Unit renting at market rent?

Question

I am curious what else everyone is doing to make sure that the rental unit is renting at or near the market rent.

I personally do the following:

1) Is the occupancy a lot higher than the average physical occupancy in that area?

2) Go on a couple of tours for other similar buildings in the area. Pretend that I am a renter and see what they are renting $/SF.

3) Ask my property manager for a rent comp.

4) Go on apartments.com.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated!!

Vanessa Ganaden · Answer

@Jay Chang

Interestingly I look at Craigslist. I get a feel of the apartments that are renting there, and then measure them against Rentometer or apartments.com

Craigslist has this reputation got being seedy. But I think it's fantastic at showing market rates.

Karl B. · Answer

I check Zillow and Facebook Marketplace. It's super useful to use their map option that also shows the prices (both sites do so). This is where I look at the 'competing units' to see if they're nicer or cruddier than the unit I'm trying to rent out.

At that point I get a good idea as to whether or not I'm positioned to rent to the property out sooner than later. I should also add my main market is in a town with great cashflow but lots of unqualified tenants; it's not an easy market to find good renters in.

Brent Paul · Answer

Craigslist you can sometimes find rentals in your area, See quite a few on Zillow too.  There is a facebook group in my state just for properties up for rent.

I would never leave it up to the PM. Definitely do your own research to see if it warrants a change.  I don't think he or she will bother if it's only 25 to 50 bucks more per month.  If you haven't had any rent increases in 4 or 5 years I would say it's time to do so.

Rentometer gives you a good baseline range for the area.

Thinking back to the days when I was renting.  My rent went up 30 dollars after 4 years of living there.  During my 6 year stay the rent went up about 75 dollars during that time.  It was a 90 unit complex and they had lost track of rent increases.  It wasn't until they had another person come in full time evaluating that they made the adjustment. Granted they owned over 600 units so not a small task by any means.

If someone is going to move over 25 dollars they probably weren't worth keeping anyways.

Alvaro Soto · Answer

@Jay Chang

Apartment.com i haven’t used that website, I’m going to check it out. Yes you right there is a lot that goes to

Getting the right prices.. I personally invest out of state and do t have the ability to go there my self but this forces me to come up with a systems on how to find that right number.

Jay Chang · Answer

@Alvaro Soto I also use rentometer actually! It's definitely a great tool and reference. I use rentometer as my base line, and refine the rental rate by doing more research in person or through apartments.com. Because rentometer doesn't exactly tell you if that property is comparable. It takes more research to understand how much you can truly rent.

Any thoughts?

Karl B. · Answer

I invest out of state.

Jay Chang · Answer

I'm in Los Angeles as well, but I don't think there is great cash flow here. Unless you are talking about Inland Empire? I'm curious which town you're talking about.

Have you thought about investing in out-of-state markets?

Unit renting at market rent?

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