(Vocus) July 13, 2010

In the competitive market of apartment rental listings, it can be difficult to stand out. A recent start-up, The Rentables (therentables.com), has taken a fundamentally different approach to providing these listings and has become a cutting edge competitor within a year of its launch.

Andrew C. MacDonald, one of four partners in the company explains: “As owners of income properties, we must market our own properties when vacancies occur. After using other online rental listing services, we realized that most existing rental websites are just not making the process easy and effective. The Rentables aims to make it very simple for landlords to post and manage ads for one or multiple units through a very streamlined process. We’ve spent hundreds if not thousands of hours designing the page flow to make our site as intuitive and fast as we can. There are some very neat features such as interactive filters and side-by-side unit comparison, which not only help tenants in their selection, but also helps landlords determine fair rents for their property.”

The Rentables gives landlords a choice of whether or not to create an account, keeping the posting process very quick. Landlords appreciate this approach and over 48,000 listings have been posted throughout North America. In addition to the listings posted directly to TheRentables.com, visitors can browse thousands more listings from numerous partner sites, which provides a comprehensive selection of rental properties for tenants.

“We have created a website that offers an improved experience for both landlords and tenants, and best of all, it’s free,” states Mr. MacDonald.

Incorporated in August 2009, The Rentables now serves thousands of visitors each month. Andrew believes that traffic will continue to increase significantly over the next six months as more and more people continue to become familiar with the benefits that the site offers to both landlords and tenants. Visit TheRentables.com to find your next apartment for rent online.

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prwebrent/apartments/prweb4248764.htm

Montebello, CA. (Vocus) July 2, 2010 — This Saturday July 10th marks the official grand opening of the highly anticipated model homes at Rio Walk. Even without the benefit of models for viewing, Rio Walk has been selling steadily. The Model grand Opening Celebration event will allow homebuyers to see exactly what their finished new homes will look like. The celebration event includes model tours, a delicious and free food court featuring the well known Kogi Korean BBQ Food truck, and for dessert, Big Swirl Self serve frozen yogurt. Visitors to the event will also have the chance to enter to win an iPad. The event will be held Saturday July 10th from 10am-6pm with the free food court service being featured for lunch from 12 Noon to 3PM.

Rio Walk is just the latest new home community from affordable new home builder, The Olson Company. Olson is creating huge Interest for several new home communities all launched since January 2010. Sales have been steady for Olson proving that if you price the homes right and build them where people want to live, sales will follow and so they have. Now it is Rio Walk’s turn. This community consists of just 60 3-story LEED Certified Green townhomes. Olson Homes anticipates that pent up demand for affordable housing in Los Angeles County will make Rio Walk highly desirable housing with pricing set from the high $290,000s. Prospective homebuyers are encouraged to register online at Rio Walk Homes. These affordable homes have nearly sold out of the first phase with a new phase being released for this Saturday’s event.

Rio Walk’s Sales Center is now open daily from 10am to 6pm accepting applications for these exciting new homes.

Rio Walk is located in historic Montebello just 8 miles from downtown L.A. Rio Walk ’s proximity to all the excitement of downtown paired with charm of Montebello’s rolling hills offer that perfect mix of Montebello’s home town charm while providing access to the vibrancy of a newly booming downtown Los Angeles. Many young homebuyers like the idea having the best of both worlds without actually living in the harder edged downtown. With Rio Walk, homeowners get an affordable LEED certified townhome with access to bike paths and the feel of a real neighborhood by day. Then after a hard day at work, Rio Walk homeowners have quick access to the nighttime excitement of LA Live.

Rio Walk’s Spanish styled architecture is meant to echo the early architecture of the area. The homes offer Montebello Charm with an L.A. Vibe.

For first time homebuyers wanting to live in Los Angeles County will find that Rio Walk’s spacious floorplans range in size from 1,294 square feet to 1,774 square feet. The homes will offer up to four bedrooms and four bathrooms and include attached two-car garages. With prices set from the high $290,000s, Rio Walk offers an exceptional value for new housing in Los Angeles County and due to limited supply new home sales at Rio Walk are anticipated to be very brisk.

