RentLinx - The Rental Housing Multi-List

Finally! 10,000 leads in the last 30 days!

2009-06-09T16:11:00.002-04:00

After a few months of flirting, the RentLinx network has finally produced over 10,000 web leads in a 30 day period, as of 4pm today.

A web lead is counted when a renter contacts a RentLinx property manager through a site in The RentLinx Network

We keep a close eye on the number of web leads generated to make sure that property manager's who advertise with us are hearing from interested renters!

We currently don't track any phone leads, but if you assume equal phone and e-mail leads and a 10% lead-to-lease conversion rate, then RentLinx has helped place 2,000 residents in rental homes and apartments in the last 30 days! How great!

Homes.com Added to the RentLinx Network

2009-04-13T13:28:00.002-04:00

RentLinx is now feeding Homes.com, the 85th website in the RentLinx network! All existing available rental properties listed with RentLinx are now searchable on Homes.com.

About Homes.com:

Homes.com is a leading provider of real estate services, including property listings, brand advertising and marketing solutions, both online and in print. With over 4 million monthly visitors and over 125 print publications, Homes.com helps real estate agents and brokerages reach targeted homebuyers and grow their business. Homes.com is one of the nation's largest networks of participating real estate professionals.

RentLinx Supports School District Search on MichiganHousingLocator.com

2009-03-08T21:25:00.005-04:00

We're proud to announce that RentLinx is now leading the rental housing industry by being the first major rental housing search engine to show each property's school district information and support searching for rental housing based on school district boundaries.

Our friends at the Michigan State Housing Development Authority have provided us with this great feature request and support for developing the new feature.

When you visit MichiganHousingLocator.com you will see the new school district option when searching by location:

In addition, when you view your results in "Map View" the school district boundary will be drawn on the map.

Finally, every property details page now shows which school district the property is in!

Currently, the search function is only available on MichiganHousingLocator.com, but it is coming soon to all our WebLinx and PartnerLinx clients!

New "Modify Location" Feature on RentLinx-Powered Searches

2009-01-15T15:35:00.003-05:00

Motivated by better helping renters quickly find the housing they need, we recently released a new feature that lets them hone in to the exact area they wish to live. After doing a location search (for a city, zip code or address, for example) renters will see a new link, just above the search results:

Clicking the link allows a renter to tweak the starting search location and radius of the search. This allows her to answer requests like, "Show me all available properties within 2 miles of my new job". This feature gives renters unprecedented power to hone in on the exact properties they wish to see.

The search radius is also shown when looking at the "Map View".

All PartnerLinx and WebLinx websites have already automatically taken advantage of this new upgrade!

New wave of WebLinx clients grows the RentLinx Network

2008-11-12T16:25:00.004-05:00

The RentLinx network continues to grow and is now comprised of 78 websites. The RentLinx network is the group of websites that tap into our growing rental housing database of over half a million rental units. Renters can visit these 78 websites to search parts or all of our database.

The RentLinx network is comprised of:

26 Exclusive local and national partner websites, like ShowMeTheRent.com and MichiganHousingLocator.com, powered by PartnerLinx
6 National classifies sites, like Oodle.com and HotPads.com
46 property management company websites, powered by WebLinx

The RentLinx network has recently gotten a boost from new management companies who chose to have their websites powered by RentLinx. Some of the recent additions include:

