House Renting Advice?

[Loves Vintage]

I bought a house a few yeas ago, at the height of the market, blah, blah, blah . . . . I then got married, and we bought another house, where we now live. I've been renting out the first house. Rent almost covers mortgage, taxes, insurance, repairs. My first tenant was great and left the place very clean. My second tenants were not so great, left the place a mess, etc. We've spent the last month cleaning and painting. (And, even though I finally hired people to do this, it still took a FULL MONTH to get it all done.)

So, now we are firmly in the holiday season, which is probably not the best time to find tenants. I am starting to worry!

In the past, I've advertised on Craigslist, at local colleges and with a sign out front. The college advertising has produced no results. In the past, I've gotten a lot of responses from CL, but that was also when less people were advertising on CL. Now, there are tons of realtors advertising on there, so my ad is getting lost in the mix.

My question: if you rent now, how did you find your current place? Any ideas of non-traditional places to advertise? I'm thinking of putting a one page ad together and posting at grocery stores and libraries. Anywhere else???

 

[JewelFreak]

Local divisions of national or int'l businesses are a possible source if you have those nearby -- you'd need to do it through a realtor probably. During the late 80s-early 90s recession we lived in San Francisco & couldn't sell our condo in Amsterdam, so we rented it. Terrible market, like now. Eventually we found a realtor who got a contract with the local branch of Toshiba -- they furnished it & used it for employees on temporary assignments.

Maybe you could go to the college housing people directly, too. Often there are visiting profs or sometimes they over-accept new students & need extra space for them.

Besides CL, try looking for other For Rent sites. You could get a realtor to list it, many do, especially now. It's worth the commission to have it occupied.

Good luck!

--- Laurie

 

[zoebartlett]

Hi LV! I hope you don't mind the long post. I bolded the parts that answer your questions, for easier reading. Feel free to skip over the mumbo-jumbo if you'd like.

We own a condo that we've rented out to the same person for a couple of years now. (We're currently renting another condo that we live in a couple towns over from the one we own.) Our situation is a little different than yours in that we moved out of state for a year and when we left our condo that we own, we needed to rent it out pretty quickly.

We couldn't manage the property from where we had moved to (we had no experience either), so we hired a property management company to do that for us. They were in charge of advertising, screening potential tenants, drawing up a lease, and then overseeing some cosmetic work that our new tenant wanted to do to the place to make it more homey for herself. In answer to your second question, the management co. put ads in little no-name papers (you know, the free papers you get in the mail), fliers, and those home magazines you can get for free in shops and restaurants at times. I gave them names of all local papers I wanted to advertise in as well, and they took care of that.

Now that we're back, we could manage the condo ourselves, but my husband has no interest in becoming a landlord. We've had some communication issues with the management co., but for now, we're stuck with them. We've found that there aren't many companies or realtors who will oversee an individual condo unit. They prefer to work with whole complexes because there's not a lot of money in managing one unit.

When we came back to this area, we had decided not to move back to the condo we own because we've really outgrown it. We decided to look in our city because we had specific criteria we were focusing on. My husband and I have longish commutes in completely opposite directions, so we needed to be close to a particular highway. We looked online, drove around on our own, and spoke to a few realtors. In the end, we found our current condo by driving past another development we were looking at, just to see what else was on the road. The model (rental office) was open, so we went in, spoke with the realtor there, and she showed us 2 units. We chose one within 30 minutes. It was pretty easy.

I hope that helps! Sorry for the novel.

 

[zoebartlett]

Oh one more idea...

When you advertised at colleges, was it with fliers or online? I ask because when I was in grad school, I looked for an apartment by going to a website similar to CL but only specific to UNH. In their housing section, there were always tons of listings for sublets, apts., and houses. It was a great way to advertise for rentals and find places to live. I'm not sure if there's anything like that near you but it might be worth checking out.

 

[chemgirl]

I recently had to move for work and am currently renting. When I was looking, I checked CL, other online classified sites, and rental sites. I checked every sight several times per day so no adds would get lost in the crowd. A few friends who are renting did the same thing to find their place.

I think its important to look at how your add compares to the others. I found myself gravitating towards adds with a lot of quality pictures. Its also important to know if your house is priced properly. I ignored adds that were priced really low, or really high for the area. A really low price left me thinking "what's wrong with it?" and I scoffed at owners who priced their properties significantly above market value. A property that's priced a little high is fine if it looks really nice. We were willing to pay more for a house that looked like the owners really cared about it. We did see some that had great pictures and were priced a bit high, but looked average in person. We wrote off those property owners. We were seeing several houses per day, so it was easy to compare and choose the best one.

