How Quick do you price drop your rental listings?

[Kimberly H.]

I list my properties in MLS and also do rental open houses 2x/week. I have a newer rental property that I rented out for the first time last year, in July, got it rented in 2 weeks for $1600. This year, listed it August 1st for $1650 after looking at comps, got only 1 app from someone that didn't work out, so 11 days in on August 11th dropped the price to $1599, got WAY more MLS showings (24 in total scheduled which probably means 12 actual showings), 2 paid for applications we had to deny, 2 applications that have yet to have an app fee paid, one of which I am not crazy about because they just want to rent for a year and then buy a house, the other is a long term renter who's agent says he is notoriously hard to get a hold of so I doubt I will get the app fee soon from him. No more agent showings scheduled. Just dropped the price today,9 days since the last drop, to $1575. Losing a month rent is a bigger hit than losing $25-$100/mo less over a year. Since I'm in Chicago, I am nervous about getting more into the slower rental season. So far we've always gotten a ton of foot traffic during the open houses. I have checked Zillow, Trulia, Craiglist, MLS...inventory of 3 bedroom rentals appears low. Ours is in tiptop shape too, some people say it's like brand new since we just repainted and recarpeted.

[Aly W.]

I've also listed properties at $5 or so below the next big price point - like $995 instead of $1000.

I will drop the price in the first few days if there are no calls/email at all. Once the calls start regularly, I know I'm at the right price. If I get a strong candidate, and they ask for a reduction, I may go down $25 or so; $50 if it's a harder area to find good tenants.

The PITA factor can't be ignored. If they have a list of issues when they first see the place, it won't get any better once they move in.