Why is my unit not renting?

Question

Hi guys!

I have kind of a basic question. I'm fairly new to real estate investing. I have three properties - a single family in TN that I do mid term rentals with, a duplex in rural eastern CT and now a duplex in Stonington, CT, just near Mystic. I just feel like I'm missing something and could use some guidance!

I recently put one side of the multifamily in eastern CT up for rent for $2,250/mo. It's a 1250 sqf 3 bed, 1.5 bath, and we were inundated with requests. Probably about 25 messages, 10+ applications and it was rented in 9 days.

Now we're trying to rent a unit in Stonington Borough, CT, a much more upscale town - it's the same size unit as the other one - actually a little bigger at 1300 sqf. It's a ten minute walk to the beach, 5 minute walk to a little downtown, tons of amenities within 15 minutes, beaches, everything. Most of the rentals in this town are short term or mid-term furnished Summer rentals. This is currently the only unfurnished long term rental in the area, which I figured would be in demand.

I have the rent currently at $2,950, and have had no interest at all. We're not opposed to lowering the rent, but I'm just confused. Is price the only issue here? If we lowered it to something like $2600/mo, that isn't so different from what we got in a MUCH less upscale town. Would we be inundated with requests?

I'll share the listing - to be fair, the photos aren't great, but the current tenant isn't fully moved out so we can't take better pictures at the moment.

Any guidance would be much appreciated - we're not opposed to working with a broker also.

https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/9-Cliff-St-1-Stonington-CT-06378/2069608602_zpid/?utm_campaign=zillowwebmessage&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=txtshare

Michael Eskenasy · Answer

Sam — I pulled up your actual listing and I think I see what’s happening.

I don’t think Stonington is telling you the unit is only worth what your rural CT property rents for. I think the market is telling you that $2,950 is putting this particular unit into the wrong competitive set.

At roughly $3K, a renter isn’t just comparing you with other 3-bedrooms. They’re comparing you with houses, larger units, better parking, more bathrooms, newer finishes, and polished furnished properties around Mystic/Stonington.

Your place has a lot going for it — 1,300 sf, 3 bedrooms, in-unit laundry, backyard, walkability, Borough location — but it’s still a first-floor apartment with 1.5 baths, on-street parking, baseboard heat, and right now the photos aren’t selling the lifestyle particularly well.

That matters a lot at this price point.

The other trap is looking at “average Stonington rent.” The market is weird because expensive houses and seasonal/furnished inventory pull those numbers upward. A year-round unfurnished apartment has a different renter pool.

Here’s exactly what I would do:

Wait until the current tenant is out. Clean it aggressively, declutter completely, and shoot genuinely good bright photos. Rewrite the listing around what makes the location valuable: walkability to the Borough, beach access, restaurants, backyard, laundry, quiet street, and year-round availability.

Then I would relaunch around $2,795–$2,850, not $2,600.

Why?

At $2,950, one additional month vacant costs you $2,950.

Dropping $150/month to $2,800 costs only $1,800 over an entire year.

So protecting the headline rent while sitting vacant is mathematically worse than finding the clearing price quickly.

And I would watch the funnel:

No inquiries = price/listing problem.

Inquiries but no showings = presentation or qualification problem.

Showings but no applications = property/value problem.

Applications but nobody signs = screening/terms problem.

You already have the answer from your other property: 25 inquiries and 10 applications in nine days means the market will speak very loudly when price and product line up.

I wouldn’t hire a broker yet and I definitely wouldn’t panic.

I’d improve the merchandising, reset it just below $2,850, and give the market 7–10 days.

My guess is you’re not $350 under market.

You’re probably about $100–$200 above the price where the phone starts ringing.

DC Dobbs · Answer

Sam,

I don't think you're missing something basic.

I think you're being given some very useful information by the market, and you're interpreting it as a question about rent.

The market has already answered you.

You just haven't asked it the right question yet.

You have a 1,250-square-foot, 3-bedroom, 1.5-bath unit in rural eastern Connecticut that you put at $2,250 and had roughly 25 inquiries, 10+ applications and a tenant in nine days.

Then you have a somewhat larger unit—1,300 square feet—in Stonington Borough, ten minutes from the beach, five minutes from downtown, surrounded by amenities, and you've received essentially nothing at $2,950.

That's interesting.

Because if the only variable were square footage and rent, your conclusion would be fairly simple.

But it isn't.

You're not renting square footage. You're renting a proposition.

And before I dropped the rent by $350, I'd diagnose exactly where the proposition is failing.

There are really only a handful of places this can break:

Nobody sees it.

People see it but don't click.

They click but don't inquire.

They inquire but don't schedule.

They schedule but don't apply.

They apply but don't qualify.

They qualify but don't sign.

Those are not the same problem.

And each one tells you something different.

If you're getting almost no listing views, you've got a distribution problem.

If you're getting views but very few saves or clicks, I'd look hard at price and the first impression.

If people are clicking through the photographs and description but aren't contacting you, I'd suspect the value proposition isn't surviving the comparison.

If you're getting inquiries but people disappear when you mention the rent, that's a much stronger indication of price resistance.

If you're getting showings but no applications, I'd investigate the property itself—condition, layout, parking, laundry, noise, heating costs, neighborhood quirks, whatever they're discovering once the internet fantasy meets physical reality.

And if you're getting qualified applications but people aren't signing, then I'd start looking at terms, competition, tenant hesitation, or something in the transaction itself.

That's your diagnostic tree.

Don't treat all silence as "rent is too high."

Silence has causes.

