I am new to rental property. I recently moved from Suffolk, VA and I am renting my house in Suffolk, VA. I have posted the property on Zillow, Craigslist, Local Housing Authority, and Military for sale by Owner and others. It has been 3 weeks , and I have not received much feedback. I need to get a tenant soon because this is eating up my pockets. I want to know do rental property managers market properties on their sites, for a fee, even if they will not be the manager? Or, is it possible to find a good property manager for 5% of the total cost of the monthly rental in Suffolk, VA?

Michael,

Sadly you get what you pay for and I have never heard of any property managers coming down to 5% on a single family house.  

You say that you are under water, but what you have to look at is the tax perspective, if you hire a property manager and yo have an accountant that knows how to do a deprecation schedule the negative that you have on your property income will reduce your tax bracket thus you would possible get a larger return.  I had an owner go to japan and he was concerned because we had to rent the property for what his mortgage was and after paying me and having an accountant here do his deprecation schedule he actually broke even, plus when the hurricane came threw and blew his roof off I was here to get the roof replaced and he didn't have to worry about anything.

Also the quality of the property, location and list price of the house determines the speed in which the property is rented. I can have a 2300 sQFT beautiful house but if it is not in a desirable neighborhood it is going to sit there.

@Michael Mcdaniel  

Welcome to Biggerpockets. I do not know of a property manager in Virginia Beach who will just place a tenant. If they do full management in my experience it is 10% a month and one months rent to place. Don't quote me as I self manage in Virginia Beach.

This is a hard time right now to rent in a military area. The largest group just moved because they wanted their kids back in school. Right now price is the biggest impact. You have listed on all the "right sites" So here are my diagnosis questions to answer your "why isn't it renting".

• Have you gotten any showings?
• Are you responding as soon as you have inquiries.
• What is the price, and how is it compared to the comp in the area?
• How far is to from norfolk?
• How is the picture and description?
• Are there any "issues" with the house that detract, from it?

Let me know if I can help. I know how stressful renting out houses can be. I have three I am working on now :)

Create several ads on Craigslist and keep them renewed.  You may also want to lower the rent.  I get more response in the under 1100/mo rent range.  

I doubt there are many property managers that are able to advertise any better than you would be able to do yourself unless they are a company with a large advertisement budget and then they decide to present your rental to their clientele. Most people do not visit a property manager's website. They either find their rental on the MLS (Zillow, trulia, etc) or they go on Craigslist. You can also try a few different newspapers but that will cost money.

Thanks Jassem, Elizabeth, and Lisa for the comments. The rental is very comparable to other rentals in the area. I have received a couple of responses and I responded as soon as I received them. The neighborhood is in the Burbage Grant area, so I think it is a decent area. I am not trying to make a profit, i just don't want to continue to come out of my pocket for the mortgage. If I hired a property manager, I think I will be paying at least $200 per month in addition to the monthly rental fee. I appreciate your responses.

Michael it can be tough from a distance.  It might be easier to get a PM to get the ball rolling for you.  All the information above is pretty accurate.  I don't believe there is a timing issue in this area.  Yes, some times of the year are better due to schools but overall this area is pretty consistent. If you aren't getting plenty of inquiries then you have a location or price problem.  Check zillow and rentometer.com to verify your in the ballpark.  Drop your price $25 a week or so until the phones start ringing away.  You will not find a PM here for 5% and if you do they will have plenty of charges to compensate for the discounted price.  The PM fee may be worth it for you rather then loosing the full mortgage every month out of your own pocket.  

@bryanneal

I appreciate your input. I will continue to follow up with Zillow and I am earnestly considering a PM. Thanks again.

No problem Michael.  Good luck in whatever you decide.  It's not easy either way in your particular situation.  PM is not the best answer, but may be the best in your situation.  If I lived in Suffolk I would help, but I work full time and wouldn't be able to get to Suffolk when needed.