Estimating rent for property

[Mohamed Mahmoud]

Hello fellow investors,

So I'm analyzing props in my neighborhood and according to my realtor, rents are pretty high and range from 2300-2800/month.

Of course if that were actually the case, I wouldn't be hesitant at all, however the stats he sent me were for advertised rents, yet when I checked the history to see how much they rented for in the last few months, I couldn't find anything more than 2200. Except for a rare case of 2400.

So is it wise to depend on advertised rents? even if a lot of them are advertising that much?

Also, should I except lower rents with Covid going around?

[Mike McCarthy]

@Mohamed Mahmoud the MLS is a decent place to get actual rents, but not everyone lists their rentals on the MLS. It's important to check out Zillow, Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, etc and see why is available there. Call a few listed rentals and look at the pics. How do they compare to yours? Location, updated, amenities, etc. Are utilities included or not? Are there other fees? (Pet fee, move-in fee, etc).

All of these will be important to your prospective tenants.