The local market data available in your spreadsheet is interesting but it would be much more useful if you broke down pricing by type of rental unit, # of data points to garner a confidence of the data, average price per sqft.
Housing size: #bedrooms, #baths, sqft
Housing type: SFR, duplex, triplex, 4plex, >4units in complex
If that data was available, it would be a lot easier to determine what asking price I should list units for.
My best current method is
1. last years rent + inflation,
2.compared with HUD housing data which tells me the 40th percentile rent for the number of beds and baths, by county. This HUD data is for determining section 8 rental amounts, and since I target my properties and units at the 60% to 80% range of market rents (class B), I at least know I can charge more than the HUD rent. I also compare last years HUD data to the previous year to determine how much the market has gone up.
I also compare with local listings, including comparing amenities available. I charge just slightly less than units in large complexes with more amenities. Turns out some renters dont want to live in cookie cutter apartments, and will pay almost as much for my units without the amenities.
I also google for info on market rent trends
After all that,
I make the best educated guess for each unit/location that I can
More detailed data would be very helpful.
So far, my units have always rented for asking within a month, except units that entered the market in the winter, which rented when I dropped the price by $25/month. Those units, I leased just until summer, and then raised the rent by the $25 plus my educated guess yearly rent increase.
My yearly leases are all ending May 31. I have offered current tenants a 2% increase (pointing out that it is less than inflation) and 2/3 have decided to stay (so far, not all tenants have replied yet since I gave them until April 30 to decide) and some even thanked me for the less-than-inflation rent increase.
