Good Tenants Hard to find

[Jesse Aiken]

So, I have a big beautiful newly renovated flat in a good location that I listed a little over a week ago. I have good pictures, a nice video (uncommon for my area), am priced below the competition, and have my listing on 5 different sites. I don't even bother with a sign in the yard because the calls that come from that are even worse. I have gotten over 80 contacts that have resulted in one showing scheduled (yes ONE) with the only prospect out of 80 that I think may be a good tenant (and she is from out of town) and remains to be seen whether or not she will even show up (in my experience 1 out of 2 don't show). I invest in Erie PA and this is why I have stopped my original plan of expanding in this area...the tenant base SUCKS if you want to have good properties and good tenants while getting a good return on investment. It seems that the most success in my area  is among investors in D-class neighborhoods with D-class properties that they buy for next to nothing and their tenant base is, you guessed it...D and F-class tenants. Makes things easier when you take the first warm body that doesn't have a recent felony and government assistance to pay low rents. Maybe I just don't want it enough, but I don't think that's it; I think it's a moral issue and I just don't feel good about it. A select few are having success with A-class and student housing (with risky high-end rents that may not be sustainable in this market), but it isn't common and it's a small market and shrinking. I'm still doing well with my investments, but its a struggle. Is the middle class disappearing, or exiting the rental market? IDC how much of a discount (unless they are going to give it to me) or how high the return is, it's just not worth it to me to be a junk dealer and I would rather invest in another area/niche or make money through business and invest more passively with a slightly lower return. Earlier today I saw a post in a local REI group offering a duplex for 15k...and I don't want it. If it was a good deal, they wouldn't be offering to others; It's junk with nothing but problems and headaches. I don't see how it can work if only 1 in 100 renters are good tenants with reasonable standards. Maybe its just my market, but I'm curious if anyone else is having the same problem?