Hi everyone

I am looking for some suggestions from the community about a rental i have listed near Seattle at the beginning of October with no luck renting it out.

https://www.trulia.com/rental/4036751467-12023-100...

It's been listed on Zillow, Trulia, Apartments.com and Craig's List for almost a month and is priced very reasonably for that area.

So far it's been getting lots of views and but only 10 people contacted, 3 attended a showing and zero submited an application.  

Any feedback on the listing? Should i change/improve something?

Will painting the kitchen cabinet help at all?

Looking forward for your comments.

Thanks

Asaf

I'm not familiar with the area, but a quick search revealed it to be a higher end community. 

I'm not sure if that suggests you are catering to a higher end clientele or not, but it might very well be the case. And in some instances they have higher expectations of the product they rent. 

Personally, I think everything looks fine, but if renting it really is a problem, your kitchen is the eye sore followed by the bathroom. In the kitchen, I would suggest staining the cabinets, granite counter tops and stainless appliances. The kitchen is small so be mindful with color contrast. 

To your success! 

@David G, thanks for your comments, I will take your advise to upgrade the kitchen to attract more potential tenants.

Hi Assaf,

I looked at your listing and I think it looks quite nice, you would get more for it over here in Seattle but... One thing I noticed is that the other listings in the area are in newer buildings which in turn have newer amenities; gym, secured parking, manicured grounds with BBQ's, perhaps bikes or kayaks available. There obviously isn't much you can do about that so instead of spending $10k on remodeling I'd lower the rent a bit or hire a management company that does relocations as well as normal renting to locales as it may open up your pool of candidates. 

Good Luck!!

Another option is to offer incentive like first month rent free to attract good response.

@Heather Hearsey , thanks for your comments....can you recommend a PM that could help find tenants? 

I would look at the credit score requirement. Why 650? That is higher than the minimum standard to purchase a home. 

Personally, some of my best renters have been people that have messed up their credit but have good paying jobs. I know they have the money and with a credit rating of 500 they definitely are not going to be buying a house any time soon.

I've heard that Gregory is good for Eastside properties. Windermere Northeast Gregory Property Management

I have a friend who lives in Ohio who works for Keller Williams and she has huge accounts doing relocations for companies and individuals all over the country so that is where I learned about such things myself.  I'll ask her if she knows anyone in particular out here. My property is in North Seattle and have used the UW's dept. of housing to get good tenants.

@Assaf Berenson I know Juanita well; its a great area. You're running into stiff competition because all the comps are much newer than your unit and that makes a big difference. If I were looking to rent a 1br around $1400/mo I'd much rather move into one of the new buildings in the neighborhood. 

I'd say price is a little high

I would also recommend that you simply lower the rent and/or offer an incentive before you go and spend money on upgrading the kitchen or bath.