Craigslist...The Agent's Opinion

I was talking with another agent today and discovered a mutual dislike of advertising rental property on the site. In my experience, the majority of people inquiring about rental ads seen on Craigslist are not informed and not financially ready to rent an apartment. One month last year I posted a 2 bedroom short term residence in Harlem for $785. My phone would not stop ringing. I received at least 25 calls a day for 3 weeks. I hired an assistant to handle the calls while I went on vacation to LA. The number of callers was great, however none of the potential renters qualified for the apartment. Yes, not one. I've gone through 50 calls for another unit before I found a renter that qualified for a viewing. An application is a whole other story. I get upset when someone who does an application stating their credit is good and after running credit I find a credit score lower than the Great Barrier reef with several judgement accounts including one from the NY Public Library! The Craigslist audience tend
to be very internet savvy. They sometimes think they know more than the agents. No matter how advanced the internet is, it will never compete with an agent's one-to-one personal relationship with owners, management companies, doorman, and supers. Like the Fox 5 news....we get it first.