How do you fill vacancies in winter?

[Alicia Marks]

Welcome to our Question of the Week! As we have now entered the holiday season and winter, I thought we would shift to discussing how to fill vacancies during this time of year. What are your suggestions that work or don't work? Which options seem to still attract good tenants?

Share those ideas!

[Larry Turowski]

This is actually a timely discussion as I have a number of acquisitions that I’ve needed to fill this fall.

I haven’t done anything different except wait longer for the right tenant. Home sales are 1/3 what they are in the spring. And similarly the tenant pool is about 1/3 what it is in the spring. It is temping to take a less qualified tenant and I’ve done that in the past and learned from my mistake. As long as it is competitive in the market and an attractive property, there is no reason to make any other changes. It just may take longer to get the right tenant.