Now its a few days before new years and i am stuck with an empty property during the holidays working to refill it. 

That would have been difficult to do today since today is a federal holiday, so this actually may work out better for both of you.

Right now there does seem to be some "soft spots" in the market however, but it could be attributed to the holidays etc. 

Are the holidays to blame?

If the property is priced within reason, the realtor should have had multiple showings by now, despite the fact we were in the holiday season.If a realtor is not getting showings, they should communicate it. 

Anyone who hasn't paid by the 5th is called every day until we begin the eviction process on or around the 15th depending on weekends or holidays.

so on the second of the month (assuming not weekend or holiday) I send them notice saying rent was do on the 1st and if not received by the eod of 5th a late fee must be included to be considered paid in full.

This is also a hard time of year to place tenants but it will get easier now that the holidays are over.

One benefit of SEC 8 is that more of them move in winter months than non-SEC 8 tenants, but still fewer people even in SEC 8 move over the holidays.  

Account Closed I'm new to this game and have basically zero experience, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night so....I've been doing a bunch of research on the long term population and economic trends of all the major metro areas and I have to say that Raleigh's profile is stellar.