All Forum Posts by: Adriana Diaz

It's overpriced.

@Adriana Diaz Have you tried Section8? usually there is almost 60-70% pool of renters from this category and rents are at least market level or above.

@Adriana Diaz Price rules all in the market of rentals. As long as its priced right you should take no time to rent. 

I recognize that this is an answer to a question you didn't ask but, sell the property.  $175k for, even, $1700 rent is not a good deal.  Sell the property and take the loss.  Most forms of education cost money so no biggy.

@Adriana Diaz not sure what process you followed with your PM/agent, but it seems like something is missing. I see a lot of folks have asked you for a link to the listing, but I don't think one has been provided yet? This tells me either you're ignoring us (unlikely) or there is no listing.

I don't know how in this day and age, someone showing properties won't put it on FB/Zillow (Zillow then propagates to Trulia and another site), Apartments.com, etc. If your PM can't follow this simple task, then sure, price could be a problem, but exposure could be too.

When checking rents in the area I do 3 things -- Rentometer, Craigslist to validate (looking for comps), and then FB to confirm my validation.

I have a C property in a C area, and I was astounded at the rent (higher than I thought it would be). I looked under every corner, put it up, and sure enough, had traffic for days coming through. Selected tenants very quickly because there was good competition for the area.

I'd check those 3, see if a listing exists. Do you really think in this day and age, signs and flyers are going to get you a tenant? I used to use the sign-in-the-window method and I typically got tire kickers. I think of 20 calls, I showed the property to one person who was doing exactly that. From my super limited experience, its a waste. I'd rather screen online, ask my follow-up questions to confirm someone is a fit (and not a tire kicker), and get worthy candidates in. If you are doing all of those above and not getting any interest, then yes, its likely price.

Got a link? We'd love to look for you and see what's going on.

I find the best response rate from house-for-rent signs on the lawn (with a box of flyers with pics of the interior and other info), and on the main street two blocks away, directing them to the house.  Way more interest that way than with anything else.  If that's legal in your neighborhood, try it.

I agree with you @John Underwood Facebook marketplace has been one of the best ways we have found for marketing.

@Adriana Diaz

I live in Grand Prairie, TX next to Mansfield and have 5 rentals in this area. Here’s what I do and it works great when I need tenants out here. I list my rentals on Zillow and include 10 pics. They send the listing out to Trulia and hot pads and other sites. It’s all for free. Do it on Zillow manager. It’s all free. You can put a description in and say whatever you want. The rental market is hot out here and I usually have dozens of inquiries the first couple days I list my properties ...with emails and text messages. Then I meet with a few of them and have the ones I’m interested in apply online with Zillow. It costs them $29 for their whole background check which you get back in a couple minutes. This whole process is free! And I get a huge response every tine. I just listed a four bedroom property in ft worth and had 4 families wanting it that day. They all had deposit $ and were ready to move in on the spot. One family offered me an extra $200 if I picked them. And said they’d pay me an extra $50/month on top of the listed $1,400/month rent.

Let me know if I can help you out or if you have questions. You can send me the addresses and I can give you my opinion on your price point. I know the area pretty well and know what the going rent is and demand.

Another option is a management company. I use a great one for one of my ft worth properties. They are great and will do everything for you. I think they collect half of your first months rent to find people. But they are big and find people fast. Let me know if you want to talk to them I can link you up.

Your other option is sec 8 housing. I have one tenant that is on housing. Tarrant County pays me $1,075/month rent and they pay the rest above and beyond that. There aren’t enough houses for rent on housing. Both ft worth housing and Tarrant County are so impacted they can’t accept any more applications or people because they don’t have enough homes for rent on housing. My management company deals with sec 8 housing so that’s an option. They pay on time every month and they tend to be lifers. So less turnover for you.

Let me know if I can help. I know it must be frustrating trying to do this out of state and having it sit empty without rent for so long.

What's the relationship with your PM like? I agree prices and pictures matter, however, when investing out of area its your PM that is perhaps the most important. Do what you can to build a strong personal partnership with them as they can make or break your business and investment. I have known property managers who ignore the clients of lower priced listings (regardless of price and pictures) in favor of higher priced ones. Then there are others who can update you on the rental market and feed you deals to meet that demand. If you can take a personal interest in your team (agent, PM, etc...) they will be more likely to take a personal interest in you. If you haven't met them in person, that probably should be your next investment. If you can take care of them, they will take care of you. Good luck!

Hi Addie,

Great advice here indeed. One thing that struck me about your post is that you didn't receive a lot of detailed feedback from your agent, especially in the first weeks of the listing.

My experience, even with good PMs and out-of-state management, is you have to be on top of them during vacancy. Don't hesitate to ask for the exact feedback from every showing, check comps on the price, review the pics and description yourself, etc. because no one has your interest in mind as much as you do. :)