Comments on: The Craigslist-Renter Problem

By: Junket

Junket — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 06:55:00 +0000

I’m in the same boat. I’ve been using Craigslist to find a place in L.A. and I’ve been led astray on several occasions. Keep me posted if you find a decent landlord or something that is not a total shithole.

By: Taylor

Taylor — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 00:57:52 +0000

Don’t forget the article on Wired about Craig Newmark.

The thing with Craigslist is that it’s free, so there’s no barrier to entry. That puts it on a different level than westside rentals. You exchange barrier of entry with volume of entries.

By: Nick

Nick — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 04:58:42 +0000

Craigslist charges a listing fee for properties over a certain value i believe. On top of that, you’re right. I don’t know that it would be successful. But I’m not sure if that’s how I’m approaching the subject. I’m more looking to make something useful.

By: Ryan Hindinger

Ryan Hindinger — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 04:34:00 +0000

You’ve nailed most of the problems with the current system from a user’s perspective. Here’s a conundrum for you though: Craigslist’s value IS its volume, which it generates by having an incredibly low barrier to entry and being free. The trade off is all of the problems you’ve listed. So how do you generate that critical mass of volume to a website that must obviously charge fees of some kind either to the renter or lister in order to implement and maintain the kind of features you’re talking about? Second, assuming that problem is solvable (I think it is) do you think the amount of effort it would take to produce a complete listing for a site like this would be a discouragement to the lister?

By: Kim

Kim — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 23:56:44 +0000

I am so excited about this, I can’t even tell you. I would spread this like…well, I was going to make a gross joke but I am so stoked on this I don’t care to ruin the moment.

One thing I’ve always hated about CL is that you have to select individual cities from a drop down list. What if I could just use a check box system to select 3 or 4 cities I was interested in? That way, I wouldn’t have to waste time looking in Oakland/Rockridge, then in Berkeley, then in Berkeley/North, then in Oakland/Temescal. Etc.

I love (love LOVE) the idea of integration with Google Maps, Yelp, etc, and the ability for potential tenants to upload their own photos (though that would be kind of hard to monitor). I love the idea of cutting down on multiple listings. When I apartment-hunt on CL, I generally just open new tabs with anything that sounds interesting/has a picture/is in my price range…only to find that 3/4 of the tabs I opened are for duplicate listings under different names. And they’re always the shitty ones, too.

So yeah. Make this happen. And I will proofread your web pages.