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11 Ways to Determine Rent for an Upcoming Vacancy

February 21, 2023 by Marco Santarelli

How to Determine Rent for an Upcoming Vacancy

The challenge of setting the appropriate rent price for a home that is currently unoccupied can be a hard one for landlords and property managers. Setting the rent too high can lead to longer vacancy periods and missed rental income while setting the rent too low can lead to less profit and underestimating the value of the property. On the one hand, setting the rent too high can lead to longer vacancy periods and missed rental income.

It is essential to have a strong awareness of the local rental market as well as the elements that influence rental prices in order to avoid these errors and make the most out of your income. In this piece, we will discuss several efficient methods for determining the rent for an upcoming vacancy, such as completing market research, studying the attributes of the property, and evaluating the level of competition in the market.

11 Ways to Determine Rent for an Upcoming Vacancy

1.) If the vacating tenant has been a long-term tenant, and you had a good relationship, simply ask him. I bet over the years he's followed the neighborhood and knows from friends and fellow renters. He can tell you if he thinks you should charge more or less. Feedback from your vacating residents should be ONE piece of the info you assemble to determine.

2.) The quickest way to figure out the market rent is to put your tenant's “shopping” hat on and start looking. I observe area rentals (signs, newspapers, etc.), see how they are priced, and watch to see how long they stay vacant. Many times, I'll even stop by to get up close to see the condition of the investment property. In every case, one that is priced right and sits for very long has “issues”.

3.) Another resource is a property manager with local rentals (and a website) who knows what they're doing. They make the most money by pricing at the top of the market and usually have little interest in discounting unless a property sits vacant for too long.  I usually price mine 2% to 5% below their prices.

The caveat with property managers is that some have owners that force them to overprice. That happens fairly often, but it is usually pretty obvious.

4.) Be careful not to use an apartment as a comparable (“comp”) for a single-family home (or visa versa). Instead, I'd try to find another single-family home in the same neighborhood as your income property.

5.) Maybe, there aren't any single-family homes on the market to serve as comps. But, were there any in the past few months or years? Is there a way you could track those down by reviewing old newspapers or more importantly, your notes on what homes have been rented for?

6.) Check comps on www.craigslist.org.

7.) Do you feel that your current long-term tenant was paying the market rate when he moved in? I believe that a general guide to rental increase should be 3% to 5% per year. Use this amount as a starting point. (This rule of thumb may not apply in cities experiencing a large number of lay-offs.)

8.) Take a property manager to lunch. Maybe, if you said the right things in the right way over lunch, a property manager could give you her opinion — and maybe even back it up with some comps on properties she manages.

9.) A trick I have used is to always set the rent a little too high. If the phone does not ring with decent quality renters, I quickly lower it to $50 or $75, or so. If the phone starts ringing then, you can be pretty sure that you have the right amount.

If you find someone terrific and they tell you they would love your house but can only pay $50 less than what you're asking, you can always say yes. Be flexible and listen to market feedback.

10.) The key for me is not to wait until you get notice to vacate to begin your pricing research. Go through the rental ads from good sources weekly. That way you'll be on top of things when the time comes.

11.) Don't be overly concerned with the best rent amount. More importantly, keep turnover to a minimum. Lost time is more valuable than a slightly higher rental amount. This money can never be recouped. One lost month can cost more than leaving the rent too low.

Advertising, curb appeal, repairs, and even some paint can all be done during the current lease. It should only take a day or two maximum for cleaning and painting once they leave.

Play up the return of their deposit for super cleanliness at move-out. Remind your current tenant their lease ends August 31, not September 1. Your new lease should start September 1.

Bonus Tip: How to Build Value When Showing Rentals

When showing properties to prospective tenants, you must build value in the eyes of the prospect. Three ways you can build value are:

  1. Building interest or excitement in the property,
  2. Building trust in you, the landlord or property manager, and
  3. Building a connection between the prospect and the property.

If you focus on each of these points, you WILL rent your property faster.