	Sutton Club Apartments Nestled in a park like setting makes every day feel like a vacation. The community offers a unique residential environment where you can rejuvenate your mind and body. Lush landscaped environment, state of the art fitness center, membership to golf courses nearby, and so much more. http://www.suttonclubliving.com/ - 1 properties, 168 units - Joined 8/5/2008
	Oakbridge Management Oakbridge Management & Construction is a full service real estate company located in Seymour, Connecticut. Our services include managing large scale residential apartment complexes, condominiums, multi-family housing, and single family homes, as well as commercial and industrial buildings. http://www.oakbridgeman.com - 8 properties, 248 units - Joined 9/19/2008
	MTH Management MTH Management is a professional, family owned and operated management company servicing the housing needs of East Lansing, Grand Ledge, Lansing, Okemos and South Lansing. We have many locations and amenities to choose from in the location that's right for you. http://www.mthmgt.com/ - 15 properties, 378 units - Joined 9/19/2008
	PMS - Property Management Services At PMS, we strive to provide personalized, professional and cost effective residential property management. Serving D.C., Prince George's County, Anne Arundel County and Baltimore. http://residentialpms.com/ - 10 properties, 10 units - Joined 9/22/2008
	Compass Property Management Compass Property Management's goal is to maintain a delicate balance between the resident’s and the owner’s needs. We strive to provide a win-win environment in providing for those unique needs of its owners and residents. http://www.compass101.com - 46 properties, 46 units - Joined 9/23/2008
	Lighthouse Property Management Lighthouse Property Management offers a large selection of rental properties ranging from apartments, duplexes, townhomes, condominiums and premium homes. So whether you are in need of an effeciency apartment or an executive level home, Lighthouse Property Management's number one goal is to provide our resident's with quiet, clean and well maintained living accomodations. http://lighhousepm.com - 29 properties, 65 units - Joined 9/26/2008
	Acc-Sell Property Management Acc-Sell Property Management, LLC specializes in professional property management of apartments and single family homes in the greater Grand Rapids area. http://www.gr4rent.com/ - 15 properties, 31 units - Joined 10/16/2008
	United Properties of West Michigan United Properties of West Michigan specializes in overseeing and managing rental properties for owners just like you. We will handle all of the associated chores of maintaining your property, allowing you to relax and count the profits that will roll in without you having to lift a finger. http://www.unitedpmmi.com - 14 properties, 27 units - Joined 10/28/2008
	Michigan Rental Michigan Rental is a small property management company that specializes in University of Michigan off-campus housing. We provide effective and personalized service and are constantly working to improve the standards of our units. http://www.michiganrental.com - 35 properties, 35 units - Joined 11/5/2008
	Platinum Custom Homes Platinum Custom Homes is a team of building professionals who are passionate about building homes and serving our customers with Excellence. We would love to become YOUR BUILDER. Please contact us to let us know how we may serve you. http://www.platinumcustomhomes.net - 8 properties, 8 units - Joined 11/12/2008

The RentLinx network generates over 100,000 web leads

2008-09-17T16:38:00.002-04:00

RentLinx recently passed a milestone after generating our 100,000th web lead. A web lead is counted when a renter contacts a property manager through our website to inquire about a rental housing unit. This doesn't include the vast number of phone call, walk-in and word-of-mouth leads that have been generated as a result of advertising on the RentLinx network.

To mark the occasion, here are some interesting stats relating to web leads on RentLinx

First Lead:	Sent to Post Realty on 10/7/2005 from their WebLinx-powered website, inquiring about 1337 Wilmot
100,000th Lead:	Sent to Piper Management on 8/19/2008 from the PartnerLinx-powered MISmoke-Free Apartment website
Total number of leads as of today:	106,668
Unique properties that have received at least one lead:	15,866
Unique renters who have sent at least one lead:	49,054
Leads from least active month, October, 2005:	103
Leads from most active month, April, 2008:	8,915
Percent increase:	8,555%
Leads determined to be fraudulent by our investigations:	290
Fraudulent users blocked from future access to our site:	60
Percent fraudulent leads:	0.2%
Percent of renters who choose to CC their own e-mail address on their inquiry:	55.5%
Most popular property:	CMB's Corner House Apartments

RentLinx in the News!

2008-07-22T11:58:00.004-04:00

RentLinx has been featured in several news sources over the last few weeks!

The Detroit Free Press published a feature article on RentLinx in the business section of their Sunday, July 6th edition. View the full story here.

WWJ Newsradio 950 lead off their June 27th Great Lakes IT report with an update on RentLinx's new REIA partnership. They also included a longer story on their website here. You can hear the original audio here.

Concentrate Media, an online business magazine focusing on Washtenaw county carried a small feature on RentLinx here.

Finally, RentLinx was lucky enough to included as a part of the Michigan Innovators project. Michigan Innovators is dedicated to putting Michigan back on the path to growth by telling its innovation story. Bud Gibson, the President of Michigan Innovators came by the RentLinx office and did a great video interview. The first segment is included below. You can see the original article here.

Marcell Morris of Michigan Innovators also did a great write-up on RentLinx for the Michigan Innovator bullpen here.

RentLinx: Making Money Off of Free

RentLinx Partners with National REIA

2008-06-25T13:50:00.002-04:00

RentLinx is proud to announce a new partnership with the National Real Estate Investors Association or REIA! RentLinx and REIA have partnered to create a nationwide rental search website featuring REIA members' houses for rent. You can visit the new site at www.reiarentals.com

RentLinx will also be participating in REIA's Mid-Year Leadership Conference to help get the word out to the the more than 200 local REIA chapters. If you're in Orlando June 26-28, stop by the RentLinx booth! If you would like to meet up, just contact us and we will set something up!