“Rio Walk is really unique in that it offers homebuyers a chance to live close to downtown without giving up the comforts of a true established neighborhood. Rio Walk offers the best of both these worlds. Rio Walk offers the comfort and warmth of home by day as well as easy access to entertainment and nightlife of the new downtown L.A.” said Michelle Johnson, VP of Sales and Marketing for The Olson Company.

To join the interest list and get more information about these affordable New Homes in Los Angeles County visit Rio Walk Homes.

About The Olson Company
Founded in 1988, The Olson Company is California’s leading developer of innovative LEED Certified and affordable In-town communities in established neighborhoods. The Olson Company creates uniquely designed communities which redevelop and enhance neighborhoods utilizing transit-oriented developments, live/work, mixed use developments, brownstones, single family attached and detached homes in partnerships with cities and other agencies.

Headquartered in Southern California with communities throughout the state, Olson is a multi-year recipient of America’s “Builder of the Year” award. Further information about Olson Homes can be obtained online at Olson Homes.

Rio Walk is a registered trademark of The Olson Company and In-Town Living, Inc.

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/07/prweb4221244.htm

Denver, CO (PRWEB) June 25, 2010 — FreeRentalSite.com (Toronto homes for rent, Edmonton rental homes, Vancouver houses for rent, and Calgary rental houses.

Borden had been consulting with Primedia, the company that acquired RentClicks, until the end of 2009 when he decided to seek other entrepreneurial opportunities in the rental industry. Borden said, “No matter how hard I try, this industry keeps calling me back. I feel a real sense of purpose, and passion for the industry that I just can’t seem to capture with anything else I try.” Borden’s parents were both property managers, and he cites their struggles to run an efficient and profitable business in the industry as his inspiration for developing technologies that help property managers, investors, and renters navigate the industry.

FreeRentalSite.com has an innovative business model that allows all landlords to post ads for free. The ads are scored based on the amount of content, photos, features and amenities, and other details that the ad poster places in the ad. The higher the ad score, the higher the property shows up in the search results. If the user wishes to increase their score, and position in the search results, they may buy additional “ad score” points. “I want everyone to use the site whether they pay or not. If they want or need more traffic to their properties, they will get it by building great ads, and if necessary purchasing ad score points,” explained Borden.

The site already has more than 7000 listings across Canada and Poland, and is adding more every day. “We are already significantly ahead of where we were at the same point in our growth with RentClicks in terms of listings, but we have a long way to go in terms of revenues. Our model requires us to achieve a certain measure of success before we can expect the register to start ringing,” said Borden. “Patience has never been one of my best traits, but we are confident enough in the model to wait it out.”

Borden and two of his West Point classmates launched RentClicks.com in March of 2003 from Borden’s hometown of Colorado Springs, and it quickly became a leader in the online rental industry. The business thrived primarily with single family homes for rent, and was the leader in the category. “We will bring the same discipline to this business that made us successful with the last one. We will focus on the experience of the renter, develop the world’s best product, support our customers with world-class customer service, and create an exciting culture for our employees. If we do those things, the revenues will come,” said Borden.

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/homes-for-rent/apartments/prweb4185124.htm

London (PRWEB) June 20, 2010 — When an elegant Victorian house in Chesterford Gardens, Hampstead, came up for rental recently, no-one was more surprised than Benham and Reeves Residential Lettings, who have let the property on a sole agency basis continuously for over 25 years, when prospective tenants were thin on the ground.

Tired, outdated bathrooms were letting the property down so we suggested a refurbishment to boost its ‘wow’ factor and the home, which belongs to a well-known musician who now lives in the US, was let immediately - before the refurbishment works were even completed!

The initial difficulty in letting the property is a sign of the current rental market in London. While smaller one and two bedroom apartments are renting like hot cakes, large family homes at the top end of the market (£1500+ per week) are taking considerably longer to let due in part to staff cut backs in large companies, and because many Landlords are failing to keep their properties fully up to date with tenant trends.

