All Forum Posts by: Joe Pitrolo

I've lowered the price to 1200 and have had a few more calls and a potential candidate I took an app on.  

This is a townhome community and I've seen houses nearby stay vacant for months and others rent consistently. It seems that once renters get established, places get re rented from people whom they know, so networking.

   As far as the Third Bedroom, it is 9 x 12 with a separate entrance and bathroom, looks great, even the realtors agreed.  

 As far as Boo boos, I've tried everything from lowering the price, listing with realtors, CL, newspaper. I'm just not getting enough calls and I don't want to give the property away for $1 a month.  

Rentometer says avg rent is $1292. I'm going to try $1,100.   I have had $1,150 for a while.  Regardless of the price it just seems the calls are minimal. I have 1 and 2 bedroom apts for avg around $600 mo and always get calls regardless of how professional my pics are.

    My realtor says a lot of LL are suffering because the University just built hundreds of affordable units and they have access to students emails and they only have 40 to 50 % full. I'm thinking we have a bit of a bubble in our town. 

Another issue which I may be overlooking, I am the HOA President and our HOA has a security Cam to cover the parking lot and the DVR is plugged into a router the HOA pays for located in the upstairs closet. I'm thinking this may spook some, the cameras strictly cover our common area parking lot. Also, We've had lots of problems with some residents stringing their garbage out- we've fined them and they still don't comply. Never the less this is frustrating and I'm going to try whatever I can and not take it for granted that this should have already rented. Thanks again.

thanks for all the thoughtful responses. I truly appreciate the advice.

Here is a link to several cl adds. You can see I have run variations with lower price points. 

I also have a a yard sign out front and just out one on the deck.

http://morgantown.craigslist.org/apa/5756078945.html

http://morgantown.craigslist.org/apa/5756081152.html

Jon 

Thanks for the research and ideas. How did you arrive at the  $1100? I have it reduced to $1150, very few calls. Really has me confused. As I mentioned there are 22 home in the Hoa and all are similar and I know the median price is $1500 mo. When people see it there is some attraction but just not enough numbers. 

I'll keep trying or maybe list for sale

it's 3 beds and 3 and 1/2 bath   Each bed has a full bath or shower 

The identical place across the street rented for 1500 mo. I have lowered the rent 

Seems like those that rent know someone.

I would just figure being on the MLS would suffice , I know it posts to trulia and Zillow

I recently purchased a new home and renovated my 2 bed townhome in Morgantown WV, 5 minutes from the college. I added a 3rd bed and bath and the going rate is 1500 mo. This is close to the hospital and University. I have always rented properties for an average rent of $500 to $700 a month and renting such a high cost rental is new territory for me, so I placed the property with realtors to be on the MLS. In addition I have ran print adds and post on CL, even multiple adds. I've even placed fliers at the law and Med schools.The University has added a lot of new housing, so my understanding is the market is a bit saturated; however, I've seen houses close by rent out with no problem. The home was built in 2003 and is in excellent condition. I've tried lowering the rent to $1350. I almost had it rented for $1200 a month when it was a 2 bedroom.

At this point, it has been vacant for 8 month. I've also noticed that comparable homes on the MLS had an average listing of 150 days also. I'm paying 2 mortgages and losing big time, almost feel like I need to rent the place for $800 a month or try to sell.

  This is new territory for me and I've never had a unit vacant for more the 3 months.  Reading some old posts, I've even tried postlets.

WV is struggling a lot with all the EPA environmental rules which have hurt coal. We have relied a lot in our natural resources. 

We were one of the few states that didn't suffer with massive forecloses because our home prices never over inflated. 

Morgantown is where wvu is and the market is tight and prices are higher. 30 minutes south in Fairmont , I just purchased a duplex for 30k and hope to get $1000 mo or more. This meets the 2 percent rule. 

Doubt I could find this in Morgantown.

WV also suffers from our infrastructure. Many of our communities are nestled in the mountains and country with no easy access to businesses.   As we shift away from natural resources, with newer leadership, hopefully we can be more inviting to business and lower archaic tax structures. Keep in mind, Pa just proposed and may have passed a $1 raise on cigarettes taxes.

I also notice that gass is at least .20 cent higher in PA.