Should I raise the rent?

[Matthew John]

Hey guys! I am a new investor and just purchased my first Duplex in Metro Detroit. Currently the top unit is leased for 10 more months at $550 and $25 for water (I pay for water) and tenant pays heat/electric. The bottom unit is still occupied by the previous owner who is moving out in about 10 days. I was told my the previous owner & by my real estate agent that the bottom unit would rent for about $795. With my $865 PITI, I'd cash flow about $430ish before factoring in expenses. So today I was getting anxious and just wanted to put some feelers out in the market so I listed the property for rent even though I can't do showings until the current owner moves out. I noticed other similar houses were going for more and looked worse. I listed it for $900, $105 higher than the suggested price. In about 5 hours, I had received 60 messages from people asking about the property! I told everyone I can't show it for another 10 days or so and it wouldn't be ready till the end of the month. My question is... Should I raise the rent a little more to bump up my potential cash flow? Has anyone had success doing this? Since the upper unit tenant has been using the previous owner's wifi and doesn't have internet, I was thinking of having internet installed for $40/m in the bottom unit. I could then charge the upper unit tenant $25-$30/m for wifi and that might be the extra incentive to charge $1000 for the bottom unit. Curious to get everyone's thoughts! Thank you

[Allen Lopez]

@Matthew John I have always prefer that all expenses go to them. But that’s just my preference. Keeps money stable, plus you reduce potential complaints if the network is down, or not working.