All Forum Posts by: Colleen McDade

San Diego is currently in a cooling seller’s market—it’s not as red-hot as it was in recent years, but sellers still hold a slight edge due to low inventory and strong pricing.

That said, the market is showing signs of shifting:

Inventory is up noticeably, giving buyers more options.

Days on market have increased, meaning homes aren’t flying off the shelf like before.

Nearly half of homes are selling below asking, which opens the door for more buyer-friendly negotiations.

Median home prices are still high (around $1M), but we’re seeing more flexibility from sellers and fewer bidding wars. This creates a more balanced opportunity—buyers have a bit more room to negotiate, while sellers are still getting solid value if their property is priced right.

If you're investing in San Diego, this could be a great time to buy smart, especially with motivated sellers or value-add opportunities. Just be sure your numbers work with current pricing and projected rents, as affordability is still a key challenge in this market.

This is definitely one of those situations where it's important to rely on your established rental criteria. If you've already created clear, written qualifications—like credit score minimums, income requirements, and guidelines around criminal history—I’d recommend sticking to them. That way, you’re protecting yourself both legally and operationally.

If something were to go wrong down the line, being able to show that you followed your objective criteria can help you defend your decision. It also helps keep your process fair and consistent across all applicants, which is especially important under Fair Housing laws.

That said, it’s totally fair to want to give someone a second chance—just be sure your decision aligns with your written standards and won’t set a precedent you’re uncomfortable repeating with future applicants.

Best of luck whatever you decide!

Congrats on reaching this exciting milestone!

In our experience managing rentals, we typically screen 1–2 applicants at a time. This allows us to give each application the attention it deserves and avoid wasting time collecting dozens of applications when the right fit may already be in front of us. If the first round doesn't meet our criteria, we simply continue showing the property and reviewing new applications as they come in.

Best of luck with your first tenant—trust your process and stick to your screening criteria!

When we offer lease renewals, we typically present two options:

12-month renewal at the standard market rate, and

Month-to-month (MTM) option at a higher rate — usually $200–$300 more per month.

The goal is to encourage tenants to commit to a longer lease, especially if the current term ends during the high season. If they still choose the short-term or MTM option, at least you're compensated for the added risk of vacancy during a slower time.

This approach has worked well for us and gives tenants some flexibility while protecting your cash flow and timeline. You’re definitely not alone in wanting to avoid a lease ending during the off-season!

We use Rentvine and really like it. It's a great property management software with helpful features, especially if you're looking to grow your portfolio down the road.

Here’s what we like about it:

Lease Agreements: You can create and customize lease documents easily.

Rent Collection: Tenants can pay online, and the money goes straight to your bank account. It also tracks payments and late fees automatically.

Dashboards: The layout is clean and easy to use. It shows all the important info in one place—great for both owners and tenants.

Portals: Tenants can pay rent and submit maintenance requests online. Owners (if you manage for others) can see reports and updates anytime.

Downside: It’s designed more for professional property managers, so it might be more than you need if you only have one property and don’t plan to grow.

But if you’re thinking long-term, it’s a solid option worth checking out. Let me know if you want a demo or more info!

We’re currently using Rentvine and have really enjoyed the platform! It’s been a great fit for our property management needs. The dashboards are very user-friendly — not just for us, but also for our investors and residents, which has made communication and transparency much easier.

A few key features we love:

Owner & resident portals: Clean, modern interfaces that make it easy for owners to access financial reports and residents to pay rent, submit maintenance requests, and view lease documents.

Customizable workflows: Helps streamline leasing, renewals, maintenance, and more.

Strong accounting capabilities: Built with property management accounting in mind, including trust accounting, automated bank reconciliations, and robust reporting tools.

Cloud-based & mobile-friendly: So we can access everything on the go, which has been a big plus for our team.

Rentvine also offers helpful onboarding support, and their customer service has been responsive and easy to work with. It’s definitely worth checking out if you're looking for something modern and scalable.

Thanks for sharing this great summary!

We also use Tenant Turner, though currently we only utilize it for in-person showings — we haven’t tested the self-guided tour option yet. That said, we’ve been really happy with the platform overall. The dashboard is very intuitive, making it easy to manage leads, track activity, and stay organized across multiple listings.

A few additional highlights about Tenant Turner that we’ve found helpful:

Lead pre-screening is customizable, so only qualified prospects are invited to schedule showings, saving us a lot of time.

The integration with major listing sites like Zillow, Apartments.com, and Zumper has helped increase our exposure without extra effort.

It integrates smoothly with platforms like AppFolio, Buildium, RentManager, and Propertyware, which is a huge plus if you’re using a property management system.

The ability to pause the service during vacancy downtimes is also a nice feature for staying cost-effective.

Curious to hear from others too — especially on how the self-guided tours have gone.

We've been using BOOM for tenant screening and have really enjoyed the platform so far. It's affordable, user-friendly, and their support team has been super helpful whenever we've had questions. They offer features like credit, background, and eviction checks, and the process is smooth for both us and the applicants.

As of now, pricing for BOOM starts around $10–$15 per report, depending on the type of screening selected, and they also offer options where the applicant pays directly. There’s no hefty monthly subscription fee for property management companies, which makes it a great value if you’re looking to keep screening costs reasonable.

Definitely worth checking out if you're looking for a solid platform without breaking the bank!

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