Now, your particular situation makes me suspicious of the presentation and positioning before I'd assume the $2,950 is wrong.

You've already told us the photographs aren't very good.

That matters more than people think.

In a market where the surrounding rental inventory is predominantly furnished short-term and mid-term product, your property isn't competing merely against other long-term apartments.

It's competing against an experience.

That's a different animal.

Someone looking at Stonington Borough isn't necessarily shopping for "1,300 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths."

They're shopping for Stonington.

Walkability.

Beach access.

Restaurants.

The village.

Convenience.

Charm.

Lifestyle.

And if your photographs don't communicate that immediately, you've essentially taken a beautiful steak, put it on a paper plate under fluorescent lighting and then wondered why nobody is ordering dinner.

Your listing has to sell the thing they're actually buying.

Now, does that mean $2,950 is the right rent?

I have no idea yet.

And I wouldn't lower it to $2,600 simply because you aren't getting inquiries.

That's reacting to the symptom before diagnosing the patient.

I'd want to know what the actual long-term rental comparables are—not the summer rentals, not the furnished units, and not what somebody wishes their property were worth.

I'd want to know:

What are comparable unfurnished annual rentals actually asking?

What have they actually rented for?

How long did they sit?

What concessions were offered?

What condition were they in?

How good were the photographs?

Did they include utilities, parking, laundry, outdoor space, storage, pet accommodations, or anything else that changes the proposition?

And then I'd run a very simple experiment.

Change one major variable at a time.

First, fix the presentation.

Better photography. Better opening photograph. Better description. Make Stonington itself part of the product rather than merely the address at the top of the listing.

Then watch the funnel.

If exposure is good but engagement is terrible, investigate the price/presentation combination.

If engagement is good but inquiries are weak, investigate the value proposition.

If inquiries are strong but showings are weak, investigate friction and expectations.

If showings are strong but applications are weak, investigate the physical property or tenant qualification requirements.

If applications are coming in and people are walking away, investigate terms and transaction friction.

And if the property is beautifully presented, correctly exposed, generating attention, and still getting almost no qualified interest at $2,950?

Then I'd lower the price.

Not emotionally.

Not because somebody on BiggerPockets said, "Just drop it."

Because you've gathered evidence.

That's the important distinction.

And there's another possibility I'd investigate.

You may have stumbled into a market where scarcity doesn't mean demand.

Being the only unfurnished long-term rental in an area sounds wonderful.

Until you ask why you're the only one.

Sometimes you're the only product because nobody wants that product.

Sometimes you're the only product because you've found an extraordinary niche.

Those are very different discoveries.

So don't let the eastern Connecticut property become your psychological anchor.

You aren't selling the same thing simply because both properties have three bedrooms.

A $2,250 rural unit and a $2,950 coastal-town unit can exist in completely different economic universes.

The question isn't:

"Why would somebody pay $700 more for this?"

The better question is:

"What does the $700 buy them?"

If the answer is obvious, you've got a marketing problem.

If the answer isn't obvious, you've got a positioning problem.

If the answer is obvious and the market still won't pay it, you've got a pricing problem.

And if people love the property but can't get through your application process or don't like the terms, you've got a transaction problem.

Now we know what we're fixing.

That's why I wouldn't start by lowering the rent.

I'd start by finding where the funnel breaks.

Once you know that, the market usually gets considerably less mysterious.

And Sam, don't make the mistake of trying to find the rent that makes somebody finally say yes.

Find the highest rent the market will say yes to reliably.

That's the number worth knowing.

DC Dobbs

Gulf Coast Emerald, LLC

Dan Handford · Answer

Sam, the lack of inquiries is useful data because it suggests the issue is probably happening before prospects ever tour the unit. I would compare the listing against current long-term rentals with the same bedroom count, condition, parking, laundry, pet policy, and immediate location rather than comparing it with the rural duplex. An upscale seasonal market can still have a smaller pool of year-round tenants. Before making a large rent cut, I would improve the photos once the unit is vacant, confirm the listing clearly explains the long-term value, and test a smaller price adjustment for a defined period. Track views, saves, inquiries, tours, and applications separately. That will tell you whether the problem is visibility, price, presentation, or qualification.

Joshua Hicks · Answer

Michael nailed it. Two things I'd add:

It's September in a beach town. Anybody moving a family for the school year likely already moved in July. The people who'd pay a premium to walk to the water probably aren't out looking right now. So when you relaunch with the good photos, don't assume a slow response means you're still overpriced. There may just not be many people looking this time of year. Give it the 7-10 days Michael said, but pay attention to whether you're getting inquiries at all, not just whether anybody signs.

The bigger thing is your lease end date. Whatever you sign now ends next September and you'll be in this same spot every year you own it. Write it to end in May or June instead. Do a 9 month, or a 20 month with a small discount. Get your turnovers into the part of the year when people are actually looking. Doesn't cost you anything to set it up that way now, and it'll save you a vacancy and headaches every year for as long as you own the place.

Sam Robbins · Answer

This is so useful, thank you so much for taking the time. We were thinking that the photos might be really hurting this. And we’ll add more pictures of the beach, downtown, etc… didn’t even think of that.

Do you think we should take the listing down from Zillow and relist next week, or just update the photos and price next week when the current tenants are out?

Richard F. · Answer

Does this LTR have numerous STR's in the immediate area? Not everyone appreciates the traffic and noise of mostly tourists!

What is the process to view the unit in person? Is that quick and easy, or multiple steps and days? I noticed you have baseboard heat, is that common and affordable in that locale? High electric rates can be a factor, although less so at that rental tier.

Why is my unit not renting?

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