(Seeming to be) Failed First Commercial Deal

[Andrew Jolly]

Hi all,

I am 23 and I closed on my first piece of property that I have owned. It is 2 pole barn style buildings, each 30x40, one with concrete and heat, and the other with a rock floor (Cold Storage). I bought them originally planning to use them for personal reasons, but recently moved from home to Asheville, NC. 

I have tried renting them out for about two months now, and have had people interested, but have not gotten anyone to finish the application process. I'm charging a $25 application fee that is refundable if they are chosen as the tenant. My break even numbers is around 580 a month, and I finally got someone to rent the cold storage, but only for 6 months out of the year; which comes out to about $90 a month over the year.  The heated shop is still sitting vacant. 

I understand I probably picked too much of a niche property, and being in a low population area probably doesn't help.  But this one deal has put a bad taste in my mouth, and has not helped with getting my girlfriend on the real estate train. 

Do you guys have any ideas on ways I can turn a profit on the property? or even just some words of encouragement to get me through? Its fairly easy to manage this property from afar, my biggest problem is just finding a qualified tenant.

[Tim Delaney]

If you have had a number of people ask for applications but not fill them out I would consider reaching back out to them to find out why. Ask them if there was something on the application that turned them off or if there was something about the building that could be adjusted to meet their needs.