Supply and demand and feeling guilty

[Joey B.]

Hello BP, First time poster! We are a military family that has picked up a few rental properties along the way. Our area was recently affected by Hurricane Michael and demand for housing SKYROCKETED!!! I previously had our property listed at $1900 which is above average for our neighborhood. In the past I have done all of the marketing and management for my properties. This time I hired a marketing agent to handle some of the specifics because we were at the very tail end of my orders (boxes packed) when the hurricane hit. 2 days later my marketing agent said she was taking the listing off the market for two weeks and would re-list at a higher price point to focus potential tenants. (Too many calls to field at 1900 price point.) We have signed a tenant at $2500.00 for 1 year and they are happy with zero complaints. I however, cannot help but feel as if I am taking advantage of the conditions in the area. How long should I try and maintain this price point and would you offer a lower rate if they don’t have any complaints?

[JD Martin]

If you hired a marketing agency to handle getting the house rented out, their job is to get it rented for as much as possible. They've done their job. Harvest when there's fruit to harvest, because there will be times when you'll be spreading fertilizer everywhere hoping for sprouts!