Background: My sister lives in MA, has owned a 2 family house for many years. Our mother lived in the apartment for 17, when she moved out sister used a broker to find tenants (when they had to leave - student visa expired) she used another broker to find new tenants who have been a nightmare. Both broker experiences have been horrible. Current tenants lost job and are going back to another state, she is gladly letting them out of their lease, property is available October 1. I live in VA. Enter Bigger Pockets: I literally stumbled on the BP site a few months ago and though I want to get into the REI game, she is actually in it, so I told her to check out the website and that she could fill the apartment herself using info we learn from BP, and I could help her, remotely, from VA. What I have done: I have followed all of the suggestions regarding tenant screening and had two showings to qualified parties, neither of whom followed through with process. I created a wix.com website which is referred to in CL, Postlets, Zillow, etc postings (www.40auburnst.wix.com/maldenma) (Also - I am not sharing this link as advertising - just to show what I did - mods, please delete if this a violation) which gives a detailed description of property and application process. I manage the inquiries from VA via Google Voice phone number and gmail account, she does the actually showings. I have had inquiries and followed up with approx 60 leads from zillow, 10 from CL, 5 from Trulia, 6 from Hot Pads. Only 10 of those conversations were from people who seemed genuinely qualified ( income 3 x rent, credit score=600+, etc) the rest seem to be relocating from Mars or something because they don't even read stuff like "how much is the rent"($1695/mo) or "No lead paint certificate". Sister is FREAKING out: What do you suggest for a next move? Lower the rent and change the ads (I have told her that all advice from BP seems to be wait it out, better an empty month then a horrible tenant, esp if you live there too). The rent seems from all indicators to be perfectly priced, I am afraid that lowering rent will just attract even more lesser qualified people. She just wants it rented. (It will show a lot better when empty of all of the, um, "stuff" belonging to current tenants.) What do the experts suggest? Am I not turning over the right rock to find qualified people at this price point? Or is it the time of year and too late for the current moving cycle? Any advice from people who have been there, done that would be greatly appreciated. Also I have researched the legalities in MA (the worst state of all) regarding fair housing compliance, we won't do anything "shady". Thanks!

IMO the situation could be improved a lot by 1) advertising that the unit is in an owner occupied building and 2) not having your sister initially show the unit. That being said, the biggest issue is showing the unit occupied. The applicants are experiencing too much weirdness and bad vibes at one time. Looking at occupied units is horrible. Showing up to an appointment to find a reticent landlord showing a unit full of someone else's stuff. Just yuck.

Tom, you have just joined "Team Lisa". Thanks for your comment.

Right. The first 2 calls this afternoon were for Section 8...

Thanks for the additional info about deleading. I've not yet encountered a circumstance in my markets that required more than correctly done repairs and paint. Sheetrocking over old lead paint would rarely be an economical solution if the room has doors, windows and trim....which most do. I'm familiar with lead in old houses as my daughter was diagnosed with high lead levels in the 1990s. The blood levels had just been brought way down by the EPA so lots of people were testing positive. We lived in downtown Jersey City. There was no peeling or chipping paint in our rental. But after testing we discovered the water out of the tap (due to lead solder) and the dust in the yard were at superfund cleanup levels. It worked out OK. We stopped using the water for anything but washing and planted grass in the yard. She's a Shakespearean actor and appears to have minimal brain damage. :)

There's the "shady" you said you wouldn't do. ↑ MA Lead Law states that you cannot rent a unit to a family with kids under 7 unless you have a Lead Certificate. MA anti-discrimination laws state that you can't discriminate against families with children under 7 (I'm paraphrasing). Basically, you need to have the unit and any common areas that will be accessed by the tenant deleaded to comply with the laws. This isn't as scary as it seems, there are programs where your sister can get a loan to delead and not have to pay a dime of it back until she sells the house, then repayment comes out of that money. Also, if she pays out of pocket, there are tax credits she can get. MA may have made it mandatory to delead, but they also made it as easy as possible. You can have your sister contact me and I can get her in touch with an inspector. An inspection is the first step in the process. Derreck

When should you lower rent to attract qualified tenants? Ever?

Michell P.

Residential Real Estate Broker · Portland, OR · Member since 2015 · 153 posts · 105 votes

11y

I can't see the ad, so don't know what you're doing, but the amount of interest you're getting would indicate your ad is fine - so you probably should lower the rent. And I don't think I saw how long it's been listed for? If it's sitting for more than 2 weeks, I'd lower the rent to $1650 to hit a different price point. I don't see why you'd get less qualified people, esp if they're not reading the ad anyway.

Did you do an analysis to see what your competition is offering at your price point?

When should you lower rent to attract qualified tenants? Ever?

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