With seven double bedrooms - one of which is a tastefully updated master suite with en suite bathroom - an vast 60ft reception room, spacious dining room, family room, playroom and large country-style kitchen/diner, the Chesterford Gardens property is an impressive family residence. And, of course, its large, mature garden and close proximity to Hampstead Heath is another huge attraction for families.

“In the past, up to three potential tenants have bid for the property at the end of a previous tenancy, but in this challenging market, we felt a little ‘TLC’ was needed to bring this charming house into the 21st century” says Simran Prasad, Director of Property Management at Benham and Reeves Lettings.

So we brought in rental property interior design and refurbishment specialist In:Style Direct to breathe new life into the property.

The company, refurbished two bathrooms and also fitted new tiles in two guest cloakrooms. In the master ensuite, In:Style Direct retained the elegant Victorian roll-top bath and installed a new washroom-style shower enclosure, while replacing all the taps and hand-held shower fittings. They also fitted new metro-style white wall tiles with a black edging and black Porcelanosa floor tiles.

The second bathroom on the first floor was completely refurbished, and new tiles were fitted in the first floor cloakroom. In the ground floor cloakroom, timber panelling was fitted to match the property’s existing style, while mosaic black and white floor tiles have been laid to complement the entrance hall.

The result is a tasteful interior with lots of period charm and a high specification that appeals to the most discerning of corporate tenants. And, with an asking rental of £2,950 per week, the property was snapped up by a casino entrepreneur and his family, even before the refurbishment project was completed.

Although high calibre corporate tenants are harder to find in the current market, properties that are maintained to the highest standards will always let more quickly, as Simran explains: “We know from experience that corporate tenants demand a high standard of presentation. Kitchens and bathrooms are particularly important and are often the deciding factor when choosing a family home. Get these right and you will find that the property lets much more quickly. A landlord won’t necessarily get a higher rental, although this can often be the case, but if a property lets quickly then potential void periods are reduced, substantially increasing the rental income of the property.”

In:Style Direct is a specialist in interior design, furnishing and refurbishment services for rental investment properties. The company can manage all aspects of an interior design project, from completely refurbishing a property, including planning, design, construction and installation, to simply decorating a single room, fitting a new kitchen or bathroom, new flooring or even knocking down walls.

The company also produces a range of design-led furnishing packages tailored to meet the needs of landlords, containing everything needed to furnish a property with style and a practical eye to detail.

In:Style Direct’s interior design and refurbishment service has a proven track record in attracting tenants. Over 85% of the properties furnished by the company are let within a week.

For more information on property to let in London, contact Benham and Reeves Residential Lettings on 020 7435 9681 or for further information on In:Style Direct’s London interior design service to help transform your property to attract a good tenant, please call 020 8964 1966

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/Hampsted-Property/London-Interior-Design/prweb4163144.htm

New Castle, DE (PRWEB) June 14, 2010 — Suntricity Power (http://www.SuntricityPower.com), America’s Solar Choice, today announced that it has added a New Neighborhood Solar program to assist potential solar clients in moving toward clean renewable energy. The program allows for extended discounts for bulk solar purchases in the Pennsylvania and Delaware Markets.

The Suntricity Power Neighborhood Solar Program is designed to promote residential solar power by encouraging people to band together and realize a volume discount on their systems. Through the program, Suntricity Power teams with neighborhoods, homeowner associations, and municipalities to organize meetings and provide education to interested homeowners.

By encouraging their neighbors to purchase home solar power systems, homeowner champions are able to enjoy financial benefits through the discounts and solar rebates and will also increase the positive impact on the environment by growing from just one residential solar home system to many.

Suntricity Power believes that through product innovation and programs like this one, solar can become affordable to everyone. The program is set to begin on June 21st, 2010. To sign up please go to www.SuntricityPower.com, and look for the Neighborhood Solar Link.
About Suntricity Power Corp.
Suntricity Power Corp. provides solar energy systems for residential and commercial markets. The company offers a system that includes high efficiency microinverters, mono crystalline high yield solar modules, communications and Web-based monitoring and analysis. The systems increase energy harvest, improve system reliability and simplify design, installation and management. Founded in 2007 and based in Delaware, with offices in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the company is led by veterans from the solar, financial and tech industry.

