Here are a couple of mistakes that I see some landlords make when they get hyper focused on income. The often can’t step back and see the bigger picture and and just rent the apartment now.
Scenario:
- You have a 3 bedroom apartment you are trying to rent for $1200.
- It is December.
- The apartment has been on the market for 45 days.
1st situation: Tenant calls, sounds qualified for apartment, wants to rent it for January 1. She has a cat and wants to see if you will take cats. You decline because your rule is no pets. Property goes unrented for January and you eventually rent for February 1. With that extra $1200 in rent (plus you could have asked for a pet deposit and/or slightly higher rent to cover pet), you could have had the carpets cleaned and even the ducts cleaned to rid the place of cat. I am not suggesting that you drop your screening requirements and let the local crack dealer in, but be willing to bend on the non-critical items.
2nd situation: No showings recently on your property. You refused to drop the rent to market rent of $1100. The apartment sits empty until March 1 when the right tenant comes along. You just lost several months of rent ($2400-3600) because you were holding out for that extra $100.
3rd situation: You have always rented this property for $1200 for years. The last couple tenants were hard on the property, but you don’t have the time or money to refresh much more than touching up the paint. You have shown the property to so many applicants, but no one wants to take an application or expresses any interest. Maybe you need to drop the rent or make some more major improvements to get this apartment rented.
Landlords need to sometimes pull their head out of the sand and look around. See what is really going on the world and what your true situation is. Get a 2nd opinion. Call your real estate agent and ask for honest feedback. Heck, call me and I will tell you! Just rent the apartment now!
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