True but you will find the sites that require the members to provide thier credit information, references, all while upholding the reputation of such sites like Zillow or Trulia are able to secure better tenants than that of Craigslist. I know it's important to cover your bases and advertise everywhere but this has created a fantastic market for social media marketers able to expand their workload to real estate due to the demand to post the property on all forms of social media. I personally don't find Craigslist to be the best place to list an expensive property but if you must do so, I always suggest providing a link to the main listing.
While the numbers have gone down on CL there are still thousands upon thousands of people that use the service. I still continue to have success anytime I decide to use it for a promotion. The responses are usually very quick, and I have no problems with the buyers there. So I wouldn't go as far as saying that there are not too many people there. Remember that it only takes one person to purchase your property. If you have a solid offer, you will find a solid buyer.
For buying and selling real estate, its really web-driven these days. Sure, in some smaller towns, paper or online classifieds work some. As to Craigslist, its reputation of being sort of the web's septic tank is at least somewhat based in reality.
The more views your listings get, the more crap wannabe renters and buyers you'll have to sift through. But sometimes that may be what it takes.
I believe that classified ads are quite important at certain times. I think they are quite important to make a certain asset very popular. These ads can be the key to certain assets.
Classified ads bring far more trouble to you than they're worth, though. You'll wind up dealing with people that aren't serious about buying a property or that want to try and scam you in some way or another. I'd avoid these sites altogether, especially Craigslist. Even the local newspaper can cause issues when you post a classified ad in print. It's better to go through more reliable channels.
I think most online classified ads have their uses because it always helps to get whatever you want sold listed as much as possible. And I've been able to use classified ads for small stuff as well, just within the year. I think they DO still work. It's just SO cluttered though. Even when categorized into groups, the amount of posting is too much that's it's information overload. And then there are those sellers that don't respond to inquiries or buyers who aren't really serious about buying. Both are a waste of time. Still think it's worth it to get your ad to as wider an audience as possible though.
Not many people these days read ads in the newspapers I am assuming. When looking for a place we check it online, so I don't think it's worth it really, a wast of time and money IMO.
I have never used Craigslist to try and sell property but I have used to it find places to rent and renters for properties that I have. It seems to still work well enough for me. I do use other platforms too though like Trulia.
