No Applications Coming on a New Rental

[Vanessa Johns]

My partner and I each owned a home when we moved in together - mine was just getting finished being built. Since we've decided to go the real estate investing route we're live-in flipping his and we were going to rent mine out. I priced the rental according to multiple factors - other recent and current rental listings in the county as well as rent assessments from Rentometer and Zillow. It would cover my mortgage and expenses plus a couple hundred a month. Deposit and utilities are in line with everyone else. I'm allowing pets. If anything it is a bit low given that it is a brand new build on a nice lot. I've had it listed about 30 days now and received plenty of inquiries online (it's listed on Zillow, hotpads, realtor.com, and a paid ad on Facebook with tons of photos). I've shown it probably four times. No applications at all. I'm using Cozy, so no paper apps involved. It seems as soon as I advise folks of the qualification standards (using Brandon's from the Managing Rentals book) they disappear, usually before even seeing it. Has it just not been long enough? The flip isn't ready to sell and there's a limit to how long we can pay the two full mortgages with no cash flow. There's a bunch of construction bills still needing to be paid on my house (due to a contractor going way over budget without permission...another story) so time is of the essence, but I don't want to compromise and get a bad tenant.

[Kenny Dahill]

Hi @Vanessa Johns,

Thanks for sharing the link.  Here is my take.  I don't know your market so please apply as it best fits.

• Modular Home:  Right off the bat, this typically scares off some perspective tenants.  For majority, it's seem as a lesser quality.  Some people even use filters to exclude this asset type.
• Good Photos:  I thought your photos really showed the nice appearance and condition of the home.
• Description:  When it comes to online reading, bulk paragraph is tough.  Break apart your description into 2-4 sentence paragraphs.  This allows the user to skim through it faster.
• Lack of Rentals:  I had to scroll out quite a bit to find another rental property in the vicinity.  Why is that?  Perhaps it's too far way.
• Population Size:  Scrolling out on Zillow, this appears to be a small town.  That will be tough to find renters in a smaller town, expect higher vacancies.
• PM/Realtors:  You can talk to realtors to help with leasing.  It'll cost you $500-$1,600
• Nearby Employers:  Is there a large employer for the town?  If so, I'd reach out to their HR and ask if they have any employees looking for a new rental.
• Rental Signs:  It appears to be located off a highway, I would post a For Rent sign to help attract drivers