It always drove me nuts that craigslist's searches didn't have more structure/parameters to them. Big points for not accepting brokers, too.<p>A few small interaction notes/feature requests:<p><pre><code> * why can't I search by square footage?
* need to add lots more parametrized amenities (garden, dogs ok/cats ok, balcony,
central a/c, furnished, etc)
* need to search on brooklyn neighborhoods! park slope != bed-stuy.
* when I click on a map pin, i'd expect to either get a modal dialog with more
info, or to be taken directly to the listing page. Just showing me a single
search result is a little unexpected and not especially useful.
* If I click Browse to go back to search, my last search parameters/results
should be retained
* the chat widget on the community page isn't loading for me (FF 3.5/OSX)
* The "Oct Deals" link is really cool, but doesn't really tell me what I'm
about to see. Also, at the top of the linked-to page, it says September.
* Why a different UI for the amenities search-- add button vs. checkboxes?
</code></pre>
PS need a product manager?<p>PPS: I really need to submit a patch to the HN code to do list formatting
My first (only) startup was a rental site. RentHop already has more traction than I ever did. At the time I knew little about funding or how startups worked. Heck, I didn't really even know much PHP or CSS, but got a site up and running. With little to no funding, I decided to close up shop, which was sad, because we did have real listings coming in, just not enough revenue to cover costs.<p>I will say that I learned a LOT about coding, which has helped me on my day job and a lot about startups which will help me enormously, should I do it again.<p>What would I do differently?<p>- Try to get more seed money. I was working with about a $100 total. I would go with one like Shotput Ventures in my current Atlanta home, or YC if I could swing living in SV for three months. I could use the funds for stuff like the PR that got them this article. I'd get advice and connections to hopefully get that next round of funding, if I need it.<p>- Take a city-based approach. I tried to to the whole USA at once. It's a lot of territory to cover.<p>- Get a technical co-founder. I partnered with someone who had a little real-estate experience, but couldn't help out on the tech side. I personally need someone who could really handle the UI design and make something that looks pretty and is dead-simple to use.<p>- Pick a better name. Seriously. I'm not even going to tell you the name we picked because it was unmemorable, unpronounceable, difficult to spell, and lacked even a hint of SEO-keyword-mojo.<p>All those lessons, and the tech skills I picked up will help me greatly If I try this again. You know I wouldn't be here if I wasn't thinking about it. ;-)<p>If PG is reading, what made you/YC decide to fund yet another rental listing site? I'm kind of surprised to be honest. It's been done and has the biggest competitor out there.
They're still missing a huge opportunity: RentHop actually ranks better on Google for less targeted searches. For example:<p><pre><code> Search Query Ranking
new york no fee listings 26
nyc apartment search 30
new york apartment map 14
east village apartments 69
west village no fee listings 53
apartments in chelsea not in top 200
</code></pre>
You can be pretty sure that someone who looks for "apartments in New York" is less ready to buy than someone who looks for no-fee listings in the West Village.<p>Part of the problem is that the search page is dynamically generated; neighborhood-specific landing pages would help capture those more targeted queries.
"RentHop is free to browse and to post listings, but landlords are charged half a month's rent for every signed lease the website helps bring in."<p>Anyone know how you would enforce this? Seems like it would be easy for landlords/renters to circumvent the charging process.
The manhattan neighborhoods need to be broken up more, I immediately noticed these missing soho, lower east side, chinatown, nolita, greenwich village, and hells kitchen.
Seems like a rather sensationalist headline. Craigslist is not the competitor, these guys: <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=no+fee+rentals+nyc" rel="nofollow">http://www.google.com/search?q=no+fee+rentals+nyc</a> are.
How does RentHop ensure that they get their half-month rent from the landlord? i.e. how do they make sure that they know if they successfully connected a renter and a landlord to sign a lease?
I would really like to see some serious craigslist competitors. There are basic things that craigslist refuses to allow users to do, like keep a list of things they're interested in.