We got an email today that appeared to be from someone we know, a business associate. This email came from his Yahoo account

“I’m writing this with tears in my eyes,my family and I came down here to Wales,United Kingdom for a short vacation unfortunately we were mugged at the park of the hotel where we stayed,all cash,credit card and cell were stolen off us but luckily for us we still have our passports with us.

We’ve been to the embassy and the Police here but they’re not helping issues at all and our flight leaves in less than 3hrs from now but we’re having problems settling the hotel bills and the hotel manager won’t let us leave until we settle the bills,I’m freaked out at the moment.”

After asking him to tell us how we met, he ignored the question but sent this UK number +447024015257 for his “hotel manager.” I searched the number and found a thread proving the scam. Beware!

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Rental Beast gets some more press about our upcoming expansion.

“Boston, Mass.-based RentalBeast moving its rental service site into Manhattan, Philadelphia, DC, and eventually major cities across the country; wants to ‘become MLS of the rental industry.’”

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The Wellesley-Weston Chabad basement was flooded with more than 3 feet of water

In the week since a massive flood devastated the Wellesley-Weston Chabad House, community members have rallied together to help clean up and rebuild. Dozens of community members donated their time to completely gut what was once the Chabad House’s finished basement, including several guest rooms, storage rooms, and the Rabbi and Rebbetzin’s offices.

“We’ve been touched by the great outpouring of support,” said Rabbi Moshe Bleich, “Unfortunately, we were forced to cross the sea a week early. We’re determined to part those waters and resume our mission of spreading the wellsprings of Chassidus.”

The Community Helps Clean Up

Young men take part in a big Mitzvah at the Wellesley-Weston Chabad House removing destroyed contents of the basement to the dumpster.

Volunteers from far and wide filled several dumpsters with damaged items and debris and covered the front lawn and backyard with objects they hoped to dry and salvage. “You might mistake it for a garage sale if not for the fact that everything is soaking wet,” said Yehoshua Bedrick, a long-time member of the Chabad congregation.

The Wellesley-Weston Chabad House hangs their possessions out to dry.

The floodwater damaged electronics, sofas, beds, desks, chairs, mattresses, Siddurim, Machzorim, Seforim, children’s clothing, tools, Shabbos and Yomim Tovim supplies, two freezers full of food for Pesach, and much more. “It was like Noah, without the ark,” said Ishay Grinberg, President of the Wellesley-Weston Chabad congregation. In addition to all the furnishings and supplies, the flood caused major structural damage. Because of the mold, the water-damaged walls and floors had to be completely removed.

Local Rabbi Lends a Hand

Rabbi Joel Sissenwine of Temple Beth Elokim, who leads Newsweek’s most vibrant synagogue in the United States, personally came to help with the reconstruction effort.

Rabbi Joel Sissenwine of Temple Beth Elokim helps Rabbi Bleich of Wellesley-Weston Chabad House with a water-logged mattress.

Sissenwine, who studies weekly with Rabbi Bleich, brought along with him several members of the Beth Elokim softball team, which is the primary rival to the Wellesley-Weston Chabad Shluggers. After wrapping tefillin, the community members spent hours removing debris, salvaging whatever they could. As a token of appreciation for their efforts, Rabbi Bleich distributed some of the rescued shmurah matzah to all of the volunteers.

When asked if they would still be hosting the Pesach Seders, which typically draw over 100 people, Rabbi Bleich quickly responded with his trademark, “No doubt!”

Wellesley-Weston Chabad House Prayer books, wet from flood waters, open to the sun's rays.

Though the Chabad House was insured, they are unfortunately not covered in the event of “excess rain.” Despite the incredible generosity of the community and Jews around the world, the Chabad House is far from raising the $50,000 necessary to complete the reconstruction effort.

No one is too young to lend a helping hand. Effi Bleich carries 2x4's out to the dumpster. This used to be the guest bedroom.

What can you do?