– – –

Known to thousands as “Mr. Landlord”, Jeffrey Taylor is the author of a dozen publications, books, and reports on various aspects of rental property management.

Filed Under: Property Management, Real Estate Investing Tagged With: Property Management, Real Estate Investing, rental property

Is the Fed’s QE3 Good for the Housing Market?

September 25, 2012 by Marco Santarelli

Last week, the Federal Reserve announced a new round of “quantitative easing,” or QE3, meaning the Federal Reserve will  fire up the printing presses to buy $40 billion worth of  mortgage-backed securities (MBS) every month on an open-ended basis in an effort to further drive down historically low interest rates.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said QE3 should put downward pressure on mortgage rates, helping the housing market.  By lowering borrowing costs and spurring  banks to lend more, the Fed hopes to induce more spending and eventually set  the stage for more hiring.  The Fed tied its bond-purchase program explicitly to jobs, saying it will keep buying bonds until it sees a substantial improvement  in the labor market.

Who benefits from QE3?

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Economy, Financing, Housing Market, Real Estate Investing Tagged With: Economy, Federal Reserve, Financing, Housing Market, Mortgage-Backed Securities, QE3, Real Estate Investing, rental property

More Evidence That Home Prices Have Hit Bottom

September 11, 2012 by Marco Santarelli

In each of the last three years, home prices have increased in the spring and summer, when more people are buying homes, before giving back all of those gains and then some in the fall and winter, when activity cools.

But it is beginning to look like that might not happen this year, absent a major stumble for the economy.

Home prices in July were up by 3.8% from one year ago, the largest year-over-year jump in six years. Moreover, prices have shot up by 9.6% from February, when they registered their lowest levels of the housing downturn, according to CoreLogic data released Tuesday.

This adds evidence to the case that U.S. home prices may have hit bottom earlier this year. Even though prices will soften in the autumn, “we have a much better supply and demand dynamic” than in previous years, says Mark Fleming, chief economist at CoreLogic.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Economy, Housing Market, Real Estate Investing Tagged With: Economy, Housing Bottom, Housing Market, Real Estate Investing, rental property, Shadow Inventory

Just How Cheap is US Housing?

September 5, 2012 by Marco Santarelli

Consider Minneapolis, Minn.  You could’ve bought, out of foreclosure, a three-bedroom, two-bath house of 1,356 square feet on a quarter acre lot for about $29,000. It needed a lot of work, but houses in the neighborhood recently sold for $75,000.

Your mortgage would be under $100 per month and about the same in taxes. You could’ve got $1,000 in rent. Even if you had to put $40,000 in the house, your gross yield (cap rate) would’ve been 17.4% on the property.

This is one example sleuthed by my friend Gary Gibson. “The house had mold damage and needed a lot of work,” he wrote. “Beautiful yard, however.”

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Economy, Growth Markets, Housing Market, Real Estate Investing Tagged With: Cheap Housing, Economy, Housing Affordability, Housing Market, National Housing, Real Estate Investing, Rental Housing, rental property, US Housing, USA Housing Market

Are Rental Homes the New Asset Class for Wall Street?

August 20, 2012 by Marco Santarelli

The wizards of wall street are back with a new twist.

Certain venture capital companies are promoting a “new” asset class to be sold as securities… single family rental homes!

Remember the last time Wall Street created a new asset class? That’s right, they packaged up single family mortgages and sold them as securities. And, we all know what happens when bad government policy and Wall Street financial experts conspire to take advantage of Main Street… don’t we?

Yes, you’re reading this correctly. Instead of packaging up and selling the underlying mortgage as a security, which led to the 2008 economic collapse, Wall Street is packaging up the rental home itself as a publicly traded REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust). Like a mutual fund, a REIT is a so-called “professionally managed” collective investment scheme that pools money from many investors to purchase securities.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Economy, Real Estate Investing, Real Estate Investments Tagged With: Asset Class, Real Estate Investing, Rental Homes, rental property, Wall Street

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