I have always been able to get free rental analysis at rentometer.com. That info is no longer available for free at their website.

I only have 3 doors that I manage and do not want to pay a subscription to find that info for my soon to be vacant rental. I may only need this service once every couple of years.

Is anyone found other reliable online free tools to determine the going rental rates for your area?

I would NOT trust the information from Zillow.

When I previously advertised a rental there, it told everyone it was way above market rent - because they compared it to a house around the corner that was smaller, not updated, with no garage or off-street parking, fenced yard, etc.

I use Craigslist and FB - local rental pages - to check open rentals. But really, I find that my applications tell me what people can afford. My goal is to keep my properties affordable to good tenants with decent jobs, so they stay full.

Why not set up a bidding format for the rent?

AD: Nice apartment for rent. Pictures.

If you would like to rent this place please reply with the amount you are willing to pay. Minimum bid is $$$. Applications processed from high bidder down.

Let them bid on what they will pay.

You can use Zillow, but do NOT trust the Zestimate. Use the actual comps.

How?

Set up a search filter as if you were a tenant. If your house is a 3 bed, 2 bath, 1 car garage in Zip code 12345....then enter those into the filter. You'll find who your competition is. If you create an account, you can save the filter and it should email you fresh listings so you can keep an eye on things.

I've also noticed that when you go into "Tenant View" on Zumper it provides a high, low, and median of all currently advertised rentals in the same area as your address. Just look your address up specifically once posted and you'll see where your rent falls among your competitors.

thanks for all the good options mentioned. Keep them coming. I just liked that rentometer was just so simple to use and got the graphic dial to show if your rent was in the green zone.

Regarding Rentometer free option. I had used rentometer for free back in Sept to check on how rents were holding up in 2020.

I am a private lender also, and just this week I had told a client looking for funding for a buy and hold to check out rentometer to get an idea of what to expect for rents in that area. She came back and said she did not see the free option just a free trail if you gave them your email. I thought hum and tried for myself and yep found no free option anymore.

I reached out to rentometer to see what was up and this was response...We no longer offer a free version, however you are qualified to sign up for our 7 day free trial (no credit card required). Then I asked when did this change from having a free option...Last week. We realized that customers who registered with us prior to 2020 were still able to access our Quickview reports, and this was not supposed to be the case. We haven't offered a free service to our new customers for quite some time.

I think rentometer pulls their info from craigslist. Interesting enough. This fall I listed a rental unit on craigslist and I only received a couple of inquiries. It seems the last few times I have been getting less and less from craigslist. My marketing KPIs indicates that Zillow listing is my best performing free listing then Facebook marketplace. Any comments on your best performing free rental listing go to place?