Increasing rent for rental properties

[Kim Stuart]

Hi all

Question for those of you with experience on choosing rental properties to invest in. As I am looking through the list of properties my agent has provided me, I have noticed that there are a lot of properties on the MLS with "unit rent" prices provided. Assuming those are either properties with tenants currently living in there and their current rates (maybe the current property owner has had that property for awhile, and those rates reflect the rental value when they first purchased it) or it is possibly an average price based on the rental value in that area. In any case, would that be a deterrent in your decision and if not, what is the success rate or could you provide any success or failure stories or tips on how to raise the rental value of a property you acquired which involved taking over the leases of current tenants at lower than valued rental prices?

Regards,

Kim