Rental search site ForRent.com has formed a partnership with Oodle to be the online classified site’s exclusive provider of managed multifamily rental listings, ForRent.com announced.
Starting this week, ForRent.com’s listings will appear on Oodle’s site as well as Marketplace on Facebook, an Oodle-powered application that allows Facebook users to sell, rent, and buy from each other. ForRent.com customers can also integrate their listings with their Facebook business page and network of fans.
"Our partnership with Oodle provides a human element to our customers’ listings and brings a trust factor to the rental process, since users can see how their friends and friends of friends are connected to listings, ask questions, receive feedback, make comments and respond to listings," said Brock MacLean, senior vice president of national sales and development at ForRent.com, in a statement.
Jenny Rutherford, spokesperson for Oodle, said in a statement that "ForRent (shares) our vision for transforming the way the multifamily industry markets, engages and connects to users through the explosion of social media."
According to the announcement, Oodle and Marketplace have more than 14 million unique users per month.
"Oodle’s vast community of users will also increase ForRent.com’s advertisers’ reach, generating new avenues to connect with even more renters," MacLean said.
In addition to appearing on Oodle and Marketplace on Facebook, an advertiser can choose to become a Marketplace Expert, which gives the advertiser priority placement in search results, the company added.
The exclusive partnership applies to listings provided by property managers with more than 50 units. For managers with less than 50 units, Oodle has a "self service" option that will still be available. Listings from some other providers are currently visible in Oodle search results and will continue to appear for non-managed listings, Rutherford said.
ForRent.com also recently signed an exclusive partnership with RentWiki.com to bring user-generated content, including neighborhood reviews, to ForRent.com.
ForRent.com is the 14th most-visited real estate site on the Web, according to the latest rankings from Web metrics firm Experian Hitwise.
