All Forum Posts by: Jeff Schleyer

Jeff, can I ask, do you need to get $1800 in rent in order to cash flow?

A vacancy period of 1.5 months and only one applicant during that time makes me think the pricing may be significantly off base. Who is your key demographic? Are you envisioning a family renting it, or 4 students, or something else?

Larger sq ft and amount of bedrooms isn't always better. Are the smaller comps rented? 

Don't take this the wrong way, but the picture from the front makes your place look unprofessional and like a dump. I don't think the front of this house is anything special to see (I grew up in the city) so I would probably put your best picture forward and move that one back in the grouping, and maybe even retake it with the tacky "For Rent" sign gone or blotted out. Other thing is that according to Zillow you are on the very high end of this scale. Houses that don't rent, assuming there's an audience and no unreasonable barriers to entry (i.e 5 months rent in advance, 800 credit score, etc), lack perceived value for the price. So the people that see your house compare it to other houses, decide it's nothing special, and move on. 

The updates you've done look nice, overall the unit looks clean.

Keep in mind I'm not familiar with your market, so I'm just spitballing.

4 bedrooms is higher than average here (see much more 3 bedrooms) plus with only 1 bathroom, I can see that being a major deterrent. If I have enough household members that we need 4 bedrooms, I'd definitely want more than 1 bathroom.

Is it normal to not have grass in the outdoor area?

Have you considered allowing pets with a fee/deposit?

The kitchen seems small and inefficient. Which brings me back to the whole, if I have enough household members for a 4 bedroom, I need a larger kitchen!

if I was you I would replace some of the outdated lights with modern looking lights (maybe even ceilingsfans with lights), I would also consider having pets since it doesn't appear that you have carpet, I would also consider remove the old oil heaters with heat pumps or something more modern(since they make it look outdated and they are really expensive to fix), and if the place doesn't have air conditioning I would either include portable units or better yet add central heating and cooling, Also if I was you I would retake the pictures when it's a bit darker and not much glare and add some curtains and new blinds 

There are many possibilities, I would be interested to see the link as well.

Some of the things that come up as possible issues might be the rent amount, amount needed for move in more than average for area, policies (i.e. Are you accepting pets?). Is your unit missing amenities that other similar units have? Is your int located near but not actually *in* the desirable area?