What To Do When Landlords Refuse to Lower Their Asking Price

[Brad Larsen]

Hello All - here is a good topic for discussion.  In our business as a property management company, we have decided to take a hard look at a new policy of what to do with Landlords who refuse to lower the rental asking price of their home.  

As a company, we showcase vacant and move in ready single family homes under professional management for individual landlords.  We provide every single channel for marketing we can come up with, we include videos, we include Matterport 3D tours (when appropriate), and we have in house professional photography (seriously - a full time person on the payroll doing nothing but pics / video).  

So, IMO - it's not US as we have done everything we possibly can to market the homes.  Again, this is a vacant and made ready home that could be occupied at a moment's notice.   

We also send our landlords a marketing & activity update every Monday that includes 7 ideas on what they can do to get their home rented faster (which were ALL presented from prior to listing) as a refresher course.  The first being - reduce the asking price! 

In our experience, every home will rent for the right price.  In rentals, it's ONLY price.  I feel we can rent a crack house next to a grave yard sitting on a railroad track for the right price.  

Our dilemma is working with owners who flat out REFUSE to lower their asking price even after being vacant 60+ days, seeing the feedback or lack of activity, listening to our portfolio managers when they communicate that the only option is a price adjustment.....but yet they refuse to lower the asking price.

OK - the PM haters out there will say this should be OUR decision......that once that PM Agreement is signed.......We "own" that home.  In reality, that does not work.  We are agents of the Landlord and have to work with them on getting their permission for major things such as price adjustments.  

TO THE POINT:  We are adopting a cancellation policy.  At 90 days vacant on the market - we are sending our landlord a 30 day notice of termination.  At 120 days vacant on the market - we are cancelling services.  (There are always exceptions of course)

We are now putting this in writing to the owners from day one.  We are unsure if this is a wise policy, but we also feel that if owners are unwilling to listen to us, or simply do not understand how much they are losing with a vacancy, we are simply not a good fit for them.....and they us.

We are about to fire two landlords this week that if I told you their situation, you would shake your head and fire them too!  Thoughts from the masses?