My First Mistake... I think. Rent Amount Too Low
We're renting a property because it's in a hard to sell area. An acquaintance has expressed an interest. He initially stated that he and his wife could only afford between $650 -$700.00 a month.
I wanted to charge $700.00 but my husband thought it best to be safe and charge an amount the acquaintance could easily afford. So, I went against my desires and verbally told the acquaintance he could rent the property for $655.00 a month. To my chagrin, Rentometer list that most homes in the area rent from $715 - $849. Also, someone else who rents in the area told us she pays over $800.00 for a two bedroom! Our rental property is a 3 bedroom, 1 bath twin. Although no papers have yet been signed, I'm assuming it wouldn't be fair to change my verbal agreement now, would it?
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You only mentioned your first mistake; maybe I can help you avoid mistake #2. Did you perform any screening on this acquaintance? You might find that they don't pay utilities, have prior evictions, have felony convictions, etc - you could find a legitimate reason for declining them if you screen properly. Or you can just take your chances because you consider them an acquaintance.
Screen each tenant prospect thoroughly. You might even find you can decline this acquaintance legitimately, and end up fixing mistake #1 too!