I think the key is making your add stand out and then delivering with a great house.

ETA: If you want to keep your house as a rental and are fine with it becoming a "student house" then by all means rent to students. If you want to keep it in good shape don't do it. You're asking for damage if you get 3+ students in one place. Even nice and quiet kids will leave junk around, ignore their dishes, and destroy the floors if they're left unaccountable for the first time.

 

[iheartscience]

I think now is just a bad time for rentals, honestly. Most places end their leases in the summer months, especially if you live in an area with a lot of students. I was just looking for several months for a place to rent and there was hardly anything on the market. It got so bad I was tempted to just buy a house, but we're trying to hold out until we're sure what neighborhood we want to live in! We just signed a lease on a house last week, though, so there are definitely renters looking now.

If you rent now, how did you find your current place?

I found our newest place on a realty company's website, but the agent had also put it on Craigslist.

Any ideas of non-traditional places to advertise? I'm thinking of putting a one page ad together and posting at grocery stores and libraries.

I really think Craigslist is the best bet, but back when I was renting in college I used to look for apartments in the local weekly paper, and on their website. My college also had a website with listings for properties for rent.

 

[iheartscience]

I recently had to move for work and am currently renting. When I was looking, I checked CL, other online classified sites, and rental sites. I checked every sight several times per day so no adds would get lost in the crowd. A few friends who are renting did the same thing to find their place.

I think its important to look at how your add compares to the others. I found myself gravitating towards adds with a lot of quality pictures. Its also important to know if your house is priced properly. I ignored adds that were priced really low, or really high for the area. A really low price left me thinking "what's wrong with it?" and I scoffed at owners who priced their properties significantly above market value. A property that's priced a little high is fine if it looks really nice. We were willing to pay more for a house that looked like the owners really cared about it. We did see some that had great pictures and were priced a bit high, but looked average in person. We wrote off those property owners. We were seeing several houses per day, so it was easy to compare and choose the best one.

I think the key is making your add stand out and then delivering with a great house.

ETA: If you want to keep your house as a rental and are fine with it becoming a "student house" then by all means rent to students. If you want to keep it in good shape don't do it. You're asking for damage if you get 3+ students in one place. Even nice and quiet kids will leave junk around, ignore their dishes, and destroy the floors if they're left unaccountable for the first time.

Ditto all of this, especially the price! I actually looked at the place we ended up renting several weeks ago but it was priced too high so I passed. I told the agent that I liked it but it was just too pricey, and he said that the owners were trying to cover their mortgage, which was why the price was what it was. Well I'm not the owner, so that's not my problem! The owners realized they were overpriced and kept dropping the price in $50 increments until I snagged it for $150 less per month than the original price. So definitely compare your house to other rentals as far as price and amenities and consider dropping the price if necessary.

Another thing we did was sign a 15 month lease, so that if we want to move at the end of the lease it'll be in a better market for us to find a place to either rent or buy and for the owners to rent their place out. So if you do find a renter maybe do a 6 month lease with an option to renew for a full year in June or July?

 

[Miss Sparkly]

We drove for hours around the neighborhoods that were of interest to us each weekend. If we found someplace that looked good we would snap a photo and call on it once we got back. I hate craigslist only because my emails to sellers, etc never go through.

eta: Dealbreakers for us included not having AC, not having a fenced yard, the attitude of the landlords and the way that payment was accepted. We found one house that we loved but the owner would only accept our deposit and rent in cash. I tried to negotiate by saying that I would pay rent two weeks early if they would allow check and she flat out refused. We RAN away from her! I also noticed that our priorities changed when we sold our house and began renting. Many of the extras didn't matter as much as how big it was, the bathrooms, AC, etc. We were very lucky to find an amazing house with hardwood, tile, marble, etc but those were not our main goals.

 

[Loves Vintage]

Thank you everyone for the thoughtful advice!

