I am doing most of my advertising on Zillow Rental Manager these days, although I still use Craigslist as a backup. Most of my responses come from Zillow.

The problem with Craigslist is the stupid "is it still available?" e-mails. It's funny to place an ad at 7:00 AM and some idiot writes at 7:20 asking that.

I am tempted to say: "No, it is not. We placed the ad 20 minutes ago and we had 10 showing and just signed a lease. We will keep the ad up for a while because we're lonely and love all of your e-mails."

Instead, I write: "Thanks for writing. Sorry, but the unit is not available to you."

I don't know of the typical CL responder is dumber than those of Zillow, or if it's spam.

Ditto, I have the same feelings & I get the "Is it still available response" ALL THE TIME.

While I do not verbalize it, it is now my internal response (not to you). I began responding to them. After probably 30 responses, i have not had any result in a lease, or even follow through with filling out my prequal form.

Jeff, yep, I hear you!

Those "is this still available" are about the same as the "I'm SUUUUUUPER interested; please contact me with more information" emails I get from Zillow/Trulia and Facebook market (which also has "is this still available).

While I enjoy these free ad sites, one problem is there's no policing old ads or lazy, non-responsive land lords. It doesn't cost anything to leave ads up, so why bother deleting ads? I do delete mine ASAP once we're rented, but my guess is many folks just let them expire...eventually. Prospects don't want to waste their time, so they flood the market knowing that only diligent LLs who have openings will respond. I think CL ads run 30 days before expiring. Zillow prompts me every so often asking if my property is still available. It did remind me once about 5 days after I rented one to take it down. Oops, lazy S i d...had to add that to my checklist!

Think about the process from a renter's POV: how long does it take to write a custom email inquiring about availability or to call someone asking about a place? 1-3 minutes, perhaps? Or they can push a button that auto generates an email...takes only a second. They can inquire on 50 properties in a minute!

I asked on Facebook once about that, and the admin of the group explained that is what prospective tenants were allowed to ask - other responses might get deleted. Why I don't know!

S i d, you're right. I also know what you mean about the "super interested" e-mails. They are infamous. I usually just delete the "is it still available" e-mails without responding.

A writer has to be really dumb when asking that question when the ad was just posted.

Agreed - many listers are too lazy to remove expired ads. But I'd think they'd get tired of receiving responses to ads for properties that are no longer available.

From the number of "is it still available" responses on CL one might think that most ads there aren't current, but I doubt that is the case. Really an annoying response.

I. too, get this all the time from FB. What annoys me, is that when I respond "yes", and to please call xxx-xxx-xxxx for an appointment, they never follow through. I think there are too many out in FB land that have insomnia (most of these come through in the wee hours of the morning), and they are just clicking on anything.

I try to delete the posts as soon as a lease is signed on a unit. Once in a while I forget, but never very often. I want to quit getting the "is this available" messages at all hours.

I try to be thorough in our descriptions, and put in all relevant info in the posts. They are constantly asking stupid questions, that could have been answered if they only read the post.

But it is all a numbers game, I agree. The more people you reach, the more likely you are to fill a vacancy.

Something to keep in mind... If they are still using Craigslist, they are either a die-hard fan or scammer. The die-hard fan believes it is Craigslist and nothing else. They remember the good days when you posted something, it would be gone 15 min later. Reality is, Craigslist is a ghost town in some parts of the country. Others, it's still thriving but on life support.

When I advertised our smallest, cheapest house on FB Marketplace I was awash with those "Is it available" responses. I finally changed my ad to state that those who only replied with that (and yes, folks CAN provide more details) would be automatically deleted.

One person told me I was rude. They, of course, were instantly deleted.

Now with available units that have higher rents I still get that but to a lesser extent. I just hit the "yes, it is" button and go on.

I think part of the problem is that people these days just have poor communication skills. They don't know how to open communication so they just ask something generic.

I have thought about doing this & have done it many years ago.

My issue is safely. As I single female I am concerned about inviting folks who I know nothing about to an empty house.

I think people are just rying to communicate and they’re not sure what to say.

Another reason ALL CALLS GO TO VOICEMAIL and email/texts get a canned reply to go to our website.

I do understand the problem. We suffer thru it here too.

But if I only took people who communicate perfectly we'd be bankrupt.

An ounce of patience and some grace gets us lots of residents who are run off by other LLs.

It's not a house business - it's a people business.

BRAD

I've never had one of those "is it still available?" people turnout to be a decent prospect, but I have started answering, "yes it is. If you would like to do a drive by and look at the outside and the neighborhood to see if it suits you, let me know and I will send you the address."