I Can't Get Any Tentant For My Rental!! HELP ME!!
I've put my 3 bd house in the paper for 3 weeks and haven't got anyone to move in yet. As we all know, we can't stand a vacant rental. I have lowered the price in the paper from $595 to $550 and still no bites. My mortgate w/ tax/insurance is $307. Should I drop the price lower to get someone in there? If so, how low? One problem it that I'm an out of state landlord, so my family shows the house for me. It's harder for me to go guerilla on the advertising w/ out me being present. I'd appreciate any help.
Is it being shown but no takers it may the the condition. How is carpet, paint, etc. Can you check comps in the area to compare. $495 is a good price break as it is less than $500 and sounds like in the $400 range. Our market here in Austin is really soft with all kins of give aways. Some are saying free months rent but are actually deducting the amount over 12 months.
Hope this helps
Ted Jr
Your problem isn't so much that your overcharging as it is the interest rates. Why rent when they could easily buy with a low rate...... My suggestion is to lower it before it costs you money and your ROI falls. Until then don't make it a cheaper property. It might be worth it for you to go to the area - visit relatives and put someone in there on a 2 years lease to secure it for now.
We have a really hard rental market right now. Make sure you have really great curb appeal. If people like the outside, they will not complain about the inside.
Agree! curb appeal is very important
Also your area whats the locale? do you have a sign posted in the yard, local laundry mat, local city chamber?
This may be comparing apples to oranges since your rental market is different than mine, but I think your price is high. In my locale a property in a nice neighborhood, in excellent condition and with a mortgage the same as yours would rent for about $450. If you were willing to wait a couple of months you could probably get $475. Again, this is strictly based on the market that I know.
As far as advertising goes, all you should need is a sign in the front yard. In my experience, interest rates have little to do with vacancies. There is a huge pool of people who will always be renters for many reasons.
[ Edited by davmille on Date 11/19/2003 ]
Really I get $850 easy on a moderate and up to $950 depending on sq (2000 or less) my payments are $4-500
my little bitty ones 1000sq or less 3b are 6-700+
my 2b 1000sq or less 450-5
but it also is very dependant on your area (subdivision, state, town) and your curb appeal.
Rents and prices are subject to cycles. Drop your rent each week or so to get a tenant NOW!
Assuming the place is Neat & clean, freshly painted, Has sign, being advertised properly, available for viewing on short notice.
Consider listing the property with agent in order to get on MLS. Cost in my area: 1/2 mo rent if Mo to Mo. 7% of lease if leased.
Can you apply for section 8 and get tennants that way?
I would do a rent to own!
C-
I would also do a lease to own.
Thanks for the replies. the house has been freshly painted and the kitchen and bathroom floors have been retiled. When I advertised it for $595 back in the beginning of September, I got over 40 calls. The tenant moved out in a month, now I'm trying to get money from her for breaking the lease. Now I barely get any calls when it's priced at $550. Does the season (Holiday/cold) have anything to do with it? Thanks for the info.
I believe that there is some seasonal issues here as well. November/december are the bad times for renting/selling. I actually made my last tenant who moved in in oct sign a lease for 1 year 4 months so that is will end in march/april. Alot easier to get tenants in spring/summer.
Quote:
On 2003-11-19 09:37, monopoly wrote:
I've put my 3 bd house in the paper for 3 weeks and haven't got anyone to move in yet. As we all know, we can't stand a vacant rental. I have lowered the price in the paper from $595 to $550 and still no bites. My mortgate w/ tax/insurance is $307. Should I drop the price lower to get someone in there? If so, how low? One problem it that I'm an out of state landlord, so my family shows the house for me. It's harder for me to go guerilla on the advertising w/ out me being present. I'd appreciate any help.
Have you tried section 8 ?
I agree with TEDJR and price it at $495. If you still don't get the calls I would look for other avenues to advertise. I can't imagine a 3br house anywhere not getting $495, so I would doubt that price would be the problem.
[addsig]
Ok, here are a number of comments/concerns:
#1. You said that you got 40 calls on the original $595 and you didn't get a single renter out of that? That seems a bit odd. I'd call all of those people back and ask why the didn't take the apartment. Heck, I'd also ask them if they ever found one and offer the new price (with concessions for what they didn't like).
#2. The paper is good, but signs are better. I try to sneak some in at the Kroger and Walmart parking lots/entries. I know its bad and they will be taken up in like 3 seconds, but 3 seconds in a walmart parkinglot will generate more calls than a paper in some areas.
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I'm the kind of landowner that will take a hit on the $ for a worryfree tenet any day of the week. In your case I would even be willing to go as low as $400 a month for a "perfect" tenet willing to do all low cost repairs themselves. Remember, you get the $100 but the other $300 is yours too! But without a tenet you get nada.
