Quote from @Cory St. Esprit:
Have a 2 bedroom, 1 bath fully furnished apartment in Beaver Falls, PA (35 minutes northwest of Pittsburgh). We full renovated the apartment in 2023. Tenant is moving out (thankfully) and we have an opening for April 1. I have it posted for $850.00 a month on Zillow, Apartments, Facebook, and Craigslist (when I say fully furnished, I mean everything including pots, pans, etc.). We were trying to help out a friend of a friend get out of a bad situation, blah blah blah. Anyways, I'm getting a lot of inquiries but nothing is sticking. We're showing it a lot but no one following through. Bigger Pockets comps says it should be $895, but I've been considering going down to $775-$800. I've looked various sites and feel $850 was fair, but maybe it's not?
This time of year is awful. Once April hits it's a lot easier. General information as an agent that I follow applies to rentals as well.
1. No inquiries no showings no applications: Your pictures likely stink, your apartment may be mislisted, your price is probably way too high. Everything in your presentation and pricing is likely bad. OR (possibly in your case) there's just no market for what you're offering where you are offering it.
2. Inquiries, no showings, no applications: Your pricing is probably a little high, but not crazy high. You should review your pictures and marketing presentation, but it's likely OK. What you are offering (price/amentities) is likely not as good as your competition.
3. Inquiries, showings, no applications: Pricing and marketing are good. Something is off when people come to see the place. Either it looks nothing like the pictures, or they expected better in some other way. You must collect feedback from showings or you won't figure it out.
4. All of the above going well: Great job, but if you're getting blown up with requests and showings and applications it means you probably priced your place too low and you should consider increasing the asking the next time.
A healthy price will generate a lot of inquiries, but only one of two applications in the first couple week.
If something sits for longer than 2 weeks in prime leasing season you should consider adjusting price, marketing package, or easy to change amenities (appliances, include window AC, dishwasher, etc. you really need to review competing rentals and see what they include). Off season like we are in now (but right at the end of it) it's not uncommon for things to sit for 4+ weeks. Most landlords in Pittsburgh only end leases May through September (I do that). So people are just now deciding to renew or look for somewhere else.
I hope that's helpful. Leasing isn't a perfect science, some places that I think aren't great lease right away and some that I think will go fast take more than a month. It's 70% what you do and 30% luck of the draw with who shows up.
