Houston Real Estate Highlights in August(* asterisk denotes that the “Harvey effect” has been removed): Single-family home sales rose 7.6 percent year-over-year, with 5,844 units sold*;Days on Market (DOM) for single-family homes declined slightly to 49 days;Total property sales jumped 36.8 percent, with 9,978 units sold;Total dollar volume increased 40.1 percent to $2.86 billion;The single-family home median price rose 3.0 percent to $236,870, reaching an August high;The single-family home average price also achieved an August record, rising 1.9 percent to $300,670;Single-family homes months of inventory was at a 4.1-months supply, down from 4.3 months last August and equal to the national level;Townhome/condominium sales rose 12.3 percent year-over-year, with 457 units sold in 2018 compared to 407 one year earlier*;Leases of single-family homes rose 7.6 percent with the average rent up 3.4 percent to $1,926*;Volume of townhome/condominium leases fell 8.6 percent with the average rent up 5.5 percent to $1,639*HAR https://www.har.com/content/newsroom?

Lease options?

You have to honor the lease though.

Then submit the lease agreement to the lender to show income.

To set the stage, here are a few key points:Property:2 story townhouse2 bed / 2.5 bathMostly carpet18 month old (yep, its brand new)Situation:Nobody was hurt to my understandingTenant did not have rental insurance even though it was required in the lease per my property managerTenant admitted, in writing, they caused the fire.Kitchen fire that burned the kitchen completely and I have smoke damage throughout. 

Your best bet is to not renew their lease, then match the quality of your rental to those renting for $1700, and find a new tenant.

Have you thought about doing Lease Options?

I personally would use software that tracks tenants, leases, repairs, maintenance requests, accounting, etc.

@Jessica Wood If the tenant hasn't paid rent AND utilities that tenant is supposed to pay are cutoff then the property is considered abandoned as per our lease. 

We are inserting a "no twerking on the toilets" clause in our leases.