Recently closed on a house and just listed for rent. Been listed for rent for four days now and only had one application. Applicant credit score too low so decided to pass. We are approaching the Winter season and it’s obv Thanksgiving week so I figured it’d be slow trying to find a tenant. Current Zillow rent price is $1550 and I listed for $1600. House it a bit dated but in a great neighborhood. One bathroom doesn’t have a shower, just a tub, but master bathroom has a full bathroom. I’ve listed the house on Zillow, Cozy.co, And Turbotenant. Since I’ve listed on these three sites, my property gets advertised on many different sites by default. My question is, do I stay a bit more patient at $1600 and wait until week after Thanksgiving is over then reduce price? I don’t like the idea of placing a for rent sign outside house or listing on Craigslist. Thoughts on both? So do I keep price, adjust price, advertise house differently...any help is appreciated Thank you,

its been listed for 4 days? that is nothing - especially this time of year. However, Lowering price (or raising it ) can change the traffic. Did you look at other similar rentals and see what they are renting for?

@Nadir M. It may be the holidays. I would wait before changing the price. You may want to try listing it in local Facebook marketplace groups.

@Bud Gaffney Hi Bud, So I used Rentometer..I narrowed my search to houses that are or were on rent for the past 6 months. I was able to get the rent range from $1300-$1585. The house is located in such a great neighborhood. Two car garage, 3 baths, nice deck, laundry in unit, and close to stores, laundry mats, fast food and dine in restaurants and only half-mile from interstate. I’ve had one tenant apply as well but they had a very low credit score and problems with collections agency.

@Brian Anderson I appreciate you taking the time to sum everything up. You offered terrific information. I wouldn’t say I’m rushing to find a tenant. I’ve had three applicant and done background and credit check on all. I have a good gut feeling about the tenant I’ll end up going with. Seemed very professional, good credit score, and no criminal offenses, evictions, or current collections, and him and his spouse make 6 times the rent amount. I will say that I did not verify previous housing history. They just moved here from out of state. They’re looking for a short term 6 month lease option which will work well for me as their lease will be up in the summer if they decide not to extend. I also did have a section 8 applicant but quickly denied them as their voucher doesn’t meet rent amount. Great idea to verify with voucher program to make sure voucher is legit...thanks for that pointer and many others.

Lowering your price a little bit will get you more traffic and maybe you should try Facebook groups and marketplace.

@Nadir M. Where is this property located? I'm surprised no one has asked this question yet. As for 4 days of no applicants, I wouldn't worry about that yet. We regularly see ebbs and flows in our rental business. People will be thinking about moving when they see their lease is coming up at the end of the month. This is traditionally, where we see the spikes in traffic. I'd consider the real estate agent as an option as well. This shifts your potential turnover time frame to Summer rather than Winter (of course if you're in Phoenix or some other warm climate, that may not matter..see Q#1). I have a SF home coming on the rental market in mid January and am budgeting for rental in Feb or March (I'm in NH). I'm an agent so I can look up the area in MLS and see what's leased out recently, for how much and also see the rental history of the other units. I'd agree with a lot of the above posts as well but would sum it all up with this: Rent- study the local area rents and price according to your finish, location, terms and competition Term- go with a lease term that suits your business plan but consider the tenants' demographic as well (professional looking for short lease, family looking for long lease, college kids looking for the rest of the term...) Qualifications- I look at WHY credit is bad and use that more than the number. Active collections on a cable bill, phone bill, Macy's card or car payments late is a bad sign showing they can't manage their money. Medical debt & student loans are usually not as big an issue on money management. Never rent to someone with a history of eviction. If their last address was with family or friends, call the prior landlord. You'll need to establish a 1-2 year rental history. Also, make sure you're actually speaking to the previous landlord. I've had occasion that a tenant gave me a friend's number to act as a prior landlord. When I asked a few more questions regarding the property, (the kind of lingo you can use with another investor) they got flustered, then I asked for a written statement and they hung up and wouldn't answer my calls. I didn't need any written statement but asking for it called their bluff. My applicant couldn't explain this odd behavior and refused to provide anymore references. Background check- I always do a background check. I Always tell my applicant that I'm going to do a credit, rental history, criminal and sex offender registry background check. Many will ask for the application but then I never hear back. I'm sure I've avoided some people with records. Meet the tenant- IF you're managing these yourself, it's a great idea to meet the tenant. There's nothing like the in person impression you get from someone. I've rented to people that I thought seemed a little weird and regretted it. I've rented to people with bad credit that seemed like genuinely nice people and it's worked out just fine. Use you gut on this. Advertising- I advertise on any source I can, I use Apfolio through my office to do so. If you don't have access to a service like this, use Craigslist, FB, Zillow and the like. Differentiate each of your ads so as to know who's contacting you from what source. Track this and you'll have a great idea what source works best in each market. When advertising on CL, I put all the criteria in the ad. This keeps people that are unqualified (by your standards) from wasting your time. On FB, I'll respond to all 'is this available' inquiries with a note that has all the criteria and it has the same effect as the CL ad criteria. On Zillow and the like, I do the same as FB. I also have a nice 'For Lease' sign in the yard with a number on it. I'll sometimes do flyers with the information but they typically don't do much good in my area so I just have the sign. I like the 'For Lease' better than For Rent and I use the term Resident rather than Tenant. I can't say for sure but it seems to change people's mentality on the whole thing. Think "used car" vs 'Certified Pre-Owned'. Pictures- Make your best aspect of the property your first picture. This is what's going to hook someone. This is the picture they are going to show their friends when they tell them where they are moving to. Look at any Airbnb Superhost ad and you'll see what I mean. Section 8- Many will inquire about Section 8 housing (again, where is your place located?). Section 8 many times does not cover the desired rent in certain markets. I call the local housing authority and find out what their top end payment is for Housing Vouchers. In my area, it's $1637/month including utilities. If my rent alone is $1750 then I simply let the people inquiring about Section 8 know that the home does not qualify. If my rent is $1575, then I'll accept it if they fit my other criteria. Section 8 housing can be a great thing or a bad thing, just depends on your tenant. The upside is that you'll get rent every month without fail and if they are violating your other lease terms, you have someone to take those issues to (Housing). They know that if they get evicted from a Section 8 home, they'll be kicked out of the Housing program and nearly all of them know that and will act accordingly. Hope this helps. This was a long read so if I can sum it all up in one thing: Don't rush & put a bad tenant in. This is always more expensive than waiting another week or two.

If your house is clean and move in ready then it always comes down to price. With that said I have been doing this for 20 years and historically the five weeks between Thanksgiving and the new Year are always the slowest for us. Seems like the flood gates open about Jan 3rd. During the holidays most are worried about getting togther with family and Christmas gifts not putting down a deposit.

Am I charging too much?

Nadir M.

OP

Property Manager · Westminster, CO · Member since 2018 · 486 posts · 110 votes

5y

@Bill P. Just changed price to $1595 and had a applicant call an hour later. Great advice

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James Ma

Burnaby, BC · Member since 2017 · 282 posts · 268 votes

5y

Why not craigslist? I find most of my tenants from there or FB groups

Am I charging too much?

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