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Help for New Users

This step-by-step tutorial will guide you through the process of creating a landlord account and adding your rental listings.

What Information to Have Ready

In order to expedite the process of registering and adding your listings, you should bring some essential information with you.  You will need basic information about yourself, landlord affiliations, and contact information.  For each listing, you will need the address and information about the apartment’s features.  It would be a good idea to read through this tutorial in its entirety to get an idea of the information you will need.

Getting Started

Step 1: Open Internet Explorer and browse to the website.  If you are in the public library, you may ask the librarians for assistance with this step.

Step 2: Welcome to the Off-Campus Housing Website!  You are presented with a menu of options.  Each graphic represents a major feature of this website.  In time you can become familiar with the other services by clicking on them.  For now, click on Add / Edit Listings to proceed to the Landlord Home Page.

Step 3: This page outlines what it is to list your properties on our website.  Feel free to read through this page, and when you are ready to proceed, click the Create a New Account link.

Step 4: Read the instructions, and press the Continue button.

Step 5: It is important that you are familiar with your rights and responsibilities within this system.  Please read through the Terms of Service Agreement, Privacy Statement, and Equal Housing Opportunity Policy by clicking on each of the links.  In order to continue, you must click each of the checkboxes stating that you have read and agree to abide by the rules outlined in each policy.  Once you have checked the boxes, press the Continue button to go to the final step of the account creation process.

Step 6: We require that you to enter certain information that will be used for several purposes outlined in the Policy Statement you read in Step 5.  This information must be as accurate as possible to ensure students can contact you about your listings.  Here are a few short explanations of some of the fields:

Phone Number – This is the primary contact number where you want prospective tenants to contact you about the listing.  This can be either a telephone, pager, or cell phone number, the choice is yours.

Maintenance Number – This is the number at which you want people to contact you regarding apartment maintenance.  If this number would be the same as your phone number, then please leave this area blank.

E-mail Address – Many web savvy people at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute prefer e-mail to voice communication.  If you have an e-mail address, please provide it here.  Otherwise, you should leave this field blank.

Website URL – If you have a personal home page, or a website that contains pictures of your listings, you can provide the address here.  If not, you should leave the field alone.

Neighborhood Association Affiliation – If you are a member of a local area neighborhood association, please select the name of the organization from the dropdown box.  Otherwise, select “None”.

Did you attend the RPI Landlord Training Program – Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute offers a free training program to local landlords.  If you have attended this training seminar, please select “Yes” and enter the month/year you attended.  Please note that we cross-check this information regularly for accuracy.

Username / Password – This information will be used to give you access to your account and personal listings every time you visit the website.  It is important that you keep this information to yourself and do not share it with others.

Once you have entered all of the fields, press the Continue button to proceed.  This process may take a few seconds while the website creates an account for you.  You will be presented with a confirmation page.  Press the Login button to log in for the first time.

Step 8: You have now successfully created an account and logged into the website.  The Landlord Home Page provides links to Add Listings, Manage Listings, and Edit Account.  Since we want to add listings, go ahead and click on that option.

Step 9: This form collects information pertinent to your rental property.  Please fill it out completely and accurately.  Here are a few notes about the fields on this page:

Monthly Rent – This is the amount of rent you request each month.  Please note that this price should be for the entire unit.  For example, if you are listing a five bedroom house, then the total rent is the dollar figure you wish to collect from the entire apartment, not on a per-person basis.  This standardization will prevent confusion among students who mistake a per-person rate for the price for the entire apartment.  Listings violating this standard will be removed promptly.

Status – The new Off-Campus Housing Website can store your listings indefinitely.  However, only those marked as “Listed” will be available for search.  This is handy if you would like to enter all of your listings, but not make all of them available at this time.  “Unlisted” rentals are hidden from the public.  You can make them “Listed” at any time (directions given below).

Press the Add button to insert the listing into the system.  You will be presented with a confirmation screen where you can either Add Another Listing or See All Listings.

Congratulations!  You have successfully created an account and added your first listing to the Off-Campus Housing Website.  Here are a few additional topics you may want to read about.

Additional Help Topics

Logging In – The first time you create a landlord account, the website automatically logs you in when account creation is complete.  During subsequent visits to the site, you will need to enter the information yourself in any one of the login boxes (pictured here), and press the Login button.

Logging Out – For security reasons, be sure to press the Logout button when you are finished with your session and close the web browser window completely.  This ensures that nobody else will have access to your account.

List / Unlist – When you click on the “Manage Listings” option on the Landlord Home Page, all of your properties will appear as either listed or unlisted.  Listed basically means that your property listing is publicly viewable and searchable, while Unlisted means the properties are hidden and will not show up in search results.  If you rent a property that is Listed, it is your responsibility to immediately Unlist the property so other visitors will not find it in their search results.

Edit / Delete – These buttons can be found in the “Manage Listings” option on the Landlord Home Page.  Click the Edit button to edit the listing, and press Delete to remove the listing.  WARNING: Deleting a listing is permanent and cannot be reversed.

Edit My Account – This option can be reached from the Landlord Home Page, and allows you to change any of the information you gave during the account creation process.  It is important to keep this information updated as this is the only way prospective tenants can find or contact you.

Where to Access the Internet

If you do not have internet access at your place of residence, there are several free alternatives to get online.  The Troy Public Library has public computers set up at all three branches (Main, Sycaway, and Lansingburg).  The staff is willing to help you connect to the internet.

For you’re your convenience, here are the library hours for each location:

The Rensselaer Union has also established public terminals for student and guest use.  They are located throughout the building and are available during regular building hours.

How to Get Help

If after reading this document you still need help, please refer to the Off-Campus Housing Website.  There are several documents about how to use the site effectively.