It seems that no matter where I turn, the topic of Craigslist (CL) is rearing its head. Questions are forever flying - "Do you post apartments for rent?", "How many times a day do you post?", "Do you use auto-posting software or tracking software?", "Why is it working so well for leads?". The conversations seem endless. CL has become quite a Juggernaut. There seems to be a segment of the apartment rental market that exclusively uses Craigslist to find their new home rather than using ILS's or Management corporate websites sites. Why do apartment hunters seem to be flocking to CL over ILS's? They appear to be afraid to be "sold" on a place to live. An assumption is being made that the large management companies will dish out a bill of goods (usually on "pay sites") that might or might not be true. Individuals want to find out the "real deal", and currently CL is associated with a more grass roots, "reject the man" way of searching for products - housing included. Many apartment hunters feel they have a better chance of getting a great deal on CL. I think ultimately what the CL model teaches us is that the consumer wants to have a more intimate and specific conversation when looking for housing. This apartment searcher doesn't want to be sold on the overall apartment community and the varying floorplans. They want to talk about THEIR floor plan specifically and how the community will work for THEIR way of life.
In addition to Craigslist, the evolution of sites such as RentWiki really confirm the need for community feed back and more intimate details on specific locations and apartment homes. Now that the large Management companies are super aware of CL success in generating leads, they are posting apartment ads at a rapid rate. Management companies (myself included) are flooding the grass roots directory with our corporate advertisements. We seem to be collectively breaking the toy that is Craigslist! We are slowing morphing CL into an apartment listing site, similar to any of the ILS site we pay to participate on. At the end of the day, it seem like the general public needs to find our information in many arenas. We need to have a great Craigslist ad, informative community website, robust ILS ads and an approachable corporate website. Phew, that is a lot of work!! As always, we need to keep our eyes on the horizon for the next best thing because I'm certain it is coming soon.
