Rentometer Review: Is It Accurate and Reliable?

Where Does Rentometer Get Its Data?

Rentometer sources its rental estimate data from two primary locations – online listings and public records. When you enter an address into Rentometer, it searches through multiple listing sites like Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, and others to find recent rental listings for that location. It analyzes listing details like number of beds/baths, square footage, amenities, and most importantly – the listed monthly rent amount.

In addition to listing data, Rentometer also pulls property attributes and ownership information from county assessor and tax records. Things like lot size, year built, owner name, and recent sale price (if applicable) are retrieved from public databases.

By combining listing rent amounts with property characteristic data from records, Rentometer is able to generate an estimated range for what a unit at that address may rent for. The more recent and higher quality the data it finds, generally the more accurate the estimates will be. Data from the past 6-12 months is weighted most heavily.

How Accurate is Rentometer?

The accuracy of Rentometer estimates can vary depending on several factors:

• Availability of listings: Areas with high rental turnover and many recent listings available will produce more reliable estimates since there is more current data to analyze. Market trends can change quickly so older listings reduce accuracy.
• Property characteristics: The more details Rentometer can gather about a specific unit (size, amenities, condition, etc.), the better it can compare to other similar properties and narrow the rental range. General estimates without unit details may be less precise.
• Market volatility: In hot or rapidly changing markets, Rentometer’s data may lag current pricing trends more so than stable markets. Estimates reflect the recent past more so than present conditions.
• Urban vs rural locations: Data tends to be more plentiful in densely populated urban/suburban areas versus rural towns with fewer listings accessible online or in records.

In general, Rentometer estimates seem to be within 10-15% of actual rental prices based on user reviews and tests. The multi-point range it provides also helps account for variables rather than a single number. In stable markets with recent and detailed listings available, estimates are often quite close. In more volatile or rural areas with limited data, ranges may be broader.

Rentometer Pro: Is It Worth It?

The free version of Rentometer gives basic rental estimates and property details. But for $5-10/month depending on the plan, Rentometer Pro unlocks additional powerful features:

• Expand search radius: Find estimates beyond just the entered address by searching within a larger geographic area. This is useful for getting a rent survey of a whole neighborhood.
• Add/edit property attributes: Manually input critical details like the number of bedrooms/bathrooms, square footage, year built, amenities, condition that can refine the estimates.
• Rental comparables: See listings of similar properties nearby that recently rented to gauge pricing in the local market. Pros can potentially find off-market deals.
• Export/custom reports: Build reports with multiple estimates including address, photos, estimates, comp rents for clients, transactions, analysis.
• Ongoing market updates: Pro automatically tracks listings and updates estimates over time to monitor market fluctuations. Useful for investment analysis.

For landlords, property managers, or RE investors serious about pricing homes and deals, Rentometer Pro provides valuable added functionality beyond the free basic access. The low monthly costs are very reasonable for boosting deal flow and ROI potential. Overall, it seems to deliver good value for the money.

Other Creative Uses for Rentometer

While Rentometer excels at providing rental estimates, some users have found other creative ways to utilize its data features:

• Pricing short-term rentals: Owners of Airbnbs, VRBOs, etc. can leverage market rental comps to help set nightly rates or minimum booking amounts.
• Appraisal support: Real estate agents, appraisers, tax assessors may use Rentometer reports showing nearby recent rents as comparable properties supporting appraisals or assessments.
• Investment analysis: Investors can develop pro formas and projections for potential rental property acquisitions or value-adds using Rentometer rent estimates and market updates over time.
• Relocation research: People relocating to a new city can get “the lay of the rental land” and typical rents by location to aid their search before actually moving.
• HOA/lease fee benchmarking: Community associations or landlords may assess area rental comps from Rentometer to help guide fee/rent schedules relative to market standards.

So while primarily intended for rental pricing, enterprising users have adapted Rentometer data in supporting other real estate and relocation needs as well with some success.

How to Fill In the Gap

One limitation of all automated rental estimation tools including Rentometer is they tend to work best with enough recent, comparable listings available. But what happens if limited or no listings currently exist close to the target address? Here are some suggestions:

• Widen search radius: Expanding the map area may pull in more neighborhoods to generate estimates.
• Check past histories: Rentometer archives older closed listings as well which could add context if few current examples.
• Drive/walk neighborhood: Note “For Rent” signs with numbers or properties that appear vacant/rental-friendly.
• Search agent sites directly: supplement with direct listing site searches for the broader Zip code.
• Contact property managers: Call or visit management office websites for their current or typical rents.
• Check online forums: Nextdoor, Facebook groups may have rental chatter to mine.
• Research mortgage estimates: If buying, calculate theoretical rents based on approximate mortgage payments or general yield expectations.

While Rentometer works hard to gather data automatically, users can also fill gaps and triangulate estimates through direct street-level investigation or leveraging alternate sources when listings prove scarce close to target areas.

Alternatives to Rentometer

While Rentometer stands out as one of the premier rental estimation platforms, some users may prefer certain aspects of competing tools as alternatives:

Zillow Rent Zestimate – Has brand recognition but estimates less detailed properties. UI and reports not as robust as Rentometer.

Trulia Rental Estimate – Partnered with RentRange so access to their rental data network. Simple interface better for basic research.

Apartments.com Rent Preview – Leverages their large national rental listings database. Good if focused more on larger apartment complexes.

RentalMeter – Similar concept to Rentometer with property details, comps, reports. Interface may be easier for some to use.

CoStar – Robust commercial real estate data tool. Good if analyzing multifamily properties, rental markets at a macro scale.

Local property records – County/city databases offer raw sales, ownership, permit data. Grunt work to analyze but free public access.

REIS neighborhood reports – Pay-walled industry standard for long-term rental market trends, demographics at metro level.

While Rentometer has set the standard, these various alternatives each have their pros for certain use cases depending on users’ preferred feature sets, locations being analyzed, and sources of rental listings and data available.

How Useful is Rentometer… Really?

After reviewing what Rentometer offers and how it operates, here’s a summary of its true usefulness:

• For basic rental research like rough rent estimates on single family homes, Rentometer works very well across many U.S. markets thanks to data network.
• Capabilities are enhanced further for serious users with Rentometer Pro subscription giving enhanced features, repeat market tracking over time.
• Beyond rental pricing, some have adapted the tool creatively in supporting things like short-term rentals, appraisals, relocation searches and more.
• Accuracy is generally good assuming enough recent, high quality data is available close to the target property. Automated tools always have limitations.
• Also useful as a starting point, with gaps potentially filled through further street-level investigations and supplemental data sources when needed.

Conclusion

Overall, Rentometer has established itself as one of the clear leaders in digital rental research tools available today. For many users working with single-family rental properties across much of the U.S., it serves as an excellent starting point and database for estimates, comps, reports at an affordable price. And while not perfect, Rentometer’s unique combination of features, supported by their ongoing database growth, makes it an extremely useful real estate research companion.