Get creative!!! I'm of the John Cash Locke school of thought. Advertize FREE TV!! Free Rent!! Free Heat!! ( Just use Free______ ). Try doing 6 month lease also, lots of people don't want to sign a 1 year lease.
Hard to say if you are asking too much, but I get $800/ from a small 2 br. in so so shape. Your market sounds soft like jello.
This isn't the best season but that shouldn't be a big concern. It only takes slightly longer to rent in the off seasons from my experience. If you are not getting any calls from your ad it is clear that renters are picking up something from the ad which is turning them off even before they call. Tenants know the areas of town where they do and don't want to rent. They also have a very good idea of what things rent for in different parts of town. I'm not one for doing any kind of gimics to get tenants in. Tenants look at the bottom line. They may pay above the market rate if they really need something or they want to take advantage of a free months rent or whatever. However, these are not the tenants you want. Turnover is probably the biggest drain on the profit a property will make. You want to get tenents who will move in and want to stay there permanently, not ones who are always looking for a better deal.
Again, I have no idea what things rent for in your area or what your property is worth. Rents track very well with housing values in the locale. I'm just guessing, but since your payment is only $314 I would guess you are talking about a property that is valued at $40k to $45k. If you used the rough rule of thumb 1% of unit value equals monthly rent you would come up with $450/month. Again, this is only a rough number but it seems to work ok for a starting point on midrange properties. Not much cash flow at that though, and I personally don't buy properties unless I can get much better cash flow than this. [ Edited by davmille on Date 11/20/2003 ]
I would also post your ad at companies. Employees who get newsletters at their job.
you need to figure out why the first 40 who called didn't take the place. It seems to me that out of 40 calls you should have been able to make 15 appts to show the place and out of the 15 at least 3 would have wanted to rent the place. These are very conservative numbers. Something else is going on here. Maybe you need to look into getting a realtor to list the property for rent as the family thing doesn't seem to be working. Who does the phone interview? you or the family? Try an open house. Just get someone in there to stem the bleeding.
Why not try a buy-in rental for the first few months, offering a low rent for the first three months or so, then move the rent up to market rates later? Cable companies and broadband internet companies do this all the time. this way, your PITI gets covered now and you get the extra cash flow later.
Quote:
On 2003-11-20 09:56, maw wrote:
you need to figure out why the first 40 who called didn't take the place. It seems to me that out of 40 calls you should have been able to make 15 appts to show the place and out of the 15 at least 3 would have wanted to rent the place. These are very conservative numbers. Something else is going on here....
Me and Maw are on the same page here. Whatever stopped the original 40 will stop whoever else you find. Figure out what happened and fix it.
We see the light!
You have been marketing the same property for 90 days straight (with the small break in October). Renters viewed your ad, called, and likewise see it again, and again, and again.
Why are you running the same type of ad? Lowering the price in our opinion is poor marketing. BUILD value, not lower the price. Does the house have a deck, or screened porch, how is the curb appeal of the front door, landscaping, leaves in the yard?
"Move Today and Save, charming 3 bed 1 bath perfect home, flexible lease term, huge winter move-in offer FREE satellite TV service, all credit considered! 312-555-xxxx"
The FREE satellite: installation setup and satellite hardware installed for free, prepay 1 year of BASIC (approx. $300).
Lastly, Place holiday trim on the front door, and mailbox (creates curb appeal) then tell you family the incentive for renting the unit in 30 days or less on a 1 year lease = 1 free domestic RT airline ticket. If they get a signed 2 year lease = 2 free RT airline tickets plus weekend hotel.
Create excitement, market your unit with conviction.
Eric & Rosa
[addsig]
You might consider an outrageous ad...
Free big screen tv
Free GameCube for the kids
2 months rent free
I'll make your car payment...
And then structure the lease amount and term in a way that is profitable.
I agree that you need to do more than just list it in the paper. What about a flier at a near by park, grocery store, or landormat. Put a "for rent" sign at the closest busy intersection with directional signs. Time to figure out your market and be creative and proactive.
You may want to consider allowing pets. Once I advertise "pets allowed with approval", I get callers offering more than asking price, and willing to "take it" without seeing it. You'll see many horror stories about pets, however, they've got to live somewhere. Check references.
section 8 was the first place I tried. The house will show up over the weekend for $495. That should produce some calls. Thanks for all your help. I'll let you know the outcome.
