Trying to revamp how I find roomers - too many empty spaces in rooming house. I've made a new "for rent" sign that does NOT have any phone number on it - only the website and a QR Code. Does anybody use these? It is an experiment to see if I can get someone in the "roomer" socio-economic class without old-school phone answering.

We'll see.

In response to my new CL ad last night: I got an inquiry today

"Hello My name is Mark and i was wondering if your room was still available"

The ad says : cut & paste this web address. Webpage says complete this form & you will be contacted.

Typical : (

Normally my response would be "The ad says : cut & paste this web address. Webpage says complete this form & you will be contacted."

I think you have narrowed your prospective tenant pool too much. Do people who rent rooms instead of apartments, even very small apartments have the resources to do that? I can't imagine they do.

As a tech guy, I would say that QR codes never really caught on in the USA. They have been successful in OTHER countries for marketing, but they just didn't work out here. They are rarely used for real marketing any more.

I bought that many will shoot your QR code.

I am cool with the idea of giving no phone and just the web site -- that might work depending on your area -- but I don't think the QR code will matter much.

- John...

Really wanting to step outside the box? In my area, if I bought a rooming house, fixed it up really nice and made it senior housing, I'd keep it full of social security recipients whose social security check isn't big enough to even rent a studio apartment.

Once upon a time, I had a prospect who was a school janitor. Her job was stable, and she had been there for a while, but she was illiterate. I had to fill out the application for her. (Ultimately, she ended up staying with her current ll, the local slumlord, because he had his tenants pay two months in advance... and she didn't think she could get that one month's future rent back from him, and she couldn't afford to walk away from it.)

She's not the only one who I've run into who was so illiterate that they couldn't fill out an application, but she's a good example of someone who has a job with a decent income, but doesn't have the basic education you expect an adult to have.

I would expect that the number of people who are in rooming house territory would fit a similar profile. They're not going to be your high achievers who went on to be doctors and rocket scientists, unless you find that .01% of single frugal high achievers who would rather live in a boarding house than run their own household, or that .01% of globe trotters who are just looking for a basic, inexpensive place to live in between trips to the Himalayas and the Andes. :)

Rather, they're going to be your people who slouched through school, probably work in retail/foodservice/entertainment. (Oooo. Truckers are a good demographic to target.) We joke about tenants who have fancier cars and bigger tvs and bigger furniture and newer phones than we do---- but the libraries are full of people who rely on them for internet.

When I was active, there were plenty of people who I had to help fill out online forms for short-haul trucking runs, or help them compose a roommate-wanted ad on CL because they didn't know how to organize their thoughts. And let's not even go into my "this is how you use the Internet" class that I would run on a monthly basis... "This is how you right-click", "This is how you copy and paste", "This is how you click on a link--- nonononono, just click once! It needs to be a little hand. Yes. No, see how it turns into an arrow? That means you moved it. It needs to be a little hand... just one click... good job!" :)

If there's still a significant segment of the population that has trouble with the idea of clicking a link, then how are they going to deal with a QR Code? Unless it's a screening tool, meant to skew the kind of person you get-- younger, tech-savvy-- in which case, it's working. (Fwiw, I've never done a QR code in my life, either. I had a flip phone for about five or six years; I had a Blackberry Curve for about eight years; and I only just got an Android, a Blackberry KeyOne, last year... and I'm picky about what apps I put on my phone.)

Back in November, I had a screen lift issue with my phone, which involved sending it back to the factory. It took longer than expected, so I bought a used smartphone online to put my sim card into. It was an unlocked phone-- but it was still tethered to TMobile, and I needed the previous owner to tell them they could release it, so I could activate it on AT&T's network. I found myself running back and forth from the AT&T store, Best Buy, and the TMobile store, with intermittent trips to the library to shoot off messages to the former owner, and then running back to see if she'd answered them. (Fortunately, she was a prompt communicator.) But it was a very potent reminder about how much I rely on my phone for instant communication and productivity--- and how not everyone has that tool to work with.

I only know one person who keeps pushing QR codes. She is 55, and can't understand why no one uses them. The students don't use them, no one I know does other than this one colleague at work.

We currently have an illiterate tenant. He is one of our remaining inherited tenants from when we bought our building. Good tenant, disabled vet on disability. Pays on time with money orders. He had some health problems when the VA Hospital changed his meds last year, and he could no longer walk. He contacted our congressman to help him out, and got the forms for him to fill out for a case review. A friend from his church contacted us -- she told us that our tenant could not read but she helped him get things straightened out.

G,

Try it. DO ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that brings in good apps.

Do you have a pouch or info box at the building for printed materials - flyer with pics and an app?

BI - before internet - I put a mailbox on the side of my storage garage along a traveled street. Worked.

Even with our fancypants website we still put these at every vacancy and they get used.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, everybody.

Actually, most if not all of my roomers have had smart phones. It seems, in general, they can get online, but don't have printers- and no desire to go to the library.

I'm thinking maybe if I can get them to just answer the 3-4 most important pre-screen questions, I can limit the number of stories I have to listen to. Worth a shot!

Deanna - you had me laughing out loud at your "class" - so true! I'm quite willing to work with someone illiterate, or high-functioning disabled.

Oregon - I've been leaning that way - trying to figure out how to target seniors, at least for the first floor. May even put up a ramp. BUT the building is NOT handicap accessible (ADA wide doors, etc)

I think I may put up an info box. Hadn't considered that, but good idea.

It's a high-traffic road, and everybody cuts through my property to the next street.

I'll let y'all know how it goes

I used to use QR codes.

I also used to rewind VCR tapes too.

Why not not just use the web address and have that specific site have pics for that specific unit?