Re: college rentals. I am not inclined to rent to students because, though we are near schools, this is very much a family neighborhood. My neighbors had some complaints about my last tenants (which they told me about after they moved out), and I felt horrible! I really like the neighbors there. When I lived there, they were all very sweet, extremely friendly, and so I don't want to disappoint them either. And, of course, I do not want to have the condition of the house deteriorate any further. Have I mentioned that I love this house. It was the first house I bought, all on my own (excepting my condo, which I did not love). I digress. So, yes, visiting professors or gradute students would be ideal, but undergrad students, not so much.

Laurie, That's an interesting idea, but I'm afraid I'm probably not close enough to any large corporations. I think we may wind up going with a realtor after trying for some time on our own again. I did use a realtor for our first tenant. The same realtor that I've used for all of my purchases and sales. I adore her, but I wasn't totally happy with her for the rental stuff because I know she really just wants to sell the place, and there were some communication issues last time around. Finding someone new would be tough for me.

Zoe, Thanks for your response. I totally understand your DH's sentiments on not wanting to be a landlord. I do not want to be one either! My DH, on the other hand, wants to be a landlord just slightly more than he'd want to pay a management company. I have to agree it is better for us in the long-run, and DH is quite handy, so it's where we are at the moment. We used to have a little local paper that was delivered to all homes, but they are no longer publishing. Sigh. I will see about posting in the local newspaper. Task for Monday!

Chemgirl, Wow, it sounds like you have a lot of properties available for rent in your area! I do think I have some nice photos posted. I don't know what more I could do to make my property stand out. I think I will make a spreadsheet of all properties in my town that are comparable and will compare amenities and prices to see if I'm at all off. I am charging the same price that I've rented the house for for the past 2.5 years (same price for both prior tenants) so I don't think I'm off-base.

Thing2of2, Thanks for your response. I know what you mean about people pricing to cover their mortgage! I have definitely seen that for other listings. There is a house that is very comparable to mine, smaller, but slightly better neighborhood, that is $300 more than mine. I've also seen smallish houses, in much better neighborhoods than mine, for almost 2X as much as mine! Those owners, for sure, are hoping to cover their mortgages. I really think I am pretty realistic about the market rate. I think your idea to re-time the end-date of the lease is really an excellent suggestion. This last lease would have ended in March, but the tenants stayed on month-to-month. I'm thinking though, maybe I drop the rent by $100, and require a 16 month lease for the reduced rental rate! Assuming a January start date, that would put both parties in a spring market at the end of the lease. Hmmm. I could also try advertising it for $100 less and then seeing whether I get an increased response.

MissSparkly, Thanks for your feedback. Seeing your cute doggie in your avatar reminds me that I am also willing to accept pets, which lots of owners don't, so I think that sets me apart to some extent. We do have a fenced yard. And, I'm happy to rent to responsible dog owners. When I lived there, I had three greyhounds.

*******
I should add that I have gotten some responses to my ad, but none of them very good. I will google people, and if they have been, for example, convicted of a crime, then I just don't respond to them. Does that make me a terrible person??? I am a very trusting and kind-hearted person, but I have learned a lot in my prior efforts to rent this house. I have had people tell me outright lies. I've had people lie on written applications. I really, really, really don't have the energy for it.

 

[JewelFreak]

That makes you a smart person, not a terrible one, LV. We all wish we could help people out, but your first responsibility is to your family & that includes investments like this. You want to be sure you've got reliable tenants in there & certainly avoid the nightmares that rental laws can create if things go sour. I really feel for the exasperation you're going through; not fun! Hang in there, it will rent -- and you're approaching it intelligently so you'll have renters who work out for you and the neighbors.

--- Laurie

 

[Amys Bling]

That makes you a smart person, not a terrible one, LV. We all wish we could help people out, but your first responsibility is to your family & that includes investments like this. You want to be sure you've got reliable tenants in there & certainly avoid the nightmares that rental laws can create if things go sour. I really feel for the exasperation you're going through; not fun! Hang in there, it will rent -- and you're approaching it intelligently so you'll have renters who work out for you and the neighbors.

--- Laurie

Totally agree. I find that I am a very kind, welcoming, and accepting person- but this is your rental property and has a lot of money tied into it- and you respect your neighbors and want you home to be cared for. That doesn't make you a terrible person....

 

[mary poppins]

Someone I know got good tenants through a military housing website. Not sure which website or if you need to be affiliated with the military to post a listing on the site, but it could be worth researching. Good luck!

 

[makemepretty]

My sister always looks on Craigslist and the local paper for rentals.

