Seeking advice marketing my previous primary as a rental!

[Taylor Brown]

I recently purchased a new home with the lady and am hoping to turn my previous townhouse into a rental. I've posted to Zillow, FB Marketplace, and Avail (and therefore its syndicate sites) and have had lots of views and saves on the Zillow statistics, but only one inquiry/tour requested. It's a higher priced rent but very desired location, updated, and compares favorably to others listed in the area --- and still priced competitively. However, I cannot afford to go 2 months with vacancy. Mortgage is $3k / mo so it should be able to cash flow well once inhabited. 

Would love advice from those with experience on how/where to better market my home to get quality tenants in place quickly. 

Here is the listing - https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2312-Thornton-Rd-A-Austin...

Thanks in advance for your opinions and words of wisdom!

[Theresa Harris]

Pull down the listing and see what platforms are popular in your area, then list it there. It is a nice home, but you are likely limited with who will rent a 2 bed, 2.5 bath townhome for $4200 a month.  Also look at how much the house has increased in price-if it has increased a lot, you may want to sell it to avoid paying capital gains which will kick in if you sell it a few years down the road.

[Conner Olsen]

Quote from @Taylor Brown:

I recently purchased a new home with the lady and am hoping to turn my previous townhouse into a rental. I've posted to Zillow, FB Marketplace, and Avail (and therefore its syndicate sites) and have had lots of views and saves on the Zillow statistics, but only one inquiry/tour requested. It's a higher priced rent but very desired location, updated, and compares favorably to others listed in the area --- and still priced competitively. However, I cannot afford to go 2 months with vacancy. Mortgage is $3k / mo so it should be able to cash flow well once inhabited. 

Would love advice from those with experience on how/where to better market my home to get quality tenants in place quickly. 

Here is the listing - https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2312-Thornton-Rd-A-Austin...

Thanks in advance for your opinions and words of wisdom!

I'd drop the price every week $50-$100 until you get it rented. Depending on the activity you can be more or less aggressive with it. You also need to consider that once someone signs a lease, they typically won't move in for 2-4 weeks.

[Kristine Ann]

Gorgeous photos!  Is it furnished? might want to specify either way.

just out of curiosity, you mention it is owner managed in your first sentence. Is that the main selling point you want to highlight? 

I’d take off available June 8th also. I’d focus on talking about the features and location. I don’t think you said what school district it is. If it’s a good school district, you might want to make that prominent in your description. 

[Joe Scaparra]

My two cents.

The PRO: Location is Nice!  Layout and Amenities look enticing!  Includes Garage!

Cons:   Not much demand for a 4k two bedroom property.  

If your property was in a downtown high rise, walking distance to the Action then you would have a demographic willing to pay for it.  Your property appeals to neither a growing family (too small) or the young professional still seeking fun (not within walking).

Here is the MILLION DOLLAR question:   If you were buying an investment property, would this be one you would buy.  So many people try to convert a property they originally never considered as a pure investment property into an investment property.  Sometimes it can work but this is not one of those times.

Ask yourself first who is the target market?  What percent of would be renters make up that market.  You have a high end 2 bedroom and although it is nice it is lacking a wow factor that would sway a decision to pay 4k in rent.

Inflation is killing you.  New car payments are killing your tenants.  Food cost, Insurance cost, Drinking cost, eating out cost are all going up.  People are finally looking at ways to cut back on expenses and exorbitant housing cost is one of the first places that can significantly have an affect on one's budget.  This scenario doesn't bode well for a 4k, 2 bedroom townhome in a nice location but not the hot spot where the action is walkable.

Sell if you can and look for a better opportunity to invest.

I have 20 rentable units.......all considerable lower cost than yours and I am finding it harder to keep the rents I have now.   The environment has changed significantly over the last year.  Be ready to hunker down, more crap coming.

Sorry for the blunt message, but I tell it like i see it and as a  69yr old, ol'fart no sense in trying to tell something to someone that just might hurt them more in the long run.  I hope the best for you.