-one tool for many steps in the rental process.
RentDigs
You can create rental listings for free on this site and list them on other rental platforms like RentJungle and Mitula. The biggest benefit this site has to offer is that is shows you how many views you’re getting on your listings.
Although there are no barriers like a minimum credit score for tenants to access this site, they do have to create an account before they’re able to view any listings. Some people might find this frustrating and choose not to create an account but it could also help weed out renters who are less serious about moving.
RentRedi
You can use RentRedi to post a listing and have it added to Realtor.com and Doorsteps for free. One of the great options in the mobile app is the virtual tour option. People may not be able to visit the property for various reasons, so adding a virtual tour to your listing could definitely bring in interested renters from outside of the state or city you’re renting in.
RentalSource
You can use RentalSource to list your properties for free on their syndicated partners which include Zillow, Trulia, and HotPads (you can always opt out of this if you’d prefer to just list on RentalSource). The site allows you to list an unlimited number of properties for free.
You can write your own listing for a house, apartment, or condo, or use their built-in tools to create a rental property listing. The site also has some useful resources on avoiding scams and fraud, which are great for anyone new to using online rental listing websites.
Unlike some of the other sites on this list, RentalSource does not have tools for tenant screening and scheduling showings.
Trulia
This is another rental listing site and mobile app owned by Zillow. Trulia is a popular place for those searching for new rentals and homes. If you create a listing on Trulia, it will also be listed on Zillow and HotPads. You can also list a single room on this platform, which is a feature not available everywhere else.
You can create your first listing for free but will have to pay $9.99 a week for each additional listing you create. One great thing that Trulia offers its users is information about the area surrounding each property, including details on schools nearby and access to public transportation.
Walk Score
This is another of the rental listing websites that’s ideal for urban areas because its focus is on renters without cars. Every property listed on Walk Score gets a score based on how easy it is to access amenities in the area.
The closer your listing is to public transportation, entertainment venues, and grocery stores, the higher the score will be. One thing to keep in mind is that this site is not a place you can directly create a listing.
You can use Avail or another similar site to create a listing and have it added to Walk Score. Once your property receives its score, you can add a badge to listings you have on other sites. If you know once of your properties is perfect for tenants that don’t drive, make sure to get your listing up on Walk Score.
Zillow Rental Manager
This is one of the most popular sites for real estate and one of the best rental listing sites out there. Although many people know this site for its home pricing tool and property listings, there is also a rental manager section of the main site where property managers and landlords can post rental listings.
Zillow Rental Manager is great because of how many people use it daily, however, after your first free listing, you have to pay nearly $10 a week for each new listing. Like some of the other tools, Zillow Rental Manager lets you perform tenant screening, create lease agreements for different states, and rent collection online through this app.
Zumper
Zumper is a great free tool to use, and your listing on this site can be automatically added to PadMapper. Like many rental listing sites, tenants can put in all their specifications and get their ideal matches. As a landlord or property manager, you can include credit score requirements in your listing to let applicants know whether they should apply or not.
Conclusion
There are tons of different rental listing sites out there and each of them offers unique things to their users. If you’re just looking for an easy place to post a listing for free and get in touch with prospective tenants, try out Facebook Marketplace or Padmapper.
If you’re looking for a platform that will allow you to advertise your rental unit or full rental property, screen tenants, and get access to integrated rent payment and maintenance request tools, consider one of the more comprehensive options like doorloop or Zillow.
You can also choose to use a combination of tools to get your listing viewed by as many people as possible. Make sure to write a strong property listing that includes all the relevant property details.
If it’s pet-friendly, you offer a discount on the first two months of rent, or provide an attractive resident benefits package, make sure to include that in the description.
These 20 of the best rental listing sites are by no means an exhaustive list. Try out a few of them the next time you have a vacant property and see which ones you like best.
