Use an RE agent or DIY to find tenant in South Florida ?

Question

My first attempt to rent out my condo using an agent didn't   work out well , the property was not rented and my contract with agent is over.

I can continue to try to rent through an agent or do it myself. If I do it myself I can't get my listing into MLS so it will limit my property exposure.  Or are there ways to get property listed in MLS and get buyer/tenant agents to show it?

What are other landlords found the best way to get good tenants in S. Florida?

Elizabeth Maille · Answer

@Mike X. I am also in the South Florida area. I am an investor as well as a property manager. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help or if you have any questions, I am always looking to network.

Colin G Murphy · Answer

Hi @Mike X.

Have you considered postlets.com? Just upload on one site and they send it to Zillow, Trulia, Hotpads and a bunch of others. We are always flooded with enquiries for our South Florida properties. Whatever way you try to save money, don´t cut corners on background checks (criminal, employment, rent history).

Mitchell L. · Answer

In this market, if you can't your property rented within 30 days, you have a serious problem with your agent or your unit. I average around 3-7 days to get my properties rented and that is with a stringent criteria. You can try to rent the condo yourself or use an agent but it has to be either overpriced, in very poor condition or completely mismarketed for not getting any attention in this hot rental market.

Justin Jocewicz · Answer

Interesting experience @Brian Louderback.  I exclusively use postlets.com and mysmartmove.com and have had great luck in West Palm, Boynton and Boca.  In fact, my last rental went in 4 hours on a Sunday and I had 5 phone qualified tenants waiting to know if the first guy took it (which he did).

It may depend on price point and location.  With Craigslist, you have to consistently post between 10 and 2 every day for a couple of days.

Ariel O. · Answer

To me it sounds like you had a bad agent.

That being said you should be able to get a decent response rate through the Zillow network + Craigslist. Also take a look at padmapper.

Make sure to pre-qualify your tenants to save you a lot of grief and wasted time.

Travis Lloyd · Answer

@Mike X. as far as a 'quick and easy' prequalification, check their employment. I'm assuming that you have the applicants fill out an application that you then physically turn over to the HOA for full screening. Before handing it over, give their employer a call. Simply tell them that the applicant applied to rent an apartment from you, and you wanted to confirm that they do work there. Its a good start.

As far as doing it yourself or using an agent, I think the important question is are you managing it yourself or utilizing an agency? I would assume from your question that you are self managing. In that case, remember that an agent is only going to be involved until their check clears, so they are only interested in getting someone who can pass the vetting. You on the other hand have an interest in a tenant whom you can trust and work with. With that in mind, it might be better for you to be the person interviewing the applicants.

David O. · Answer

I never used postelets.com but is good to know! Thank you!

Brian Louderback · Answer

I had a horrible experience listing my rental by myself. I posted it on rentlinx, postlets and craigslist and only had 3-4 calls in a month. My property is located in a very desirable part of West Palm Beach, it was priced comparably, i had just renovated the house and it had all new everything, and i took awesome photos of it! I didn't understand what was going on so i contacted a realtor and had them list the house using all of my photos that i used previously. Right off the bat i had 3-4 showings a week and received multiple applications.

So in my opinion i would never do it again without a realtor. I guess people in this area only use realtors for their rental search? The only bad thing is you they will charge you 1 month rent for commission. Good thing for me i just got my real estate license.

Mike X. · Answer

Thanks for advice , still considering either DIY or using agent

Other question I have: my condo has HOA which does  credit,employment check before approving tenant and charges $100.

How can I do quick and dirty check to verify that tenant is qualified to  pass them over to

HOA for furher vetting?

Adrian Smude · Answer

I agree with what everyone else has said.  I'm filling my vacancies before they are empty.  I even have people calling my "We buy homes" bandit signs asking if we rent properties and if we have any available.  I've never needed to branch out past Craigslist with my rentals. I've never done anything with a condo, but my guess would be they aren't much harder to rent in today's market.  If you want to be more active and possibly make more $$ you could do Airbnb.

Use an RE agent or DIY to find tenant in South Florida ?

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