How long should it take to find a tenant?

[Mark Hayes]

How long should it take to find a tenant? My SFH in Northwest Arkansas was listed on all the major platforms (Zillow, Realtor, Facebook Marketplace, apartments.com, hotpads, etc...) in the last week in Jan 2024. It's now March, and still no tenant. I have thoroughly researched market rent in my area, and I've felt confident in the price up until recently. I tried reducing the rent by $25 a couple of weeks ago but I still don't have a tenant. There have been a few interested tenants, a couple of which I actually approved but then they ghosted me.

Now I'm starting to wonder if it's just seasonal or if there's something wrong with my property. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Benjamin Aaker]

Try not to worry too much about the place not renting. Seasons change and the market goes up and down. Look at your price, updates to the property, and marketing with the eye of a prospective tenant. Before you lower the price too much to get some warm body in there, consider what you are giving up. It might be worth it, but it might be better to make the property more appealing in some other way. Make sure you don't compromise your selection criteria, though it is a temptation. Better to have it vacant then have a bad tenant put in.