RentLinx also recently partnered with a local REIA affiliate, the Rental Property Owners Association of Kent County (RPOA). RPOA recently revamped their rental housing search website to tap into the powerful RentLinx database and renamed the site MIRentalGuide.com from WeeklyRentalGuide.org.

RentLinx would like to send a big thank you to Rebecca McLean from National REIA and Clay Powell and Russ VandenToorn from RPOA. Thank you for all your hard work!

New Search Radius Feature

2008-06-09T16:03:00.005-04:00

All RentLinx-powered rental housing searches now have a new feature that lets renters better target the location where they would like to live!

Now when a renter does a location based rental housing search, the results page will include a description above the results like "Showing properties within 10.0 miles of the center of Ann Arbor".

You can click the "10.0" in the example above to modify your search radius. This helps renters target their perfect area whether they want to live within a few blocks of a specific urban location, or if they are willing to live within 50 miles of a rural location!

Schneider Speaks at Affordable Housing Conference

2008-04-29T13:19:00.002-04:00

On Monday, I spoke at the Michigan Conference on Affordable Housing. My session was titled "Marketing Through the Ages" and I shared the slot with national speaker Donna Hickey

I covered the Michigan Housing Locator and included tips on creating effective online ads. I also presented some exclusive traffic and lead statistics from the Michigan Housing Locator and the RentLinx network.

If you missed the talk or didn't get a copy of the slides, you can click here to download them in PowerPoint format (5MB).

RentLinx Featured in metromode e-Magazine

2008-04-03T10:44:00.003-04:00

RentLinx has a great feature article in today's edition of metromode e-magazine written by Tanya Muzumdar! RentLinx was featured as part of their ongoing series "From Scratch".

Read RentLinx's "From Scratch" article in metromode

From their website, "[metromode] posts daily reports on job growth and development in Southeast Michigan, from Detroit to Ann Arbor. A free, weekly e-magazine is published Thursdays. With community directories and guides for Southeast Michigan cities, metromode is a resource for people who want to work, build a business, relocate or visit here."

New Rent Ranges, No More Unit Groups

2008-03-20T15:13:00.005-04:00

We recently released an exciting new update to the RentLinx interface for property managers! We have done away with the concept of "unit groups" and instead allow property managers much more flexibility when listing their unit or floor plan information.

Now, when a property manager lists or edits a unit, she chooses if the unit is a:

Single Family Home:

Specific Unit:

Type of Unit:

type

If you are familiar with the "unit group" interface, you may notice that your properties look a bit different when you login. Rest assured, that your property information has not changed. Renters will view your properties exactly as they did before. Now your admin interface more closely matches what prospective residents see.

Along with this change, RentLinx now offers the ability to add rent ranges for all units!

Top 5 Benefits of Automatically Updating Your Account

2008-02-21T14:53:00.004-05:00

Property managers, did you know that RentLinx offers you the ability to automatically update your RentLinx account? Your property information is pulled directly from your property management software or local database using our DataLinx service. You never have to manually update your RentLinx account and your ads always stay current!

DataLinx is now better than ever! Below is an exciting top 5 list of DataLinx features that you may not have known!

No programmers required - DataLinx can now accept data files in virtually any format. As long as your local database or management software can produce a file with your property data, DataLinx can accept it and automatically update your RentLinx account. Our highly qualified developers will help you through the entire process, making it easy on you.
Two ways to update - Once you have your data file, you can upload it through the RentLinx website to instantly update all of your properties. Better yet, if your file can be placed at a location on your website (like http://www.example.com/MyFile.xml) we will automatically read your file nightly and you will never even need to login to RentLinx. (But you still may want to in order to review your traffic and leads!)
Eliminate Typos - You will save money and headaches by ensuring that your online ads contain only accurate, up-to-date information. You will never have to retype the same information into two different systems, eliminating the double-entry and human error.
Stay at the top of the list - Many of our partner sites, including ShowMeTheRent.com, sort all of the listings by the date they were last updated. DataLinx will automatically update your account nightly, keeping your ads at the top of the list!
Save time - Manually entering and updating all of your property information can be a time consuming process. DataLinx will do all of the work for you! You won't even need to log in to RentLinx and your listings will be advertised on our partner sites throughout the Internet!