Have you had any luck yet? Also, there was something that I thought I should mention because it seems like few people are aware of it. You mentioned that you first tried to rent the house at the beginning of September. Did you know that when you posted your last message on 11/21 you probably did not have any insurance on the house? Most people don't realize that insurance companies will only allow a house to sit vacant for 60 days. After that if you don't buy a vacant house policy they can refuse to pay for damages if someone vandalizes or burns the house down. Not a lesson anyone would like to learn the hard way!
You may want to call investors in the area, tell them your out of state, have a rental property. It may be in a interest of yours to sell it now before you being to lose money on it.
[addsig]
Quote:
On 2003-12-04 23:31, Birddog1 wrote:
You may want to call investors in the area, tell them your out of state, have a rental property. It may be in a interest of yours to sell it now before you being to lose money on it.
I don't think I would let potential buyers know I was out of state. That sounds just like what it is, you are desperate to sell.
I'm sure there are some seasonal factors affecting this but how are the showings conducted? If you are not grouping them, you might try doing that to create a sense of competition. Schedule all your showings at the same time, in ten minute increments, or during a block of time.
monopoly,
Where is your property?
Up here in GB most leases have clauses that you can't leave in the months of Dec. through Feb. The market is really soft in the winters. But, come March/April it is quite easy to find renters. I'd offer a reduced rent for the first two months or so. Better to get something than nothing.
Ron
Try some new marketing.
It's cheap to put a sign in the yard.
Try a new advertisement. People always skip an ad they've seen before.
Try different newspapers.
Post a flyer at local hospitals and medical centers. Nurses are known to be among the most responsible renters.
If you have any large companies in your area contact the human resources department and tell them you have a clean home for rent. New employees often move in from out-of-town or look for closer housing. Your bound to find a few big contacts in a 5-10 mile radius. I've never tried this technique personally but have heard good things and always thought it made sense.
Good Luck
Monopoly
So did you get it rented?
Mike
You got 40 calls and one dead-beat tenant in September. Seems like you should have had more candidates. Have you any detrimental conditions? Area or physical condition
Now, hardly any www.calls.That's the ads fault.
I'd drop the price, put a sign in the front yard, mail a letter to the neighbors offering them the a small finder's fee and the priviledge of choosing their new neighbor.
Lastly, your relatives may not be up to the task.
All this to say, lower the price, review-expand your marketing efforts, get a professional to lease it up, and/or consider selling it before you get into financial trouble.
In this vein I have my own question.
What about a move-in special? Discount on up-front money. Allows you to advertise at an eye-catching price to people who are more concerned about the short-term impacts of a move than the long-term rent they will be paying.
Or would advertising that someone can move in for only $200 bring you the wrong sort of tenants?
When I got the 40 calls in September I had found a tenant, but she moved out in a month. It must be the season, it was the end of summer. It should pick up in Jan-Feb, tax season. Thanks for the help.
Quote:
On 2003-12-09 14:19, brineyguy wrote:
In this vein I have my own question.
What about a move-in special? Discount on up-front money. Allows you to advertise at an eye-catching price to people who are more concerned about the short-term impacts of a move than the long-term rent they will be paying.
Or would advertising that someone can move in for only $200 bring you the wrong sort of tenants?
I would never discount the move in price or the deposit. Seems this just brings people with no money and then you are faced with an eviction the next month or so.
Instead you could always offer a $100 off the 3rd, 6th 9th and 12th months,or something similar. Probably comes out to the same amount of money but it gives them an incentive to keep renting.[ Edited by MrMike on Date 12/09/2003 ]
I'm in the same situation in Chicago. I have a 2-bdrm townhouse, completely renovated and can't find a tenant, cash or section-8.
I think it's the market...because it's a renters markets, even section-8 folks can be choosy about where they will live.
Perhaps you should expand your advertising away from the larger newspaper. If there is a local paper, or a weekly smaller paper with "online" searching with an internet link you might find it worthwhile. So many renters today use the internet to begin a search--its a great place to start. Make certain the place is clean, and bright (remove or open heavy curtains) and put in the absolute brightest lightbulbs in all fixtures that is possible. You could offer a free month's rent for a longer term lease as well (like 2 years).
The tenant that only lived there for a month....Did she break her lease??? If she did, she will most likely be responsible for the rent until it is rented (depending on what the lease states and how it was handled). Use her to help you find a tenant, knowing that she's responsible for it if she doesn't.
Renting between Thanksgiving and New Years is terrible. I also make them go until at least Jan-Feb if I MUST rent in Nov-Dec. If it's worth the $550 then personally I would wait until after Jan 1 and try again. Sounds like a nice property, and you are already out Decembers Rent.
