Trouble finding qualified tenants in RI + questions about SF

[David Sisson]

So, I'm purchasing my first single family as a rental. East Providence, quiet B neighborhood. 3 beds/2 bath. I'd say that the unit is C+ or B- quality, with the nicer homes in the neighborhood being the owner occupied. It's a big (double) lot. 

I'm struggling with finding tenants who are qualified AND interested. So far, the tenants who are interested, all have felonies and/or don't actually have the money to afford the property. I think I need a reality check on a few items and hoping someone can give some advice. Here's what I'm wondering about, somewhat based on tenant feedback:

1) Rent amount. I'm asking $1550/month. Pet an additional $50 (home lends itself well to a dog because of the big yard)

2) I'm asking the tenants to shovel snow and mow the lawn. (a tenant told me this is illegal, which is clearly not true for a SF, but ??)

3) I'm asking tenants to pay for water. (I'm honestly not sure I can ask for this - I just signed up for water in East Providence, and it seems that it's only property owners who can pay this bill, please advise.)

4) One tenant got VERY angry over my application (which is a standard RI MLS app) because it asks for bank information, including account number. Obviously, I want to see if they actually have a bank account, and see what the balance is, because this is part of the screening process. I've done this for tenants in the past - at my one multi. I don't want to scare off tenants w/the app, but I do want to get enough info to screen. The few apps I've received aren't filled out completely, so I'm not even getting what I want anyway.

In addition to all the above, I'm making the property non-smoking, requiring first month/1 month security deposit, $250 pet deposit, $40/adult for background check (I'd only do this when I'm pretty sure that I'd choose the tenant-gets paid straight to smartmove, so it's not like I'm making money on it). 

Anything above look out of place or wrong? I don't think I'm asking for too much, but since I've shown it about 20 times and only gotten 2 applications, not sure that I'm doing this right. 

[Frank Patalano]

I have 3 SF rentals in EP.

1. Rent seems fair. I haven't seen the property.

2. Snow and lawn is fine, especially on Single Families. 

3. Water. Water/sewer is expensive in EP. Could be $100-150 monthly. Its always a big question mark. Owner almost always pays. I write into the lease the right to charge the the tenant for excessive water cost. Maybe set it for anything over $150. Rent for slightly higher to cover.

4. I've never asked for bank info. I don't care if they have a bank account. Especially with today's online technology. 

Where are you listing the property? You could always pay a professional to get you a tenant. They usually charge a months rent or less.

The $250 pet deposit might actually be questionably illegal in RI. You can't charge a security deposit of more than 1 month's rent, and pet deposit would put you over that amount. I just charge $50 monthly for the pet and $50 for security. 

Sometimes charging a higher rent is the versus small fees. Some people think that you are nickel and diming them before they move in. It sounds like you are getting enough views perhaps it is something that you haven't considered. I had a hard time selling an EP house recently. The feedback that I got was no true master bedroom and no master bath. I decided not to rip out a wall to change that.

This is a hard time of year.

Hope this helps.