What is an API?
An application programming interface, or API, allows two systems to automatically pass information and data back and forth. It removes the need for a person to manually interact with the system. APIs are powerful because they eliminate manual interaction and improve efficiency while being on demand 24/7, and there is no lag from when the data is requested and when it’s fulfilled.
Rentometer API
Rentometer has an API Integration available for all Pro subscribers. Let’s walk through how our API works.
Rentometer has a web interface (also known as www.rentometer.com). When you need rental data, you can enter your subject property into the search bar and get the rental data you need in report format from our website. To further analyze the data, you may need to take some data from the report and input it into a spreadsheet or another one of your systems.
With the Rentometer API, you can bypass the web interface by having one of your systems send a direct request to our system. Our API will then return the results back to your system without having to manually enter any information on either end.
How to Set Up an API
The tricky part with an API is that they are fairly technical and usually require an engineer to implement. How can you use an API if you don’t have engineering resources available? Using a service, such as Zapier, that facilitates the API connections between two different systems is a good way to implement an API without needing engineering support. In addition to our own API, we’ve built a Zapier connection so that customers don’t have to use engineering time to take advantage of all the benefits of using the Rentometer API.
Using an API & Rentometer API Demo with Zapier Connection
Let’s say you have a list of for sale rental properties that you’re evaluating for an investment. You need a quick method to identify the best opportunities on the list, the ones you want to spend the most time further analyzing. For the initial pass on the deals, let’s compare sales price to an estimated rental value using the 1% rule.
When you call on our API data using the Zapier interface, you’re able to pull average and median rent prices, among other data. Once you request rent statistics from our API and your “output” worksheet is filled with rental data from our system, you’re able to use the 1% rule to create an investment threshold. If you’re not familiar, the 1% rule states that your estimated monthly rental income should be no less than 1% of your all-in cost of the rental property.
For example, an all-in investment of $100,000 would require no less than $1,000 per month in rental income to make it a viable investment. It’s a rule of thumb, but by no means the only factor to consider when making an investment decision.
After getting results from the Rentometer API and applying the 1% rule, you’re able to decide which property is worth considering as a potential investment.
Did we miss any questions you may have about the API? Email feedback@rentometer.com
Rentometer PRO
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- Batch Analysis
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- Google Street View
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