For more information about Suntricity Power, please visit www.SuntricityPower.com or call 888-557-6527, 888-55-SOLAR.

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2010/06/prweb4124944.htm

(PRWeb UK) May 24, 2010 — Partnership approach secures residential planning permission for former West Park Hospital scheme in Epsom

On behalf of the HCA, Crest Nicholson Ltd and Linden Homes, planning permission has been secured from Epsom & Ewell Council to allow development implementation of 369 new homes on the former West Park Hospital, Epsom. Affordable homes will represent 40% of the development.

King Sturge, PRP Architects, PPS Group and Capita Symonds led the technical support to the clients, working together to secure this valuable planning permission for development in the Green Belt.

The negotiations with Epsom & Ewell Council resulted in an agreed masterplan that allows new homes to also be constructed in areas beyond the originally identified development envelope. The masterplan respects the original layout of the former hospital, retaining many of the existing buildings, conversion of the grade II listed water tower to apartments and the creation of three new urban squares.

Epsom & Ewell Council agreed the scheme was acceptable, having no adverse impact on the Green Belt and that the development solution is of the highest quality.

Over the course of lengthy negotiations and a dynamic consultation exercise, the layout of the development was subject to many iterations and refinements. Overall, this scheme will set a new benchmark for residential regeneration projects across the South East. The resulting development will be of the highest quality, utilising the best of the existing buildings for new housing set in a mature landscape.

John Foddy, Partner in the Residential Planning team of King Sturge said: “It is clear that our collaborative approach was a key factor in obtaining planning permission. I’m delighted that we have succeeded in bringing this landmark development to the area.”

Ian Bott, Associate Director PRP commented: “Opportunities like this are rare and require a rigorous but considered approach using the best attributes of the site to inform the design of the layout. We were fortunate to have the opportunity to develop the architectural style showcased in the retained Edwardian hospital buildings, enabling us to create a contemporary interpretation in the design of the new housing located in a parkland setting.”

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://uk.prweb.com/releases/2010/05/prweb4035524.htm

Since the March 3rd report, overall economic activity “increased somewhat” across 11 of the 12 regional districts, the Federal Reserve said. The one exception was the St. Louis district, which reported “softened” economic conditions.

Most districts reported increased sales activity in housing markets, albeit from previously low levels, the Fed report noted. St. Louis was again the exception, where residential real estate was “mixed,” along with San Francisco, which reported housing activity as “flat” over the past six months.

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Graciani is not a high-paid executive returning to a beach retreat. He and his wife, Dina, are career Salvation Army officers who bring home $25,000 per year — combined. They are among dozens of the charity’s officers in Southern California who are paid modest salaries but given rent-free housing — some in high-priced communities such as Rancho Palos Verdes, Seal Beach and Santa Monica.

Best known for its red-kettle holiday bell ringers, the Salvation Army is one of the nation’s largest charities. It serves more than 69 million meals a year to the needy, houses thousands of the nation’s homeless and provides ready response to worldwide disasters — most recently in Haiti. It’s also a real estate powerhouse.

In Los Angeles and Orange counties alone, the charity owns 87 homes and condominiums worth about $52 million. Nationwide, it valued its real estate holdings at about $4 billion in 2008 — one-third of its total assets.

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Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) March 2, 2010 — ApartmentRatings.com, the leading website for user reviews of apartments around the United States, today released rankings of renter satisfaction for the 200 largest college towns and college cities in the country.

Topping the list is Davis, Calif., home to the University of California-Davis, a highly regarded public institution located in Northern California’s Central Valley. UC-Davis’s 30,000 students enjoy the comforts of a university town (population 64,000) and Mediterranean climate, as well as close access to the state capital of Sacramento (11 miles) and cosmopolitan San Francisco (72 miles). Off-campus housing is plentiful and relatively inexpensive when compared to many major metropolitan areas.

