Renting my Condo out… trying a website for spreading the word

You may have noticed that I’ve not posted much lately.  I’ve been pretty busy at work (a good thing), had some side work that’s very interesting, and I lost my tenant in my Condo.  Having a tenant move out triggers a LOT of work – inspection, minor repairs, cleaning, painting, and getting it rady to rent out again.

That’s where the fun comes in.  I’ve decided that I’m going to find a new tenant using the Internet alone – no agency.  My sister-in-law will show it for me, we’ll field questions by phone and email, and we’ll see how it works out.  I put up a web site about the property tonight – 811timbercove.com – and listed it on Craigslist.  We got the first call within 30 minutes of going live.  Geesh.  Maybe I can rent this thing out fast!

I’ve also sent a blind CC email out to a list of contacts and associates who I thought might know of someone who knew of someone who was looking to move.   My contacts list penetration onto facebook and twitter (where I do post about the condo) is fractional – so I tried to just inform a targeted list of contacts about my place.  Somewhere there’s a great person or young family who would loveliving in my condo.  I just need to find them.

Once I have a prospective tenant the fun just starts though.  I have rental applications ready – on the site for download.  I’ve located a credit reporting tool I can use online.   I have located an online legal forms company who can generate a lease agreement for a very reasonable fee.  This should be interesting.  How much of this can be done online?

I’ll post here what I learn through this process.  It’s interesting if nothing else.

Have you done something like this?  How did it work for you?  Comments welcome.