House on market for about 2 months, lower rent or not?! Tennessee

[Sharon Miller]

We had our house rented for 4 years for $1400 a month(Pet friendly), tenant moved out on May 5th. We had to Paint the whole house and fix the issues. Since that day, we had received some applications through Zillow but no one serious, we did also increase the rent fee to $1499. We are looking for 650 credit score with income 50K plus a year, we are trying to work with people, nothing set on stone. The house is on very good location but due to Pandemic, traffic is less than before. In addition, there are 4 other houses around our house going for rent by big corporations, and they are also out in the market for more than 30 days. 

We have people with 500 credit score schedule tours and tell us that they are working on their credit, even though we notify everyone about requirements before schedule.

Decreasing rent can increase traffic but little concern it may attract deal seekers and people with lower credit scores. 

Any suggestions? 

[Kaelyn Motzel]

Hey Sharon, for people with low credit, we require a higher deposit. If it's really low, sometimes we'll do a double deposit, and first and last months rent due prior to move in. Or ask for a co-signer if possible!! 

We have lowered rents between 10-15% because of the pandemic. We finally have units being filled much quicker now. Hope this helps!