Struggling finding a tenant - St. Louis MO

[Gaby Mino]

I have a 2bath/1bath rental in a nicer area in south St. Louis. It is the second floor unit on a duplex. I have advertised it on Zillow using professional staged pictures and would get about 3 to 4 inquiries per week. My process is to call and ask questions to screen potential tenants before scheduling a tour. In some cases people do not call me back or do not respond to follow up questions on Zillow. I have had about one to two tours per week on average since July and only have gotten 2 applicants. Out of those two applicants, I denied one because of my gut feeling and the other applicant withdrew their application. 

The feedback that I have had from people touring the unit is: no dishwasher, rooms too small and no off street parking.

For context the rooms are fairly small the main bedroom is 12x11 ft and the second bedroom is 8x9ft (no closet). There is a garage in the back that is not in a good shape, so I am considering demoing it and making it a parking pad. I have also thought about making the rooms bigger. But those two options would become costly really fast and I already know I need to replace the air conditioning for the first unit next year.

I have the apartment listed for $1300 and reduced it to $1200. Now I am seeing neighboring units advertise for $1100. Should I lower the price of the unit to match other listings? Should I bite the bullet and spend money addressing the feedback I got from the people touring the unit? 

This is also my first rental property and I am an immigrant. So I am not sure if maybe my accent or my demeanor might get in the way of potential tenants. So I am also wondering if I should hire a property management company to handle the touring and placing of a tenant?

[Mohammed Rahman]

Hi @Gaby Mino - it probably has nothing to do with your accent or demeanor unless you're being aggressive and off-putting to potential tenants, or there's any other glaring issue people see upon walking in. 

Why would anyone rent out your unit for $1200 if the neighbor's are advertising their one for $1100?

Listen to what the market feedback has been since you started showing, if people are offput by not having certain amenities you can either reduce the price or provide the amenities up front.