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Apartment baiting with Facebook Ads

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Re: Apartment baiting with Facebook Ads

#81

Post by always_good »

treis wrote: post #59
astura wrote: post #14

I've used Craigslist this way, most of the public rental ads for our area were either for shitty places or overpriced. There's nice to very nice apartment complexes in our area but they are very expensive, have on-schedule yearly rent increase, and charge pet fees. So I posted an ad on Craigslist in "housing wanted" saying our approximate credit score (750+ each), employment history, what we were looking for, and our…

Seems like this is little more than an end around the fair housing act for landlords.

You'll have to elaborate how reaching out to tenant candidates directly gets around the Fair Housing Act and what that act attempts to address.

Re: Apartment baiting with Facebook Ads

#82

Post by fcbrooklyn »

I'm not sure if it would matter, if you were just doing this as an individual once or twice, but it's worth noting that in New York State, at least, this would be an illegal transaction, unless the tenant referring you to their landlord happened to be a licensed real estate agent. The definition of brokering a transaction according to state law, for which you must be licensed is that you're facilitating the transaction "for another" and "for a fee". The $250 dollar reward, therefore makes this an illegal act on the part of the existing tenant. Laws might well be different in other states obviously.

Re: Apartment baiting with Facebook Ads

#83

Post by balls187 »

niftich wrote: post #74
balls187 wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm not questioning that Facebook sells ads, I am questioning their effectiveness and whether the OP is overselling it. If Facebook ads weren't effective; would advertisers continue to buy them? My direct experience using facebook ads is that they are exceptionally effective at targeting people. > For example, the only Facebook ads I've seen recently are for riding lawnmowers. I live in the city. That's not enough…

Advertising is a prisoner's dilemma: every ad slot your competitors buy is a slot you could've bought instead. Seasoned companies don't advertise because ads are effective -- although in some cases, they are; they advertise because they're worried their competitors are attaining wider mindshare. Small, local companies frequently fall into the mistaken assumption that targeted advertising on Facebook will drive sales.…

> Advertising should only be assumed to drive mindshare, whose link to sales is often discouragingly weak.

Regardless if advertising is effective at driving sales, a dollar spent advertising Women's Self Defense on Facebook drives (Mindshare|Behavior|Sales) more effectively than a dollar spent advertising Women's Self Defense in Black Belt Magazine.

Re: Apartment baiting with Facebook Ads

#84

Post by ada1981 »

always_good wrote: post #81
treis wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seems like this is little more than an end around the fair housing act for landlords.

You'll have to elaborate how reaching out to tenant candidates directly gets around the Fair Housing Act and what that act attempts to address.

For example, it’s illegal not to rent to single moms. But maybe you don’t want to. So you can look through the tenants looking for a place and hand pick one before advertising your place.

Or maybe you don’t like gay folks, or black folks, etc.

Re: Apartment baiting with Facebook Ads

#85

Post by matwood »

chasedehan wrote: post #76
matwood wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We thought about sending letters to see if somebody wanted to sell to us without going the realtor route I've gotten letters like that before and always assumed they were Realtors trolling for clients.

The people I know who have actually done it wrote a personalized response as to why they wanted to live in that particular area. i.e. "my son lives on X street and I would like to live by him" or "the access to hiking/biking trails is one of the things I cherish the most." , etc. Otherwise, you are right that I think most of those letters are from Realtors and go immediately in the trash.

I get ~4 calls/day from realtors wanting to list my house. It was so bad last summer that my wife changed her voice mail to start with "If you are Realtor, never call me again...".

At this point I would be suspicious of even a personal letter like you mention above. I really hope technology continues to squeeze realtors out of business. At one point I was indifferent to them, but they have turned my opinion negative.

Re: Apartment baiting with Facebook Ads

#86

Post by treis »

ada1981 wrote: post #84
always_good wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'll have to elaborate how reaching out to tenant candidates directly gets around the Fair Housing Act and what that act attempts to address.

For example, it’s illegal not to rent to single moms. But maybe you don’t want to. So you can look through the tenants looking for a place and hand pick one before advertising your place. Or maybe you don’t like gay folks, or black folks, etc.

Exactly. Here's an article about FB being sued for allowing discriminatory ads:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2018/03/2...

Re: Apartment baiting with Facebook Ads

#87

Post by astura »

treis wrote: post #59
astura wrote: post #14

I've used Craigslist this way, most of the public rental ads for our area were either for shitty places or overpriced. There's nice to very nice apartment complexes in our area but they are very expensive, have on-schedule yearly rent increase, and charge pet fees. So I posted an ad on Craigslist in "housing wanted" saying our approximate credit score (750+ each), employment history, what we were looking for, and our…

Seems like this is little more than an end around the fair housing act for landlords.

The FHA makes it illegal to discriminate based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, and familial status.

I very purposely didn't include any information about any of those categories in my ad. The only thing you could discern from my ad was that I was (and still am) married.

That's like saying employers looking for candidates on LinkedIn or the "Ask HN: Who wants to be hired?" thread is "little more than an end for employers to get around anti-discrimination laws."

Re: Apartment baiting with Facebook Ads

#88

Post by tgsovlerkhgsel »

fcbrooklyn wrote: post #82

I'm not sure if it would matter, if you were just doing this as an individual once or twice, but it's worth noting that in New York State, at least, this would be an illegal transaction, unless the tenant referring you to their landlord happened to be a licensed real estate agent. The definition of brokering a transaction according to state law, for which you must be licensed is that you're facilitating the transacti…

Who would complain, though, particularly in this scenario?

Re: Apartment baiting with Facebook Ads

#89

Post by perl4ever »

fcbrooklyn wrote: post #82

I'm not sure if it would matter, if you were just doing this as an individual once or twice, but it's worth noting that in New York State, at least, this would be an illegal transaction, unless the tenant referring you to their landlord happened to be a licensed real estate agent. The definition of brokering a transaction according to state law, for which you must be licensed is that you're facilitating the transacti…

My landlord (in NY) offers a sizeable reward for referring new tenants. It's posted everywhere in the building. Are you claiming this is illegal?

Re: Apartment baiting with Facebook Ads

#90

Post by scarface74 »

ada1981 wrote: post #84
always_good wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'll have to elaborate how reaching out to tenant candidates directly gets around the Fair Housing Act and what that act attempts to address.

For example, it’s illegal not to rent to single moms. But maybe you don’t want to. So you can look through the tenants looking for a place and hand pick one before advertising your place. Or maybe you don’t like gay folks, or black folks, etc.

It’s not that hard to discriminate and make it hard for someone to prove that’s what you’re doing.
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