Hey,
Two quick general points on renting the difficult property:
1) You put a For Rent sign in the front yard and ON the For Rent sign, you write "REDUCED". You do not have to wait a week or a month, just put it out. On the information flyers (you do have information flyers, right???) you cross out the rent of $650 and hand write $575, which is the rent you wanted in the first place (the numbers are for examples.) The point is you don't have to reduce the rent to have a reduced rent house.
2) People like things more than money. I don't know why this is, but it is true. So if you are marketing a family house, offering a free XBOX (value $190) will do ALOT more than $200 off rent.
what acity are you investing in
Im from Baltimore
I have alot of properties that i sell from
$20,000- $35,000
I'm not sure why people are chiming in with how much their rental units go for.
It's irrelevant. Here in Boston, I get $1500 for my two bedroom and $2600 for my four bedroom. But it's all relative to property prices, market conditions and location. What sells here, would sit there.
And comparing rents in different markets is an exercise in futility.
That said, with interest rates well below 7% (and I mention 7% because I feel it's a market barometer, the rental market softened considerably when rates fell below 7%), landlords nationwide are experiencing a 50% vacancy rate, on average. It's all due to affordability. As other posters have put it, "Why rent when you can own."
After saying all that, my suggestion would be to take the hit now and keep dropping the rent on your unit somebody bites. Everyday that unit goes vacant, you're losing money.
Here's why I'd take the hit now: as the saying goes, "It's the economy, stupid."
In a nutshell, interest rates are on the rise. The salad days on historically low rates are done for now. With the economy on the mend and the Fed hinting at raising rates in the coming year, mortgage rates are only going higher. This is good for landlords, bad for home buyers. And if we start seeing rapid job creation, watch out. Interest rates will skyrocket. Again, this is all good for landlords. Once rates rise above 7%, which is the barometer I mentioned earlier, the renters will return.
You've got two choices when it comes to housing: own or rent. And if rates are too high and you can't afford the monthly payments, people have little choice but to rent, or to move home with mommy and daddy.
Anway, chief ecomomists and mortage gurus are predicting rates to rise above seven by next year. Again, good news for landlords. When rates climb towards seven, you'll be able to get the price you want for your rental because with increased demand, supplies will dwindle. Again, it's simple economics.
So to recap, drop your rent now until you get a tenant, with the promise of a better tomorrow. You'll get the price you want in about a year or so, when that tenants lease is up. So take what you can get now and don't be greedy.
We'll all be rewarded with higher rents and lower vacancy rates next year. Then we can all price gouge (just kidding).
You say that you have tried lowering the price and continue to advertise. Have you tried a Realtor yet? Their fee is normally paid by the tenant so it shouldn't cost you a dime. He can also give you a reasonable expectation as to what the rent should be. It wouldn't hurt to check. Good Luck!
You say that you have tried lowering the price and continue to advertise. Have you tried a Realtor yet? Their fee is normally paid by the tenant so it shouldn't cost you a dime. He can also give you a reasonable expectation as to what the rent should be. It wouldn't hurt to check. Good Luck!
Hello, thanks for all your help. I have learned a bundle for the techniques that you have posted. I finally have a interested renter and more behind that one. The Christmas season really slowed things down. My house was vacant for 4 months, a lost of $2000. I'll charge it to the game and do my best to make sure this wont' happen again.
have your relatives run a new ad for a friday, sat, sunday stating all of the amenities of the house.
make it an open house ad from 1-4 on sunday. just put the price and do not put a phone #.
that way they cant call you before hand.
be at the open house and take applications.
try that, it might work. it is easier to rent to someone once they see the property.
maybe dont even put the price in there, just something like what a deal i have for you.
I have State Farm insurance and no one has ever said anything to me about length of time for vacancy. Is that all companies or only some?????[
quote]
On 2003-12-04 23:17, davmille wrote:
Have you had any luck yet? Also, there was something that I thought I should mention because it seems like few people are aware of it. You mentioned that you first tried to rent the house at the beginning of September. Did you know that when you posted your last message on 11/21 you probably did not have any insurance on the house? Most people don't realize that insurance companies will only allow a house to sit vacant for 60 days. After that if you don't buy a vacant house policy they can refuse to pay for damages if someone vandalizes or burns the house down. Not a lesson anyone would like to learn the hard way!
[/quote]
BBCPROPERTIES,
The 60 days maximum vacancy limit is what I was told by my insurance company. However, when I mentioned this to a realtor friend they said it was standard in the insurance business. On top of that, this realtor had actually had a house vandalized that had been vacant over 60 days. There was $22k of theft and vandalism. I don't know if they paid for any of the damage, but she did say that she was also blackballed and could not get anymore insurance on the house. I know she sold the house shortly after that. I am still amazed that few people mention this considering the extreme consequences.