Be very careful when listing who you won't rent to, in fact, don't put that in writing or tell the person why you won't rent to them. My sister has two little boys(toddlers) and was pregnant and is single. Well, one lady told her she wouldn't rent to her because she had small children. The house had new white carpet. She got in so much trouble! My sister turned her in and she(the lady) now has to take classes because it's against the law to refuse to rent to someone with children unless you are a retirement community.

I think it's your house, you should have the say who you rent to but be careful. I thought it was horrible that my sister got the lady in trouble because she was just being honest. Just a warning, people can be spiteful.

 

[Loves Vintage]

Oh, thanks for the good advice, MakeMePretty! They actually give some information about that on Craigslist and advise people that they can't put in their ads that they won't rent to families with children. I was aware of that, and actually, would be quite happy to rent to a family. The neighbors on each side have small kids, so I think it would be great to have kids around the same age.

I don't think there are any requirements that I rent to someone with a criminal background. I was actually searching on CL and see that lots of management companies require criminal background checks. I think it is probably best not to reply at all. I mean, I would feel worse telling someone that I won't show them the house because they were convicted of identity theft than I would feel if I just ignore them. And, trust me, I feel BAD ignoring people's e-mails!!

AmysBling and JewelFreak - Thanks for the support! This is hard! I think I need to put my DH in charge of showings. I am a big softie, and he's, uhm, not. Haha.

MaryPoppins - Great idea! Looking into Coast Guard now!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

We are the renters rather than the landlord and found our house on CL, but listed by an agency rather than a private individual and because of this, it also came up when I did a google search (I would do searches +"for rent" +"zip code" and find homes around here for rent). This is something to keep in mind if you can't find a tenant. As a tenant, I prefer an agency to a landlord, but not everyone is that way. An agency is just easier and if there is a problem, I can call them, but other than that, they leave us be.

You may be able to put your home up on Zillow as for rent... they have some unusual options - like you can list it as a "make me move."

I'm not sure where you live, but if possible avoid putting up anything in the library. I say this because there A LOT of weirdos that hang out at libraries... I've seen this first hand and also talked to people who have concurred. Often when people have no place to go, they go there!

 

[Miss Sparkly]

Are you going to go through any credit check agency? We were in the middle of our short-sale with our house and made sure to be up front and honest about it to each potential landlord. If they just looked at our credit score and not our history I don't think we would have had a place to rent as the ONLY bad item on our credit is the short sale and four missed house payments.

I joke with DH that landlords should charge a kid deposit as they can be a lot more destructive than pets

What about doing a move in special of $99 (or something like that) for the first months rent? The cost of moving+rent+deposit can really eat away at cash flow.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Oh, thanks for the good advice, MakeMePretty! They actually give some information about that on Craigslist and advise people that they can't put in their ads that they won't rent to families with children. I was aware of that, and actually, would be quite happy to rent to a family. The neighbors on each side have small kids, so I think it would be great to have kids around the same age.

I don't think there are any requirements that I rent to someone with a criminal background. I was actually searching on CL and see that lots of management companies require criminal background checks. I think it is probably best not to reply at all. I mean, I would feel worse telling someone that I won't show them the house because they were convicted of identity theft than I would feel if I just ignore them. And, trust me, I feel BAD ignoring people's e-mails!!

AmysBling and JewelFreak - Thanks for the support! This is hard! I think I need to put my DH in charge of showings. I am a big softie, and he's, uhm, not. Haha.

MaryPoppins - Great idea! Looking into Coast Guard now!

Most require background checks. You're under no obligation to rent to registered offenders and I know that our current agency and the previous landlord both wouldn't rent to them, but didn't mention that in writing, but did say they would do a check.

Re: rent. Yes, be sure your place is a good price. We found a house that was IDENTICAL to our home that was $650 more. I called the realtor and ended up laughing when she told me the price. We apparently pay a good price for our home. There is one right by us that's listed as "below market value," but the rental is the same price we pay. If you enter the rental address in at Zillow.com, it'll tell you what the rent should be compared to similar houses around the area.

 

[distracts]

If there's a medical school, med students are a good bet, as are residents if there's a hospital nearby. They'll barely ever be home to bother your neighbors! My parents used to rent their guesthouse, pretty much always to residents at the nearby hospital. We found them just by talking to neighbors about people they knew who were looking to move into the neighborhood.