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10 Websites to Rent Your House
Sites to Rent Your House Short Term
AirBnb
AirBnb Summary
- Over 150 million users worldwide
- Earn an average of $924 per month
- Rent out your property whenever you want
- Quick turnaround time for payouts
AirBnB is the largest short-term rental platform. This platform is most popular among travelers who are seeking a place to stay in a new location.
As travelers are booking your property online and can’t view it in person, they focus on the photography and reviews your past tenants have left for you.
To ensure the success of your AirBnB rental, make sure you invest in taking quality photography.
The reviews are the most important part of your listing. And you will earn positive reviews by providing excellent service and positive communication. Make sure you keep your property clean and resolve any issues a traveler may have in a positive and timely manner.
While setting up your listing is free, you need to pay a 3% fee for each booking you get.
Booking.com
Booking.com Summary
- Provides transparent, innovative, and supportive partnership; for instance, by providing the tools required for 24/7 support and visibility.
- Turns its global audience into your guests, for example, through professional online marketing and continuous innovation
- Provides attractive partnership rates which can increase your properties visibility
- Attracts more guests to your properties by offering loyalty programs that provide travel rewards
Booking.com is the world’s largest platform combining hotel bookings and private property rentals in one.
Many people turn to Booking.com when they are searching for a property to stay while traveling.
Listing your rental property on Booking.com is also free. However, it charges you the highest fee – a 15% commission for each booking made through the platform.
Vrbo
Vrbo Summary
- Free to post a listing
- Can earn income from renting out property
- Listing reaches a large online audience
- Reviews grow your listing’s popularity
Vrbo is also a popular platform many travelers go to when they search for a place to live short term.
The platform lets you list your rental property, manage the calendar and accept payments online.
The service fee amount you’ll be charged for renting your house via Vrbo varies. The higher the booking amount, the lower percentage of service fee you’ll pay.
FlipKey
FlipKey is a TripAdvisor company allowing you to list and manage your short term rental property.
The platform gives travelers the opportunity to discover your house and communicate with you through the platform. On the other hand, you’ll be able to manage your calendar and get paid through the app.
For using their services, you’ll pay a 3% commission per booking.
RedAwning
RedAwning is a great platform for getting instant hotel-style reservations.
However, it’s not just one platform but the combination of several. When you list your property on RedAwning, your listing will be live on all major short term rental platforms.
RedAwning partners with hundreds of travel websites including AirBnB, Booking.com, Expedia, Vrbo, Google Travel, etc.
Best Sites to Rent Your House Long Term
Zillow
Zillow is the largest long term rental website putting your rental property in front of people searching for one.
Posting your rental property on Zillow is quick and easy. And your ad will appear on three of the most visited rental sites – Zillow, Trulia and Hotpads.
If you’re not sure how to price your house, Zillow rent estimate calculator can help you make the right decision.
When you rent your house through Zillow, you don’t have to worry about your safety. Zillow provides you with the free, all-inclusive Rental Manager service including following:
- The platform has a built-in tenant screening service that allows you to do background checks on your potential tenants.
- Moreover, Zillow allows you to create and sign the rental lease agreements online providing a free customizable template.
- Finally, you can set up payments and get paid via Zillow platform.
Setting up your first listing on Zillow is free for 30 days. After that, you’ll need to pay $9.99 /week to keep your listing live and use Rental Manager services.
Cozy
Cozy is a platform that provides you with an all-inclusive rental service.
First of all, Cozy is a platform allowing you to list your house and receive long term bookings online.
Other than that, they provide the rental management services, such as screening your tenants and receiving payments online.
What’s best about Cozy is that you as a landlord don’t have to pay a fee for your listing. The platform charges tenants a service fee when they pay rent, so you don’t have to pay anything.
Frele
Frele is one of the largest long term rental platforms in the United States.
However, it differs from other platforms in this list by its format. When you list your house on Frele, you need to upload a video showing all the rooms of your house.
This format makes potential tenants get a better look at your house. It’s as if they are walking inside the house themselves, seeing every corner.
Apartments.com
Apartments.com is also a great platform to consider when you want to rent out your apartment long term.
Apart from putting your house in front of millions of potential renters, Apartments.com helps you manage your rental. They help you screen applicants, sign lease agreements and collect your rent payment online.
And what’s great about the platform is that it is totally free to use, charging no commissions and fees.
Craigslist
Craigslist Summary
- Posts are anonymous
- Quick and easy listing in a matter of minutes
- Little to no seller fees, most auctions are free
- Sell within your local area
Craigslist is a go-to platform for many people seeking long-term rentals.
On the other hand, listing your property on Craigslist is easy and free. Just create a posting and upload images and description of your property to get your free advertisement live.
Is It a Good Idea to Rent Out Your House?
Renting out houses is an attractive investment for many people as it produces passive income.
But is renting out your house that perfect option? Let’s take a look at pros and cons of renting so you can decide if it’s a good choice for you or not.
Pros
- Most attractive thing about renting is that you can hold onto your property while rental income pays down your mortgage.
- Owning a rental property is a source of passive income. This additional passive income may come in handy in many ways. For instance, it may be a good addition to your salary or a way to secure your future.
Cons
- Depending on your location, the demand for your rental property may decrease seasonally. For example, beach resorts are usually in-demand during summer.
- You need to do some maintenance work periodically.
How Much Can You Rent Your House for?
If you’re just starting renting out your house, you may be wondering how to price your property. You may have seen that properties in your area are priced differently. In fact, there are many factors determining the adequate price of your rental property.
Here’s the list of various criteria impacting rental price of your house:
- Location
- Square footage of your property
- Amenities included
- Modern renovation and interior
- Number of bedrooms
- Number of bathrooms
- Parking
- Home appliances included (washer, dryer, etc)
- Pets allowed
You can use the rental price calculator to estimate rental price of your property.
Short Term vs. Long Term Rentals
Most real estate investors associate rental property with long-term residential rentals. However, investing in short-term vacation rental properties is also a good choice.
Nevertheless, while short-term rentals could bring you more money on a monthly basis, you need to do constant maintenance work. For example, you need to pay utilities, clean your house and wash beddings in-between the guests, and make sure everything works smoothly.
On the other hand, long-term rentals don’t require much work from your side. The tenants are paying the utilities and managing cleaning and washing by themselves.
What Do You Need to Do to Rent Your House Out?
In order to make sure you’re safe and sound while renting your house out, you need to take care of some documents. Here’s what you can do:
- Do tenant background and credit checks to ensure you’re renting out your house to reliable people. There are platforms like SmartMove that help you do these checks for free.
- Create a rental lease agreement that you and your tenants will sign. This document will help you to legally resolve any case related to your rental. eForms.com is a website that allows you to create a professional, yet free rental lease agreement.
Should You Use a Realtor to Rent Your House?
A realtor’s responsibility is to help you accurately price your property and find tenants.
As technology has advanced, it allows us to minimize the need for the realtor. You have seen 10 best platforms where you can list your property online in order to find tenants. Zillow also provides a rental price calculator to help you price your property right.
However, if you’re busy or prefer getting help from a realtor, you can go with this option as well.
Realtor fees vary from state to state. For instance, you should pay anywhere from 25% to 50% of one month’s rent to the realtor in Washington, DC.
Just make sure you partner with the reliable realtor that won’t scam you.