Please contact us if you have any questions, or visit our DataLinx page to see pricing and learn more!

Ready to go? Visit our buy now page to purchase DataLinx and begin automatically updating your RentLinx account!

More than 10,000 Properties Now Listed

2008-01-02T17:58:00.000-05:00

Just over two years after we went live and allowed property managers to list their properties for free, RentLinx now has over 10,000 active property listings representing just under 300,000 housing units!

RentLinx by the numbers as of 1/1/2008

46:	States with at least one property listed
55:	Websites that are fed or powered by RentLinx
1,392	Zip codes with at least one property listed
3,620	Management companies
6,295	Active users
10,577	Active properties listed
290,480:	Active units represented
1,057,848:	Visits during 2007 to our network of sites according to Google Analytics
7,577,999:	Page views during 2007 according to Google Analytics

In very rough terms, most of these statistics are doubling about every 6 months, so we are looking forward to 2008!

Renters Can Now Mark and Save Favorites

2007-11-12T10:44:00.000-05:00

Our friends at the Michigan State Housing Development Authority and many of our WebLinx clients have given us some great feedback and asked for a way for renters to save favorite properties on their websites. We responded and added a new "favorites" feature! Renters can now mark and save their favorite properties on any RentLinx-powered website by clicking the star next to the property name in the search results or the property details pages.

Renters can begin marking favorites right away without logging in or creating an account! If a renter wants to save her list of favorites between visits, she can create an account in one step and login to access her saved favorites. Our favorites feature also makes use of the cool new AJAX technology so marking favorites is quick and easy.

Try the new feature by searching for rental housing on our sister site ShowMeTheRent.com and marking and saving some favorites!

If your company has added your RentLinx listings to your company website (WebLinx), you automatically have this new feature on your website!

New Fraud Detection for your Safety

2007-10-10T11:26:00.001-04:00

When a website becomes more popular and draws more traffic it invariably attracts some Internet users with impure intentions. I'm proud to announce that RentLinx has crossed that threshold!

In the last few months a few Internet scam artists have visited RentLinx-powered websites posing as renters! One of the basic scams works like this:

A scam artist contacts a property manager posing as a renter.
The scam artist says he is moving to the area from overseas and needs to quickly rent a unit.
The scam artist graciously offers to send a check (often times for more than the required move-in cost).
Once the manager receives the check, the scam artist tells her that he needs furniture delivered to his house, but cannot arrange it from his current location. He asks that she forward some of his check to the furniture company's bank account.
Sure enough, his original check bounces, and the furniture company was actually his own personal bank account.

Don't let this happen to you! To help you detect fraudulent leads, RentLinx has implemented a new technique to show you the country of origin of users who contact you. Almost always these scam artists operate from outside of the United States and Canada where there is virtually no risk of being penalized by law enforcement.

Below is an ACTUAL message sent from a scam artist in Nigeria which was appropriately flagged.

Note that the user claims to be from London, but our system shows they are writing from Nigeria (which is a hot bed for Internet fraud).

Remember to always use common sense and never send money AWAY from your account. Hopefully this new fraud detection technique will help.

Craiglist Helper is Now Free!

2007-09-18T17:20:00.001-04:00

craigslist

We're proud to announce that our craigslist helper tool is now free to all! In addition, we've recently updated the tool to make it even MORE useful. Now, the photos associated your property are automatically included in the body of your post so you don't have to upload attachments separately!

If you aren't familiar with our craigslist helper tool, check it out here.

If you would like to use the craigslist helper tool, just click Choose Websites in your account and click the "Add My Properties To This Website" button on the craigslist row.

RentLinx Releases ShowMeTheRent.com

2007-09-04T13:18:00.000-04:00

We're proud to announce the release of our new sister site, ShowMeTheRent.com. This is a site specifically for renters that showcases all of the properties listed through RentLinx.

ShowMeTheRent.com was released to better serve property managers who use RentLinx. The new site has a few added benefits:

Renters now have a single place to go to find all of your properties listed through RentLinx.
RentLinx is now able to feed your properties to even more partner sites. Many of our new partners aggregate links back to the original site, so ShowMeTheRent.com now acts as the landing page for these "aggregator" sites.

We're now working harder than ever to partner with more sites so RentLinx can truly be your one-stop shop for rental housing advertising. You can keep up with our new partners by checking out our partners page.

Move Your Ad to the Top of the List

2007-08-14T11:10:00.000-04:00

RentLinx users do a great job keeping their property information updated. In fact, in the last month RentLinx users have logged in 2,565 times to update 3,362 different properties.

