Atlas property not renting

[Adam Peralto]

Good morning from Hawaii,

I currently have 1 rental property in Birmingham, Al. My last tenant got evicted for not paying rent. After getting the property refurbished, it finally has been posted for rent. However, it's been nearly 60 days and still hasn't rented out. According to Atlas, there's been some applications, but all have been denied. 

I'm starting to feel discouraged, and wondering if anyone has any recommendations (wait it out or sell), or if this is normal(doesn't seem like it)?

Thanks,

Adam

[Drew Sygit]

@Adam Peralto 

More & more owners are posting here on BP about their rentals sitting vacant too long.

Which means owners aren't paying attention to the rental market - which is slowing, causing Days On Market (DOM) to increase:(

Take a look at the graph below from ShowMojo, comparing average DOM for 2018-2024.

DOM are now about 40% longer than they were 2 years ago.

Many owners also don't seem to be aware of real estate market fundamentals, such as seasonal effects:
1) After September, when kids go back to school, there's a noticeable dip in activity in both the sales & rentals.
2) After Halloween, there's another noticeable dip. Tenants, "go into Holiday-mode" and start spending disposable income (and racking up their credit cards) on Thanksgiving feasts & trips, Xmas presents & trips, and finally NYE plans.
3) Income Tax Refund checks start being received towards the end of February and corresponding, the rental market starts picking up again as tenants payoff their “Holiday Hangovers".
4) Spring Fever starts, sometime in April-May, causing both sales & rental markets to start picking up. Market activity continues to increase and peaks June-August when kids are out of school and parents don't have to worry about mid-term school transfers.

Finally, many owners only look at PMC pricing, so have never asked their PMCs enough questions about rental property marketing, showings, prospect screening and what information about all of it will be provided to them.

Here’s some questions we hope it’s not too late to ask:

• What websites does your property show up on when you Google the address?
  - The best PMCs advertise properties on around 30 websites.
  - NOTE: FB Marketplace is difficult due to their strict policies (they really do NOT want PMCs advertising there)
• How are webviews, inquiries, emails and calls tracked, if at all?
• How are showings handled – agent-showings, open-house showings or self-showings?
  - How are they tracked?
• How do interested tenant prospects apply?
• What’s the application fee?
• What is the PMC’s specific application screening process?
  - What documents do they require applicants to submit & why?
• What feedback & data can your PMC consistently supply to you?
• When have you tested your PMC’s processes
  - Click on whatever links you find on their ads to schedule a showing and start an application to see what happens!
  - Many PMCs have processes designed to weed out non-serious prospects, but often these processes aren't adapted to the specific marketplace or changing markets.
• Since the PMC processes are NOT working, what are they doing to change it to improve results?

No PMC is perfect, so don’t rush to fire them until you have a serious conversation with them about all the above. How they respond and what they’re willing to adjust will tell you if it’s time for a change.