All Forum Posts by: Betsy Yang

Thanks everyone for the input!  We really appreciate it.

For context, this condo is in MD near DC, just off a major highway. We have come down on price since the initial listing, in part because it's been slow and the winter slump is real. We checked other rentals on Zillow, both active listings and other comparable condos in the same development as ours, our rent appears to be competitive.

Our agent says we have been getting showings every week but no applications (mind you, we have already switched agents once during this process). We believe we were referred to this agent because of her expertise in this geographical area but communication has been erratic and she has been increasingly "noisy" regarding the state of the unit.  If we want to change agents again, what would be the ideal timing to make that transition?  We welcome any recommendations in the MD/DC area, either directly from folks here or a link to another subforum.

As far as the cabinets themselves, they look fine in the pictures (attaching a photo of one side of the kitchen to give a sense). Our PM didn't put a number on it but has said replacement is the only practical course of action. We can't reface them, it's basically just a laminate front, painting is an option but it would run us about $500 and we're not sure how it would look. On top of that, we're replacing the range hood, so would we be better off holding out, making a deal on the rent with this potential applicant, doing the painting, or biting the bullet and doing an outright replacement?

My family has been trying to rent out a condo for a few months now. We have an agent helping us but the leads have not been panning out. The agent has advised us repeatedly that the kitchen is lacking and needs to be tidied up for us to have a chance. We're in the process of changing out the appliances, but we have been further advised that the cabinets therein also need attention and that prospective tenants have commented about it. We have a potential applicant, and we're debating whether to use these further renovations as an incentive to get them to apply and lease. The applicant did not ask about the cabinets at first, that only came up later on in the conversation. Also, all of this contact has been through our agent, so we're not sure if the agent is putting words in this person's mouth to try to make us take action. We are pretty certain the cabinet replacement won't be cheap, and we're not sure if it will contribute that much to the overall value of the property. We haven't been all that impressed with the agent's performance either, and are on the fence about finding someone else to represent us. Admittedly, this is a slow time for rentals, so we're not that surprised interest has been low, but is it worth it to put in this kind of effort to convince someone to commit to a lease? We really want to get this property rented out ASAP, it's been laying fallow for a while now, we just want to make sure we're not making impulsive decisions out of desperation or fatigue.

Dear All,

Could anyone give me some suggestions about Williamsburg VA? How's the rental market and house market there?

Thanks

Betsy