To reward these diligent users, and help renters find the most current information we have changed the default search on all our WebLinx and PartnerLinx sites to show the most recently updated properties first. (The old sort showed the properties with the lowest rent first, regardless of modification date).

Renters can still choose to search the results however they wish, plus they can always see the date each property was updated, regardless of how they are sorted.

Property managers: Now one of the best ways to draw more attention to your property is to keep it updated which will move it to the top of the list!

Custom Search Page for WebLinx and PartnerLinx

2007-07-10T11:24:00.000-04:00

WebLinx and PartnerLinx clients can now take advantage of an even higher level of customization of their product by using the new custom search URL feature.

WebLinx and PartnerLinx clients can design a totally custom search page that includes the desired search options laid out to their liking. When renters follow a "search" link on any RentLinx-powered pages, they will be redirected to the client's custom search page. This allows the client to have tight control over how prospective residents can search their properties.

Exchange Apartment Finders, an apartment locator service based in Chicago and new WebLinx client, was among the first to use the new custom search URL feature. You can see their custom search page here:

http://www.exchangeapartmentfinders.com/search.html

New Rebranded Products, DataLinx, Online Order Form

2007-06-05T16:35:00.000-04:00

The RentLinx website is now showcasing our suite of newly rebranded products on our products page.

The free RentLinx advertising services which allows managers to easily advertise their rental properties on multiple websites has been named AdLinx

We have also named our website integration tool WebLinx. WebLinx powers the property listings on your property management company website. When you update your RentLinx account, your company website will automatically be updated.

This update also includes the release of our newest product, DataLinx, which allows property managers to automatically update their RentLinx account from their own management software or their VaultWare™ account.

Our rental housing search service we provide to partners who serve property managers or renters has been named PartnerLinx.

We also now have an online order form for property managers to purchase our WebLinx and DataLinx products quickly and easily!

New Feature: Edit your WebLinx Template

2007-05-17T12:00:00.000-04:00

All WebLinx clients can now edit their WebLinx template when they login to their RentLinx account. This gives WebLinx clients the ability to customize the exact look and feel of their custom RentLinx-powered apartment search using our state-of-the-art templating system.

Editing your WebLinx Tempate

WebLinx powers the property listings on your company website. When you update your RentLinx account, your company website will automatically be updated. WebLinx is the cheapest, easiest and fastest way to advertise your properties on your website.

Schneider named one of Crain's "20 in their 20s"

2007-05-03T17:06:00.000-04:00

RentLinx founder Jeremy Schneider was recently named one of Crain's Detroit Business' "20 in their 20s", a list of twenty-somethings making a difference in Metro Detroit.

You can see Jeremy's profile in this week's edition of Crain's, or view Jeremy's profile in the online 20 in their 20s list.

Keystone Management Goes Live with New DataLinx Product

2007-04-27T13:50:00.000-04:00

Keystone Management Group (KMG), based out of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, has recently gone live with RentLinx's WebLinx and DataLinx products.

Keystone Management Group manages over 15,000 apartment units in nearly 300 different properties throughout Michigan, California, Indiana, and Wisconsin. KMG is now using our cutting edge DataLinx product to keep their impressive portfolio up-to-date.

DataLinx allows KMG to send an automatic XML data feed from their proprietary database to their RentLinx account. This keeps all of their properties, descriptions, amenities, photos, availability and more up-to-date with no double-entry. Learn more about DataLinx in our DataLinx brochure.

Keystone also has made use of our WebLinx product to power an apartment search on the Keystone website. When renters visit the Keystone website, they can search Keystone's 15,000 apartment units by rent, location, availability, Section 8 and more. Visit Keystone's website to give it a try.

New Feature: Add Links to Your Listings

2007-04-02T21:09:00.000-04:00

We have recently released a new feature for all Rentlinx users! You can now add links to your property listings that link to specific pages of your choice. For example, you can add a link to your property's website or to a hosted virtual tour.

The links feature is grouped with attachments in the "Links & Attachments" section of an individual property's page, shown below. Links are denoted by the earth icon , while attachments are denoted by the paper clip icon

You can add a link to any URL of your choice (like http://www.myproperty.com) and give the link a title (like "My Property's Website"). Each link can apply to a single property or to any number of your properties as shown below.

When a prospective resident views your property's page on a RentLinx-powered website, she will see all of the links associated with that property.