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Erin Dorsey Robinson
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  • Real Estate Agent
  • Cleveland, OH
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How much are you raising your rents?

Erin Dorsey Robinson
Pro Member
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Cleveland, OH
Posted Jul 13 2022, 09:36

Hello All- It's been all over the news that rents are skyrocketing although the trend seems to be cooling off in some places. Are you raising rents on your tenants? If so, how much have you gone up and what has been the result?  Are they staying or are you seeing some turnover starting to happen. Just curious what individual experiences have been with this.

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Lien Vuong
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Boston, MA
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Lien Vuong
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Boston, MA
Replied Jul 15 2022, 11:32

I do an average of 5% a year and stay consistent so they know rents will always go up. My turnover remains low and I dont mind when they move out so that I can get more rents. 

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Replied Jul 15 2022, 11:36
Quote from @Remington Lyman:
Quote from @Steven Foster Wilson:
Quote from @Erin Dorsey Robinson:

Hello All- It's been all over the news that rents are skyrocketing although the trend seems to be cooling off in some places. Are you raising rents on your tenants? If so, how much have you gone up and what has been the result?  Are they staying or are you seeing some turnover starting to happen. Just curious what individual experiences have been with this.

 I do raise the rents. One of my best properties I got here in Columbus Ohio was for $35,000 the tenant was paying $400, I raised it to $800 and they were very nice about it. They said they knew it was a matter of time for the rent to go up and they were happy for how cheap they had it for all the years before. I think people are not as willing to pack up everything and move. 


 I once raised one tenant from $300 to $1,100 when I bought a 4 unit. He cursed me out of the apartment. Then he stayed for 2 more years.

I think this is evidence that people are not as opposed to rent increase or paying market rent as they are opposed to CHANGE. People don’t like change.  

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John Morgan
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  • Rental Property Investor
  • Grand Prairie, TX
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John Morgan
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  • Rental Property Investor
  • Grand Prairie, TX
Replied Jul 15 2022, 12:55

I’ve raised rent from $100-$460/month on all my tenants this year. Some were a little pissed, but I have to pass off my costs onto them otherwise these property taxes and insurance increases are coming out of my pocket. They all stayed. Some even thanked me.

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Wale Lawal
  • Real Estate Broker
  • Houston | Dallas | Austin, TX
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Wale Lawal
  • Real Estate Broker
  • Houston | Dallas | Austin, TX
Replied Jul 15 2022, 13:40

@Erin Dorsey Robinson

The amount rent can be raised each year will depend on your state, so first refer to your local landlord-tenant laws. But mostly landlords expect to raise rent anywhere from 5% to 10% to cover the rising cost of rental property ownership.

While it’s common for landlords to increase rent each year, it’s important to consider local ordinances, seasonality, local rental comps, and the current state of the rental market to avoid increasing the price too much. So even if some landlords increase their price by a certain percentage each year, it’s advised to determine what’s best for your rental.

If your state allows landlords to increase rent without any restrictions, the next step is determining your new rent price will be for your rental. Here are three steps to guide you along the process.

1. Review Your Operating Expenses.
2. Consider the Current Condition of the Rental Market.
3. Research Local Rental Comps.

Here is a blog on How Much Should Rent Increase Per Year? https://www.avail.co/education...

All the best!

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Jeremy Holden
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Scottsdale, AZ
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Jeremy Holden
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Scottsdale, AZ
Replied Jul 15 2022, 14:44

Hey @Erin Dorsey Robinson, Im an investor and agent down in metro phoenix who deals with this question a lot for my own portfolio and my clients. The first thing to consider is whether or not rental increase restrictions exist in your market. Secondly, you need to consider the opportunity cost of hiking rents. If you are hitting your cash flow goals with good long-term tenants, you run the risk of driving them away by hiking rents. 

Some questions to ask yourself: Are these tenants time intensive? Do they put a lot of wear n tear on the house? Can they reasonably afford the potential increase based on their income reported during the app process? What are comps renting for in your micro-market? Are you ok with having a short vacancy period to increase rent?

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Ryan Swan
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Phoenix, AZ
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Ryan Swan
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Phoenix, AZ
Replied Jul 15 2022, 16:41

Just raised two of my rents by 18% and had zero issue re-renting the houses. I legitimately had over 200 Zillow inquiries on one of the houses within 48 hours, leading me to believe I probably could have gone higher. I am generally not too aggressive with rent raises for existing tenants that pay on time and take care of the house. I've learned over 18 years of being a landlord that my peace of mind is worth more than a few extra bucks a month. It's much easier to raise rents at the turn and start fresh with new tenants. 

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Marcus Auerbach#3 Starting Out Contributor
  • Investor and Real Estate Agent
  • Milwaukee - Mequon, WI
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Marcus Auerbach#3 Starting Out Contributor
  • Investor and Real Estate Agent
  • Milwaukee - Mequon, WI
Replied Jul 16 2022, 06:40

I am in Milwaukee, WI and we rent single family homes in the suburbs. This is the first time we have raised rents outside of turnover. We figure that a turnover will cost us on average 5k, so it's hardly worth an extra 50. Almost all of our tenants are long term and we have some leases that are between 5 and 10 years old - so the gap between actual and market was growing too wide and we did not take action the last 2 years because of covid.

Most leases were around 1500 or 1600 and we have increased between 50 and 100. We have received zero push back and will probably increase again next year - my main benchmark is wage growth which is currently at about 5%.  

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Bob E.
  • Queen Creek, AZ
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Bob E.
  • Queen Creek, AZ
Replied Jul 16 2022, 21:55

I asked this same question t one of our property managers in Cleveland.  They are targeting between 5% and $100, whatever is less.  As @Marcus Auerbach said you want to be careful to not create turnover.

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Michael Haas
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Seattle Investor: 80 Client HouseHacks & Counting! I Own: 🏠7 LTRs 🗻6 STRs, 🏘️3 DADU's
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Michael Haas
  • Real Estate Agent
  • Seattle Investor: 80 Client HouseHacks & Counting! I Own: 🏠7 LTRs 🗻6 STRs, 🏘️3 DADU's
Replied Jul 17 2022, 17:55

3-5% a year on average over the last 5 years. This year we've had a lot of tenant turnover, and are re-renting a lot of units to new tenants for 15% more because of how the rental market has rebounded. We also didn't raise rents at all for 2 years because of Covid, so for us most of the big recent raises are us playing catchup for that lost time.