Authors Note: I put together this resource hoping it would help after seeing many questions on Postlets. I am not affiliated with the company nor is this legal advice. All information within this post is my own based on my personal experiences and what I have seen over the years and from belonging to various forums, etc. All addresses and other personal information of applicants have been removed for privacy reasons. As always, my goal is for you to have the best experience as a landlord as possible.
This is the second post in a two-part guide series about postlets.com. The first post, A Beginner’s Guide to Postlets.com, was created to provide help with posting your first ad (see part 2 here). The goal for this post is to go a little bit further and explain more great features of Postlets.com for the self-managing landlord.
A Guide to Postlets
Here are just a few of the things we will discuss in this post:
- My Postlets
- Inbox
- Resources
- Active Posts
- Draft Posts
- Expired Ads
- Length of Active Ads
- Renewing an Ad
- Editing an Ad
- Deleting an Old Ad
- Expiring an Ad
- Sharing Your Ad to Email/Facebook/Twitter
Let’s get started!
My Postlets (Black Arrow), Inbox (Blue Square) and Resources (Green Circle) can all be found next to each other in the main menu.
1. My Postlets (Black Arrow)
If you click on the My Postlets it will take you back to the main menu. It also has a drop down feature that shows you your latest houses.
This is what my drop down menu looks like.
If you click on the “view all postlets,” it takes you to the main view.
2. Inbox (Blue Box)
As mentioned in the the first Postlets article, I highly recommend using a main email. While Postlets does have an inbox where you can receive correspondence and respond, I have never used it. Postlets has alway sent all correspondence through my email.
If you do want to use the inbox or if you want to see every message ever sent to you, you can access them by clicking the Inbox icon (Blue Box) in the main menu. You will be brought to this screen.
3. Resources (Green Box)
Postlets’ last tab is the available resources. Below is a snapshot of their available resources.
4. Active Posts
Active posts are the posts that are your active listings. They are the first listings on your main page. Below are my active listings so you can see where they can be found.
5. Draft Posts
Zillow saves partially filled out ads that you have saved while working on them (always save not activate when you are working on an ad). These drafts can be found in the middle section of your menu.
Tips:
- Don’t forget to ALWAYS save rather than activate throughout the post.
- If you cannot find a post that you think should be expired or activated, always check in the drafts section. I have had posts go MIA and I found them in the drafts.
6. Expired Ads
Expired ads are previous listings that are currently not being listed. Postlets has kept my posts back from the first time I started using them two years ago. This is a huge asset because it makes it really easy to update or repost when the house comes up again.
Tips:
- Sorting – You can sort the expired listing in six different ways (Expiration Date, Activation Dated, Created Date, Street Address, Property Type, and Price) to make it easier to find the specific house you are looking for.
- Choose Per Page – If you cannot find the house you are looking for, definitely scroll down to either go to the next page or to choose more per page.
7. Expired Ads
The Expired listings are also located on your home page. They are going to be the last section.
Here is an example of my expired listings.
8. Length of Ads
An ad lasts 30 days. If you do not renew it before that period it will be removed from all the listing sources, so make sure you renew the ad.
9. Renewing Your Ad
As we discussed, the posts only last 30 days. Luckily, it is really easy to renew. There are two ways you can renew your ad.
- The First Way
Step 1
Click on the Active Postlet Ad either by clicking on the Ad (Blue Box) or the Edit Button (Black Arrow).
Step 2
Click on the Renew Button.
Step 3
Confirm the date your occupancy will be available.
Step 4
You will receive confirmation that you have been successful.
- The Second Way
Step 1
Step 2
Confirm the date your occupancy will be available.
Step 3
You will receive confirmation that you have been successful.
As you can see, the second way has one less step.
Tips:
- If the house is already empty, I reset the occupancy to the current date.
- Always check the listing sites a day or so later to make sure that it is listed properly. There have been a few times where it has not gone through and my property was not listed on the sites.
10. Editing the Ad
Editing your ad is super easy.
Step 1
Select the ad you wish to edit. You can do this by clicking on the Active Postlet Ad either by clicking on the Ad (Blue Box) or the Edit Button (Black Arrow).
Step 2
Choose the Section on the right column (blue arrow) that you wish to edit.
Step 3
Click on the edit button (blue box).
Step 4
Now you are back to the editing page.
As always don’t forget to SAVE!
11. Deleting an Old Ad
If you are anything like me, you quickly have old ads where you changed your mind or decided to do something else. Those old ads take up space in your main menu. In order to make it easy to find, renew the correct old posts. I make sure I clean up the ads I no longer want. The great thing is it is really easy.
Step 1
You need to click on the ad. You can either just click on the ad or click the edit button.
Step 2
You can find the delete Postlet button on the left column at the bottom where the red box is located.
Step 3
This is the last step where you have to confirm that you want to permanently delete the post.
Tip: Don’t delete anything you might want at a later point as the system does save old posts for you.
12. Expiring an Ad
Congratulations you have done it! Your house is rented out. Now all you need to do is remove the ad. Otherwise you can wait it out for 30 days, but you may have people contacting you to follow up on the house.
There are two ways you can expire your listing.
- First Way
Step 1
Select the Active Postlet you wish to terminate. You can do this by clicking on the Active Postlet Ad either by clicking on the Ad (Blue Box) or the Edit Button (Black Arrow).
Step 2
Click on the Expire Button (Black Box) in the upper right hand corner.
Step 3
You will receive a listing confirmation that it has been expired.
- Second Way
Step 1
Select the Expire Postlets (Black Arrow) button from the main screen.
Step 2
You will receive a listing confirmation that it has been expired.
Tips:
- Do not delete your post as you will probably want it later. Just expire it. This way you can edit and not have to reload and redo the entire ad.
- As I have mentioned, I do not hold the house. Therefore, I do not take the house off the market until I have a security deposit and a signed lease.
13. Sharing the Ad to Email/Facebook/Twitter
Step 1
Select the ad you wish to promote. You can do this by clicking on the Active Postlet Ad either by clicking on the Ad (Blue Box) or the Edit Button (Black Arrow).
Step 2
Click on the Listing Status, the last column on the right (Black Arrow).
Step 3
Click on the share button (Black Arrow) for the site you want to post.
Side Note: There should be a share on all listing sources. Since I had just renewed my ad, my computer was thinking at the time of the screen shot.
Step 4
The share button brings up three options for social media (Black Box). Choose the social media you wish to share to.
Step 5
Once you click on your options you will receive the following screen.
See, isn’t Postlets easy and simple? While there are 17 different places to list your house, Postlets is by far my FAVORITE!
P.S. Now that you have an ad up and running, you are going to start getting inquiries and requests to apply. Is your lease up and ready for the challenge? My lease has been a huge key to my success.
Check out my post on How to Create a Rock Solid Lease in ONE Evening.
Wishing there was a resource that had explanations and addendum with the lease language already written for you? Check out my book, The Everything Lease Addendum How-To For Landlords. This is where I share all 37 of my lease addendum wording and explanations that I have put together over the years of ulcer-inducing moments, learning the hard way, and participating in forums. I create this with the hope this saves you a few of the challenges I have experienced along the way.
Did I miss anything in the steps? Was there anything that was hard or confusing? Do you have any other tips and tricks that you have learned ? Share them in the comments!
Happy landlording!
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