Be a part of this great mitzvah and help the Wellesley-Weston Chabad House recover their losses!

Donate at http://www.wellesleywestonchabad.org/funds.html
or send a check to:

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Jason Turcotte writes Rental Beast “… is giving Craigslist a run for its money.” I have made the article available to you as a PDF, click to download.

Rental Startup Takes Manhattan - Brokers Weekly

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Rental Beast: A Better Way to Search for an Apartment?

Mike Whaling of Multifamily Technology 360˚ interviewed Ishay about the Rental Beast apartment hunting model and how we differ from other large listings sites (and craigslist). Thanks Mike!

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We’re looking for your opinion about apartment hunting and we’d love for you to take a few minutes to answer a few simple questions in our anonymous survey on apartment hunting.

Take our 2010 apartment hunting survey now, and check The Beast blog in the coming weeks for the results.

Thanks,
Ishay Grinberg
Rental Beast

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Scott Kirsner of the Boston Globe wrote a great post this week asking that exact question. The point Scott is making is  “…in a world where Craigslist has made filling or finding a vacant apartment fundamentally free, can Rental Beast build a significant business by trying to streamline the process?”

Well, I think that the whole “free” premise is the biggest misconception in the history of misconceptions.

In reality >95% of renters that use Craigslist end up calling and leasing through a broker or real estate agent and as a result pay a broker fee equal to 1 month’s rent.

For the most part the fee is paid fully by the renter, sometimes the renter pays half and the owner pays the other half and even when the owner pays the full fee it is almost always factored into the monthly rent bill.

What’s so “free” about that?

Remember when you had to pay an arm and a leg to buy some stock through your stock broker?

It’s hard to remember now when anyone could buy and sell stock online for $5-$7 a trade (E*trade, ScottTrade, etc) could this happen with real estate brokers?

In this economy more and more people are asking themselves, “why do I have to pay the broker fee?

Well for those who use Rental Beast the answer is “You don’t!”

Here is a link to the Boston Globe post: Somerville start-up takes fee-based approach to apartment rentals, challenging Craigslist

I’d love to hear about your renting experience.

IG

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I recently started a new group on LinkedIn called “Boston Apartments“, I found that most groups relating to the apartment rental industry had too much irrelevant information.
Given the unique characteristics that the Boston apartment market has I hope this group becomes a good information resource for Landlords, individual property owners, property managers and off course apartment renters.
The group is open to anyone and I would encourage you to participate, share ideas, ask questions and make suggestion that you think would improve the overall experience of having to find an apartment for rent in greater Boston area and also owning or managing a property in MA.

Below is a link to to our new group:

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2670317&trk=myg_ugrp_ovr

IG

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The folks at Jib Jab have a knack for summaries.

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Rental Beast Offers New Pricing

Finding apartments for rent isn’t always carefree and easy. During this holiday season you deserve to catch a break. At Rental Beast we understand that your apartment search can be frustrating and expensive; but we think we can help! We have slashed our pricing and simplified our money-back guarantee for your convenience. Rental Beast can help you find apartments for rent in Boston.

Pay less than $1 a day
with our new pricing plan:
Sign Up Now

BRONZE MEMBERSHIP

• Now less than $1 a day!
• $29 for 30 Days
• Unlimited access
• Email Notifications

SILVER MEMBERSHIP

• Save 30%
• $59 for 90 Days
• Unlimited access
• Email Notifications

GOLD MEMBERSHIP

• Save over 75%
  compared to a broker fee
• $250 for 6 Months
• VIP guided search assistance from our customer support team
• Unlimited access
• Email Notifications

All packages are backed by our new, easier and faster money-back guarantee:
If you find a place on your own that is not in Rental Beast’s database, we will process your refund in three easy steps:

1. Make a copy of your new lease
2. Send it to us via email, fax or snail mail
3. Get your refund in full in 5-10 business days

No need to scour Craigslist for hours; no need to pay any broker fees. Give Rental Beast a try, you just might like us.

IG

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