All Forum Posts by: Melissa Faraias

You mentioned that you are getting inquiries but no applications. Those two are related but only thru showings. You have not mentioned how many showings you have had. If you have had a lot of showing but no applications, first I will ask if you have been following up with the people that looked at it. Ask them why they chose not to rent it. They might tell you that there is something wrong with the place, or the neighbor's place across the street is a crack house so they don't want to live there, or...... They might also tell you that they found a cheaper place.

If you are getting a lot of inquiries but no showings than it is most likely you are too high on price.

I've had over 25 inquiries but only 4 people showed up to see the place. One filled out the application but refused to do the credit and background check so i rejected him. The rest did not respond to my follow up messages/calls.

0 Votes

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Thank you all for the great ideas. I am going to implement some of them and wait for one more week before I either drop the price or hand it over to a realtor/property manager.

0 Votes

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Quote from @Lilian Smith:

Hi Melissa!

First, a disclaimer. I have not managed rentals in quite a few years, and I do not own any RE at this time. I do, however, hold a RE license, I have sold resale and new build, and I have several years of experience in property management, both in multifamily and single family homes. Here's what I would do if I were in your situation today: 1- If you compete with multifamily properties, due to proximity, price, and/or size, I would call those close to your property (pretending to be potential tenant) and and see what they are doing to get their units rented. Are they offering any incentives for immediate move-in? Are they more/less updated? Think about how can you make your property a no brainer when having to decide between an apartment and a home. 2-Contact homeowners who are not in your close proximity, so they do not feel threatened, and ask them what are they seeing in the market, and how are they are adjusting (most likely you are not the only one who is experiencing this). 3- If you decide to work with a real estate agent, use one that works with rentals, and better yet, someone who specializes in property management as well, because they will help you weed out bad applicants. 4- This last one I do not have experience with, but I would definitely try it if my rental was near a hospital: Partner with a company that finds housing for traveling nurses. Best of luck, you've got this!

Great ideas! I am going to implement these.

0 Votes

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Quote from @Tom McNutt:

What’s the listing? I can take a look and tell you if I see any immediate issues as a local.

Thank you so much Tom. I sent you a message. I appreciate this so much.

0 Votes

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Quote from @Greg M.:

Quote from @Ke Nan Wang:

If you find a good prospect and you want to place them, I would even recommend 1st month free if they sign a lease today. I'm mean the chances are you aren't gonna rent it for that 1st month anyway so it's just sounds like a very good deal to the prospect.

I've always felt this was risky with a new tenant. You don't know what type of tenant they're going to be and you're giving them the first month free.

Maybe offer their 12th month free with the caveat that the prior 11 months rent must have been paid on time and no lease violations.

I had a special going with $200 off the first month's rent if the lease was signed by a given date. But once I lowered the rent amount, I took away the special.

0 Votes

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Quote from @Shawn Bhatti:

Quote from @Adam Bartomeo:

The biggest issue will be price, especially if there are a lot of listings. You have to give the tenant a reason to come see yours and not the others. With a saturated market it will also take longer than normal to rent. You should also have it listed everywhere you can. But, it sounds like a pricing issue...

As Adam said, pricing is the biggest issue. It is a moving target and challenging so you aren't the only one dealing with these challenges!

What software are you using to price your rentals these days?

I used a combination of propstream, zillow, rentometer, and propwire. There are a lot of active rentals on the market and some are better and cheaper than mine even though I think my rent is below market value.

1 Vote

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Quote from @Chris Seveney:

@Melissa Faraias

Get a local agent / property manager would be my recommendation

Also have you been in the property ? How are potential tenants able to view the property?

I had one friend who tried this and finally went to go visit the property and it had holes in the walls etc that the contractor never fixed but they did not know it until they visited

I have not been in the property but my local contractor did all the repairs and I did a walkthrough via facetime and viewed pictures of the home. He also took pictures for me, which I must admit are not very good. I am looking for a photographer in Bluffton to retake the pictures. My contractor also does the showings with me on facetime.

0 Votes

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Hello BP community,

I am an out-of-state newbie investor with a rental that is currently on the market in Bluffton SC. I have posted the listing on all major sites like Zillow, FB marketplace, apartments.com, Craigslist, RentRedi and have had my contractor put flyers all over the place. I am getting inquiries on the rental but so far nobody has filled out the application. It's been on the market for 3 weeks now and I'm wondering how to get it moving. We have advertised an open house for the upcoming weekend but so far no inquiries. I dropped the rental rate last week and it is now below market rate but there are currently lots of active rentals on the market. Looking for some advice on what to do next? Should I had it over to a local realtor or property manager or drop the price further and continue for another week? I have three rentals in Houston, which rented quickly so I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong here. Thank you for any advice that you can give me.

2 Votes

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Thank you all for your response. The 4K is what we deemed to be their fault. We have had to cover several thousands in normal wear and tear because we don't have good videos or a move in condition report when they moved in. The property was not given to them in this condition and that is for sure. This is a lesson learned where I will be sure to document the condition of the unit well at move in and do regular checks throughout the year. Thank you all so much for all your valuable insights.

0 Votes

Houston, Texas

Thank you all for your responses. I received a text message from one of them yesterday that they considered all the damage as normal wear and tear and plan to fight to get their security deposit back. So now I'm not sure what to do. The damages are clearly beyond normal wear and tear and I do believe that they are oblivious since when the handed the keys over they told us that they had maintained the unit in impeccable condition. We are trying to decide the next course of action.

0 Votes

Houston, Texas

All Forum Posts by: Melissa Faraias

Melissa Faraias has started 19 posts and replied 61 times.

Post: My rental won't rent. What are my next steps?

Post: My rental won't rent. What are my next steps?

Post: My rental won't rent. What are my next steps?

Post: My rental won't rent. What are my next steps?

Post: My rental won't rent. What are my next steps?

Post: My rental won't rent. What are my next steps?

Post: My rental won't rent. What are my next steps?

Post: My rental won't rent. What are my next steps?

Post: Previous Tenants damaged rental, blocked Landlord - Please advise

Post: Previous Tenants damaged rental, blocked Landlord - Please advise