Hello all! We bought a short sale home for 180K that we are looking to rent in Westmont, IL about 2 weeks ago. Rent will be $1,800/month. I made the mistake of showing the house before all repairs/painting were made. I have a lot of interest but either am not getting folks to come look at it after sending pictures OR folks are seeing it but not filling out an application. I'd love feedback!
Details: -1,340 sq ft -2 beds upstairs, 1 bed downstairs -1 bath w/shower upstairs, 1 bath w/ bath only downstairs -100 year old home -deck, fenced in yard -wonderful neighborhood -unfinished basement that looks very unfinished
Real Estate Agent · Forest Park, IL · Member since 2014 · 255 posts · 141 votes
7y
It's not exactly moving season at the moment. I'd recommend getting feedback at the end of the showings and do follow up calls on those that took an application. Sometimes it's hard to tell in pictures, but if prospects can tell that the property has been cleaned and detailed well (as opposed to broom finished), it can be motivating. Make sure to let the neighbors know it's available too!
You can never get enough interest - have you posted your rental on the MLS? That will syndicate the best online and you have the option to offer agents a commission for finding a renter.
Real Estate Investor · Williamson County, TX · Member since 2011 · 1k+ posts · 961 votes
7y
@Dana Strohmaier Looks nice and clean. Tenants love clean, q-tip clean. Like a hotel. Also, do most rentals provide blinds or curtains? I put the home depot plastic mini-blinds so there is at least something. It is a hassle to have to run out and buy window coverings and tenants would probably prefer to have a move in ready house...unless customary to not provide window coverings.,
In my experience, you only get one shot with most prospective tenants so before you do any showings you want to make sure it's 95%+ done. If you have one or two small things to be done (ie. blinds, closet rods, etc), it shouldn't make a difference. If there's too much left undone, it'll show poorly and the prospective tenants will not come back for a second showing once it's complete. We typically list the property when it's 80-85% done and then start showing at 95%. In this particular case, the house looks good. I would take it off the market for a few days, finish everything, clean it again, and re-list it so it shows up as new again.
Real Estate Agent · Member since 2018 · 8 posts · 2 votes
7y
Looks nice. I am renting out my first home once it is done in Westmont later this year, probably summertime. Price seems reasonable. The development at Cass and 63rd is great news to our area.
@Account Closed @Account Closed There are blinds; just not showing up in the picture. Great advice about Q Tip clean; I am going to scrub the crud out of it after our last construction project is done.
I did pull it off and am getting ready to relist it. Are my pictures ok or should I pay for professional ones? I am thinking Facebook, Craigslist and Zillow....any where else you local folks would recommend?
IMO - paying $125-150 for professional photos is well worth it! As far as listing them, Zillow is #1 and Facebook Marketplace is looking very promising as well(still new for us). Zillow will syndicate to Trulia and Hotpads. Craigslist, although archaic, is still good. You may want to add Apartments.com into the mix as well.
@Jason Marcordes Thank you! I just got off the phone with my photographer friend. Thanks for mentioning the price range; she charges $220 usually but I talked her down to $150.
@Jason Marcordes Thank you! I just got off the phone with my photographer friend. Thanks for mentioning the price range; she charges $220 usually but I talked her down to $150.
Real Estate Agent · Member since 2018 · 8 posts · 2 votes
7y
Sounds good @Dana Strohmaier. I will be going this month to the meet up at Emmets in Downers Grove the 21st for the first time. Would enjoy connecting with you or @Kirk P there or somewhere local sometime. Exchange ideas or to talk local trends, always willing to meet and discuss real estate.