Investor · Minneapolis, MN · Member since 2016 · 5 posts · 1 vote
Hello Everyone,
I close on a duplex this week and have already pre-listed the top unit for rent. It's only the first morning of it being listed and I have received 5 showing requests already. The unit is listed at $1200 which is comparable to other properties I see on Craigslist (they may no longer be active). I'm wondering if this might be a sign that I have listed the property too low. If this is the case what have people done? Re-listed at a higher price? I will be living in the other unit of this duplex.
I have a second property available for rent, have it listed at $1,400 and have received 2 showing requests today, which seems more reasonable. I'm in Minneapolis MN in very trendy and sought after areas.
Rental Property Investor · Seattle, WA · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
10y
The difference between two and five requests does not seem significant to me. We get a lot of calls on the first day; people have been watching and there is something new listed to explore. It may be related to the supply of options more than the market rent. Listen to what you can hear at the walk throughs, see how many applications you get, and go from there. Thirty calls in a day is not unusual for us, I'm sure it does vary by area.
Severna Park, MD · Member since 2013 · 7k+ posts · 7k+ votes
10y
Not a big deal . I just put up one for $ 1175 . I got 15 responses the first day . Half didnt answer their phone the 2 times I called them , Scratch off the list . Two had pets , they didnt read the add . One had a sob story and wanted me to help them out . The other 5 I gave them the address and set all them up to show Sunday between 9 am and 10 am . Only two showed , one without a muffler on his car , and a young couple . Both got applications , havent seen them in the mail yet . So I will do the same thing next weekend .
Investor · Minneapolis, MN · Member since 2014 · 743 posts · 927 votes
10y
I own 8 duplexes/triplexes in uptown and typically get 15-20 requests for mine in the first couple days. If it's in really nice condition and in a good location, it's gold in the summer
Rental Property Investor · East Wenatchee, WA · Member since 2014 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes
10y
I often have 15+ responses on the first day. Sometimes I'll have 30 in a few hours and pull the ad while I comb through.
I have things to comb through because I ask 5 questions always at the bottom of my ads. Anonymous e-mail at first. Phone after a few back and forths for clarification.
I used to put my phone # in the ad. Ya'll are crazy!
Investor · Minneapolis, MN · Member since 2016 · 5 posts · 1 vote
10y
Thanks a lot for all of the quick replies this evening. Since posting a couple more inquiries have come in on the duplex. 4 of the showing requests have been setup and 3 more are pending based on finding a time that works. Those questions are helpful @Steve Vaughan, thank you. It sounds pretty standard the amount of inquiries I received so I think price point is fine and I will see how it plays out. Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread.
Developer · Palm Harbor, FL · Member since 2015 · 307 posts · 96 votes
10y
Sounds about right to me. I usually find I'll get 15-20 inquires to show my places 5-7 times. You may want to do some prescreening on the phone so you don't wast your time showing to people you wouldn't rent to. Take your time and don't make the mistake of signing with just anyone. It's a landlords market out there, you should be able to pick from a few solid applicants.
I'd also sugest picking 2 days in the near future to show it and schedule everyone in 15-30 increments so the prospects see there is competition. This will help the most motivated people act quickly and make the best use of your time!
San Jose, CA · Member since 2015 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
10y
There will always be lots of people call who will not (or you should not let them) qualify. They are playing a numbers game, hoping for the naive landlord who will be charmed by their cuteness, and ignore their credit scores and bad references.
It helps to put your criteria in your ad, but many will ignore them, or will call you without knowing which number they're even calling.
I liked putting my phone number in the ad, because I let all calls go to voicemail, and you can learn a lot from the voicemails they leave. Many are pretty hilarious. You can eliminate quite a few that you just don't even bother to call back, because they are screaming obscenities at their kids on the voicemail, or someone in the background is telling them what to say, or they are at some party or at a bar and sound drunk - you just make a list of all the voicemails, and why you didn't call certain ones back. Drunks, screamers, people who can't leave their own voicemails (unless they require an interpreter), are not protected classes. I made notes and scratched them off my list.
