Realtor or continue to finding a tenant DIY?

[Janice R.]

Hi BPer's !

My great tenant left at the end of August. I have advertised our 1bd/1ba 850sq ft condo (Alexandria VA, a few long blocks from a Metro, minutes from major highways) all through August using Postlet, AHRN (military) and Craigslist. I've had inquiries in Craigslist but they don't followup after I give the criteria. One was good but he bailed as I was waiting in the lobby - he looked at the building and texted me that it wouldn't work (harsh!). There are 2 other 1/1 condos for rent right now - both handled by realtors. My rent is in the middle of the other condos.

I think I'm forced to use a realtor at this point.  Any thoughts?  

I have one now and we used him several times in sell and buy transactions.   But I know that agents don't get very much revenue from rentals. On the other hand, losing a month of rent or more is significant for a landlord.  

Please, I like realtors!  Should I just go with my regular agent or find one that likes rental listings?

[Ken P.]

If you've used Postlets and Craigslist and had limited success attracting inquiries, I'd question whether there is something that could be greatly improved with the listing, with the rent, or with the condo itself.  

For the listing, if the apartment shows great, do your photos capture the beauty of your unit?  If you spend a little getting professional photos taken, you'll have them for subsequent listings, which may be better than paying a month rent up front to have a realtor rent it for you once.  

For the rent, have you checked on rentometer to make sure the rent you're asking for is reasonable?  Just looking at other condos in the same building probably isn't looking far enough afield.  

As for the condition of the unit vs your competitors, are there any competitor properties with onsite offices that you can visit to see what you're up against?  Even for individual listings by small scale owners, which you probably don't want to see in person by pretending to be a renter, you can still call and get an idea of the amenities vs price for your direct competitors.  

Good luck!