Other top-rated college towns include:

Athens, Ga. (University of Georgia)
Ann Arbor, Mich. (University of Michigan)
Amherst , Mass. (University of Massachusetts)
Albany, N.Y. (State University of New York & Excelsior College)
Tuscaloosa, Ala. (University of Alabama)
Madison, Wis. (University of Wisconsin)
Knoxville, Tenn. (University of Tennessee)
Tucson, Ariz. (University of Arizona)

The full list of the 85 college towns included in the rankings can be viewed at http://www.apartmentratings.com/rate/2010collegetownrankings.

“Congratulations to Davis and the other cities that made the top of the rankings,” said Michael Egan, general manager of ApartmentRatings.com. “There are a lot of factors that go into a student’s decision when choosing a college. Our goal was to use the vast wealth of ApartmentRatings data to help students and their families identify those institutions that are located in cities with well-regarded off-campus apartment opportunities.”

Davis’ ranking was based on reviews associated with dozens of different apartment complexes in the city.

“Renters’ reviews are building-specific, and though apartments in Davis get their share of complaints, consistently positive feedback for things like safety, noise and upkeep put Davis on top,” added Egan.
At the bottom of the list was Cambridge, Mass., home of America’s oldest and most famous place of higher learning: Harvard University.

The satisfaction scores were tabulated from thousands of user-submitted ratings provided in 2009 for apartment buildings in the cities and towns of the 100 largest four-year colleges and universities in the United States. In addition to overall satisfaction, users on ApartmentRatings.com can rate their rental experience on a number of specific factors including noise, safety and maintenance, as well as leave comments about their own experience living in the buildings.

About ApartmentRatings.com
Launched in 2000, ApartmentRatings.com is the largest online rating community for rental housing. The goal of ApartmentRatings is to help renters make an informed renting decision. As an independent resource for renters, ApartmentRatings’ reviews provide a realistic insider’s perspective of apartment communities because they are in renters’ own words. The site is among the top five most-visited apartment hunting sites in the world.

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/apartmentratings/2010collegetownrankings/prweb3672514.htm

Seattle, WA, and Wake County, NC (Vocus) February 19, 2010 — The annual deadline for filing a residential property tax appeal in Wake County, North Carolina is April 1, 2010. During this period of unprecedented decline in housing values, many property owners are unfairly overpaying their property taxes by hundreds or thousands of dollars. According to ValueAppeal, in Wake County alone, 21% of the 260,000 homes are currently overassessed.

Seattle, Washington based ValueAppeal has used advanced data mining technologies over the last three months to evaluate each Wake County residential property, with the goal of helping homeowners reestablish a fair and equitable assessment of their property.

Historically homeowners have been reluctant to file property tax appeals, even if they believe their homes are overassessed. The process of preparing the necessary paperwork, filing the appeal and waiting for the results is notoriously opaque and time consuming. In addition, homeowners are wary to try costly property tax appeal “consultants”, who’s fees negate most of the savings.

ValueAppeal uses proprietary algorithms and data from the entire county database to build three unique arguments to support an accurate, compelling appeal to the Wake County Assessor’s Office, including comparable sales, comparable assessments, and additional unique factors often overlooked by county assessors. No other platform has the ability to help such a wide range of homeowners in the crucial 30 days prior to the appeal deadline.

“With the decline in home values, homeowners know they may be paying too much in property taxes,” states Charlie Walsh, founder and CEO of ValueAppeal, “but the process for homeowners to take back what they’re owed is challenging and lengthy. ValueAppeal uses the most comprehensive set of data available, as well as a simple online user interface to ensure the homeowner’s appeal is complete and straightforward.”

About ValueAppeal
Seattle, WA based ValueAppeal, LLC is dedicated to helping homeowners find and reclaim their own money through the correction of unfair tax assessments. The company offers a simple-to-use online tool homeowners use to appeal their property tax assessments. To learn more about ValueAppeal, visit http://www.valueappeal.com, Facebook, or Twitter.

For More Information, Press Only:
Nology Media, LLC
Megan Montplaisir
206 452 5651

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/Wake_County_NC/property_taxes/prweb3625634.htm