www.rental-data.com? (Portland: sales, landlords, closing)

[kagicre]

I don't like apartment complexes much and I like to rent from a private person, because we have a dog. Lots of apartment complexes have bad reputations (if you don't want to pay over 900 dollars for a rental) and dogs are not very often welcome and when they are the deposits are often very high. I have very good experience with private landlords.

[Nell Plotts]

I did not intend to disparage private landlords. It is very difficult for a person from another city to evaluate costs, this is the best option I could see. Do you have any other recommendations?

[kagicre]

I went to the BBB website, rental-data.com has a rating of B+, 4 complains in the last 36 months, one unresolved.
It doesn't look like a scam now, does it?

[sueisme]

But check out what's been going on with the BBB ---
Better Business Bureau: The Best Ratings Money Can Buy - ABC News

[kagicre]

rental-data.com isn't a member, so I guess they are still not a scam!

[hamellr]

Originally Posted by sueisme

But check out what's been going on with the BBB ---
Better Business Bureau: The Best Ratings Money Can Buy - ABC News

I thought this was pretty common news these days.

They use to give Scott Thompson Autogroup an A+. But Scott Thompson Autogroup had the largest number of legal cases against it of any business in Oregon at the same time.

That and the fact that you have to pay to be listed with them in the first place. We used to have people come in to the Computer Store I worked in who would attempt to get us to lower our prices (below our costs most of the time,) by threatening to take us to the BBB.

The BBB would literally say "Who? They don't exist in our database."

[reos57]

In Portland there is no MLS, so from hundreds of property manager website to sites like Ebay and CList, there's alot of research to do. Internet posts have missing addresses, phone numbers, bedrooms or rent. (pretty important stuff to me) And Craigslist is so big, they are a target for many scammers. From what I read, Rental Data takes all of the guesswork out of it, identifies and deletes scam ads while getting addresses and phone numbers for you. Well worth the money from my standpoint.

[Leisesturm]

Maybe its me, but I see some irony in the fact that people who have a problem with Craigslist tout Rental Data as a solution when Rental Data uses Craigslist like bee's use pollen! Spamming doesn't begin to describe the multiple instances of Rental Data listings on Craiglists site. What am I missing? See post #2 and note the year of the post.

H

[sabesrn]

I called the rental-data guy. He was rather a jerk when I asked him if the information he had available was because landlords signed up with them or if it was all available from the internet. He got a bit testy when confronted in this manner and he gave me his stock "we do all the hard work of searching the internet for you" sales pitch. Thankfully, I was so put off by his demeanor that I did not sign up - plus all the negative things that you all have said cemented the deal.

I did try hotpads.com and there were some really nice properties. I replied to a couple and soon found out that they were scam ads as well. I got replies to two different ads that were sent by individuals with similar but different names with the exact same song-and-dance story about having a change of heart about selling their wonderful and fabulous property - both of the properties were listed with RMLS as for sale and one was in the process of closing.

After all that frustration, I did finally find a place from Craigslist - after sifting through all the randomness and ads that is. Moving stinks.

[EnricoV]

Paying someone to do something you could do for yourself, for free, is nothing new. Calling it a scam seems more than a bit unfair. Would you call hiring a babysitter, a house cleaner, a landscaper, a carpenter, a scam? You could do that for yourself, but choose not to. This is the same thing. You just have to decide whether it's something you find worth paying for. I wouldn't pay someone to do it, but everyone else gets to decide for themselves!