The California Association of REALTORS® (CAR) has announced the launch of the California Rental Listing Service, the first statewide database of rental properties servicing the state of California. It will launch with nearly 500,000 rentals throughout San Diego, Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Fresno, Sacramento, and the Bay Area, and will expand to include fulfillment-grade rental data listings spanning the entire state, a release stated.
The service will be powered by the rental data and rental software solutions provider Rental Beast. Rental Beast co-developed the service with CAR’s Real Estate Business Services, LLC (REBS), which offers real estate business services for CAR’s more than 217,000 members, the company noted.
CAR said the service will be available to CAR members via car.org and to California renters soon at rlsca.com. Search results will return both rental listings represented by CAR members alongside properties sourced from Rental Beast’s database of owner-sourced rental listings. California-based MLSs have the option to integrate with the service, providing their subscribers with direct access through their existing systems, becoming centers of excellence for rentals as they are today for buying and selling.
The service’s portal, rlsca.com, will be cost-free and display available rentals otherwise unavailable via popular consumer portals and local MLS alone. Alongside rlsca.com, CAR members also have no-cost access to Rental Beast’s suite of lead-to-lease-to-buy software platform, with tools to manage core rental functions, create comparable market analysis, process rental applications, and screen tenants, the organization noted.
MLS and REALTOR® associations throughout the state have the option to incorporate the California Rental Listing Service data and related Rental Beast software into their MLS systems, complementing their own rental data and services at reduced costs and within faster timelines, they said.
“Residential rentals remain a complex and increasingly important segment of the California housing market. With continued high demand and record-low inventory of homes for sale and with interest rates now at a 14-year peak, many would-be California buyers are turning to rentals,” said REBS Chairman Jared Martin. “Californians now have a powerful resource for finding housing that best suits their needs, along with a direct connection to California REALTORS®, who now have direct access to the rental market data and tools to facilitate fast and affordable rental transactions.”
In conjunction with launching rlsca.com, Rental Beast and CAR have invited property managers and landlords and CAR members to add their rentals to the marketplace. CAR members can add or claim existing listings in the service, and property managers and landlords throughout the state can easily add rental listings at no cost by enabling distribution to Rental Beast within their property management platforms, CAR said.
“This partnership was thoughtfully designed to benefit California renters, California REALTORS®, California landlords, and California’s Multiple Listing Services,” said Ishay Grinberg, founder and CEO of Rental Beast. “It’s a new day for renters, property managers, and real estate professionals in California. They now have a transparent and reliable source of truth for residential rentals at the time when they need it the most, and we look forward to working with C.A.R. and the California-based MLSs as we continue to democratize California’s rental market.”
For more information, visit www.car.org.