Then, the ones I did call back, I'd run over the criteria again and ask if they qualified. If they say yes, I schedule a showing.
If they are late and don't call me with a good reason - they're stuck in bumper to bumper traffic - denied.
If they don't fill out the application completely, after I hand it to them and tell them I need it filled out completely - denied.
If they say they're going to drop something off by a certain time and they don't - denied.
You can actually screen them out pretty quickly, and without having to show the unit to that many applicants.
But, just remember that you will get probably 10 loser applicants to 1 decent applicant - and just because they are trolling all the ads, playing a numbers game, looking for that one naive landlord who will rent to them. So, keep that in mind.
If you're priced right according to your local Craigslist ads, I'd trust that. Craigslist will generate a ton of calls, but most won't qualify. That doesn't mean it's a bad venue, it just means you need to separate out the chaff, which isn't that hard to do.
Investor · Saint Paul, MN · Member since 2015 · 663 posts · 512 votes
10y
Not sure what part of Minneapolis your duplex is located, but I too have a duplex and it is located in southeast Minneapolis. When I post my units I get 30 to 40 calls and usually around 20 showings all within two weeks. I have tried increasing the rents each time and I still get the foot traffic. My background check fee is $50.00 so that weeds out the not so serious applicants. I'm trying to figure out a way to prescreen these tenants so that I don't have to do so many showings. Maybe I need to have three 2 hour blocks???? These are good problems to have, so it's not that I'm complaining.
Real Estate Agent · Saint Louis Park, MN · Member since 2015 · 213 posts · 82 votes
10y
Everyone's replies are spot on. The fact that you are getting calls is a great sign that there is interest, not that you're undervalued. In bigger metro areas like we are in, renters typically don't waste their time calling/contacting on a property that they think is overpriced or in poor condition from photos. Like many others shared on here, the only time you should be worried is when you post that duplex all over the place and get no calls. If you have calculated your expenses and purchased correctly to cash flow at that amount, fantastic. You can always bump it up at the end of your lease should the market continue to rise.
Congrats on the closing, and thanks for sharing @Micah Perzichilli!! Best of luck getting those filled quickly!
Minneapolis, MN · Member since 2016 · 62 posts · 29 votes
10y
Congrats Micah! I'm looking for duplexes in Minneapolis and hopefully I'm in the same situation as you soon. Best of luck finding a great renter and I think the above comments are spot on with fallout from screenings. You want 20 folks to email or call so that you can narrow down to the best one.
@Steve Vaughan thanks for the list of questions. I'm wondering if any of the posters in Minneapolis like @Bruce Runn know of any fair housing rules in Minneapolis that we'd need to be careful about when pre-screening with those questions? I'm hoping to be able to keep my building no smoking and pet free (when I get one) and curious if there are any restrictions Minneapolis imposes on landlords.
Investor · Minneapolis, MN · Member since 2016 · 57 posts · 36 votes
10y
Micah - I have owned an owner occupied duplex in south Minneapolis the last 3 years. The local police station will offer a "landlord" course which basically runs over your responsibilities to your tenants as well as the community. It actually is a solid course to attend. In this course they will cover when the city will inspect the property which in most cases is every 3ish years. They will also cover the "fair housing" rules and the situations in which you could get in trouble for different types of discrimination regarding potential tenants and who and who doesn't qualify etc.
One of those workshops that last a couple hours, is informative if you are new to the area, and also looks good in case a situation comes up that needs to be resolved etc.
I am no real estate pro but that is my thoughts regarding the area.
Investor · Minneapolis, MN · Member since 2014 · 743 posts · 927 votes
10y
The police course was very good and I recommend it too. The key is not to discriminate on ethnicity, sex, age, sexual orientation, disability ect. You can absolutely limit people from smoking in your apt. and you can exclude any kind of animal/pet. You can not exclude someone with a disability that has a dog for assistance. You can also limit based on credit score and criminal activity if you have a consistent written set of criteria.