Today’s e-mail brings the following news release from RentJuice
:
RentJuice, the online platform developed by real estate insiders that connects prospective renters, brokers and property managers to each other in real-time, today unveiled an unparalleled, dynamic social media widget called Lease Locator for Facebook. Lease Locator allows potential renters to search real-time property listings directly from a company/broker/agent Facebook fan page and RentJuice customers to actually capture leads (via their Facebook page), which are automatically routed into their RentJuice account. The application adds conversion to the social media equation.
Here are a few Chicago RentJuice customer pages with the newly integrated Facebook widget as examples:
Homescout Realty
Trudo Realty
Blue City Chicago Apartments
Thanks, RentJuice for tipping us off to a new name – Blue City – to add to our apartment bedbug rental service do-not-call list.
If you’re looking for an apartment and consider yourself a lead waiting to be automatically captured, routed and converted via social media equations, by all means look for the RentJuice screen cap at a growing number of rental services Facebook pages.
On an amusing side note, the Blue City Chicago Apartments Web site touts the company’s dog-walking and cleaning services. Competition getting too fierce among the bedbugs?
Hey Joe. Facebook issue aside, what is your take on RentJuice? Seems like consolidating the highly-fragmented rental market (MLS through unlisted apartments) may be a good thing? Yes, no?
Jeff,
Are you clear on what RentJuice is?
It’s not an MLS-like listings aggregator.
Each rental service maintains control of its own database of listings in RentJuice, and each of them can put in wildly varying information on the same property.
It’s also a way for landlords to make listings available to multiple rental services – but I believe that rental services can choose to maintain info on the landlord’s property that differs from what the landlord provided.
RentJuice also automates the production and distribution of the sleazy ads that the rental services create. It has none of the positive features of an MLS, and serves very different purposes.
It’s easy to understand the value of RentJuice to rental services and to some landlords. It has, in my take, negative consumer value. When a rental service wants to engage in fraudulent advertising, internally or to consumers, RentJuice is a facilitator.
Consolidating the fragmented rental listings would be a good thing. It’s not what RentJuice does.
I’m definitely no expert on RentJuice Joe. I thought it was a system to aggregate MLS rental listing inventory with that of each landlord/property management company that chooses not to list on the MLS (a better alternative to hot sheets). In this way, those of us trying to better serve our clients would have a more complete view of Chicago’s fragmented rental inventory.
As you describe it, seems the system allows for duplication of listings and inaccurate listing information across the different rental services.
Disappointing as I thought their system offered a solution to the rental chaos we face now.
Hi Jeff and Joe,
Seems like there’s some confusion regarding RentJuice. We’re a 100% free listing collaboration platform between landlords and brokers. Landlords select which brokers can see their listings and control what information gets shared. Critical details, such as rent amount, are uneditable by brokers. And because listings are being shared in real-time, vacancies are filled faster.
Brokers use RentJuice to get free, real-time access to their partner landlords’ availabilities. No more listing sheets, delayed updates or inaccurate information.
It’s like Facebook, but for rentals: I select my friends, and only they can see information I choose to share with them.
Happy to answer any additional questions you might have.
Best,
Matt Gidney
VP Sales & Marketing, RentJuice
email: matt at rentjuice.com
Matt,
Thanks for chiming in.
You didn’t directly address my assertion that brokers can also add listings to REntJuice and that each broker can maintain different information about what may be the same property. How does your system safeguard against that?.
What safeguards does your system have to prevent rental services from supplying bogus information about fictitious properties?
Is it not possible for a broker to add a custom field to a landlord listing and use that custom field to contain a different price – and then have that custom field appear in ads?
Saying that the broker can’t edit the landlord’s info doesn’t address the issues I raised.