House not renting

[Mark Forest]

It has been cold here in Michigan, but I have had an unusually small amount of inquires on this house.  Are any of you having better luck? Here is my ad:   

http://www.zillow.com/homes/for_rent/Burton-MI/house,condo,apartment,duplex,townhouse_type/2104085411_zpid/3905_rid/days_sort/43.055593,-83.556948,42.952276,-83.709726_rect/12_zm/

[Jon Holdman]

The timeline for paying back the cost of the house is absolutely irrelevant.   What you would hate to get just doesn't matter.  You have to price it based on the market for similar properties in the area.  And similar means beds, bath, garage, etc.  If you're put granite countertops in an area where formica is common, you won't get a dime extra for that.  Rentometer says "Your rent may be way too high" and says the median rent for that area for a 2 bed is $500.  That may not be perfect, and you should certainly do a careful survey of rents for similar properties in the area.  But it appears you are so far above the market that you probably aren't even getting responses to your ads.  You need to get your rent in line with the market or its going to sit empty for months, maybe forever.

Further, if you do get a tenant who will pay that price, it will be a disaster.  Sometimes investors think "I'll price it high to get a good tenant".  In fact, the only tenant that will over pay is one who struggles to get accepted anyplace.  So, they suck it up and pay your high price.  Get yours priced right at or a little under the competition and you'll have plenty of applicants, assuming there are applicants to be had.