How to assess renter demand
Hello,
I purchased my first property (a condo) in Atlanta, GA last May. The condo is in decent condition and has no major issues but it is outdated and could use some renovations. So far, I have just furnished the unit but haven't made any major renovations to it. My goal is to live here for 2-3 years and then rent my unit to a tenant. I have a few questions, see below:
1. How do I gauge tenant interest? I want to see if there are people who would be willing to rent my condo as is, or if I need to make renovations to get any interest. I only want to make renovations if it can help me raise rent prices or get more tenant interest
2. How do I determine how much this property can rent for? I don't see any condos in my area that are being rented, only apartments. The apartments are all new construction and have a lot of amenities and my condo is older (built in the 90s) so I don't think the apartment rents would be accurate for comparison.
I appreciate any help! Thanks
Not seeing any condos for rent in your area is a good sign, it likely means that they fly off the market when they are listed. Since you have some time, I would check zillow daily for new rental listings in your area, and watch the market that way. You could keep a list of what condos are listed for, their quality, and how fast they rent. While there are more automated ways to do this, I personally love the manual way as it really will make you are a market expert in your area, and will lead to you having a competitive advantage on future purchases you make in the area.
1. Easiest way is to see what other units in your condominium have rented for and how many days they were on the market. You can use Zillow or just DM me and I will send recent rentals in your condominium from MLS
2. Its an easy exercise based on seeing comparables. Another trick you can use is publish an add for rental on Zillow/Craigslist at 3 different price points - High/Medium/Low. You can then gauge how many calls you get at different price points and that would tell you the demand.
Hit me up here on BP and I can provide data for Atlanta easily - no strings attached. Happy to steer you in the right direction. Good luck
