Louisville West End - High Vacancy Rates?

[Ben Penwell]

Hey yall,

I've got 2 properties in the west end (both SFH, 4b2ba currently rented to section 8 for $1391, and 4b1ba I just finished rehabbing).

Granted, I know it’s a D class neighborhood, the new property I’m trying to rent out is taking a while.

I’d love to get other people’s experience of the market right now (Louisville doesnt get much love on the forums), but at least in the west end, finding tenants seems pretty tough tight now unless you’re offering a full rehab with a cheap price.

Other thoughts:

- My property manager has had multiple showings, but it seems like Section 8 has completely dried up. Section 8 would have paid $1300-1400 for this zipcode at 4 bed, but now there seems to only be cash renters. I assume that’s because of Trump’s plans to gut the program funding?

- My sense of the market is that properties are going to take 45-90 days to fill (again, unless you’ve got the best deal on the market).

- I could drop my price more, but I’m kind of nervous about getting a worse returns and  tenants because of it. Is that a valid concern, or should I just drop the price?

- Currently at 50 days with 21 contacts. Definitely better than most other properties which aren’t as affordable, but like I said, the great deals are getting more contacts than days on market.

- I just finished up a $14k rehab to replace flooring, improve the kitchen, make the 4th bedroom compliant, generally update, etc. But, I’m not sure I did enough. I’m thinking it would be better if I had added a 2nd bath, added AC or window units preemptively, and replaced the whole house of flooring. What do you think? Should I re-rehab the property to improve it more? Or just stick to this for this next tenant, and improve it more during the next vacancy?

What do you think of my property? I’d love other’s thoughts, especially if you’re familiar with the market. I’ll also post my current analysis on the property. 

Listing: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2921-Dumesnil-St-Louisvil...

Analysis: https://www.instantlyanalyze.com/product/instantlyreport/sha...