Trying to fill a vacancy- What am I doing wrong?

[Emily McCabe]

I bought my first property last year, and this is my first time trying to fill a vacant unit. I listed the 3-bedroom unit for rent over a month ago. I think it's priced appropriately, and I posted it a number of places online. I get, on average, 5 messages every day from people who are "interested". We've had 12 people scheduled for group showings, but only 5 have showed up. Of those 5, 3 have filled out applications, and I've approved 2 of them. Both people who were "approved" then failed to come up with the security deposit. What am I doing wrong here? I know it's a bad time of year to fill a vacancy, but is it normal to have this much trouble? I've already lowered the price once and it seemed to make no difference in the amount of interest. I'm getting very nervous, as this property is a triplex and we're renovating another unit, so 2/3 units are vacant right now, and I'm paying electric bills for both of those to keep pipes from freezing. I'm just looking for any advice or encouragement from more experienced landlords. Thanks!