Reasons Your Property Isn't Renting

Reasons Your Property Isn’t Renting

I worked as a leasing agent at a property management firm for almost 4 years. In the spring and summertime, it was pretty easy to rent out a property in Denver, Colorado. However, when fall and winter came, it became increasingly more difficult to get properties rented. Stressed out property owners would call me trying to figure out what they could do about their predicament. Almost 100% of the time it came down to these 3 main reasons. These may be the reasons your property isn’t renting out either!

Why Isn’t My Property Renting?

The top 3 reasons your property isn’t renting are

Location
Condition
Price.

Unfortunately, 1 of the 3 issues cannot be changed. However, the other 2 are problems you can easily do something about!

Let’s look at each of these reasons further. We will look at why each of these factors is important, how you can tell if this is the problem with your property, and how you can fix it.

Location

One of the reasons your property isn’t renting out might be because of its location. Have you considered that your rental property may not be in a very desirable area? You may need to do some extra research to figure out if the location is not a good one.

Finding a property in a location desirable to tenants is important. Ask yourself these questions about your property.

Is there a high crime rate?

Does it have a long commute to the nearest city?

Is it or is it not a trendy area?

What percentage of the properties are occupied by renters versus owners?

Is it the Location? How Do You Know?

Typically when the location is the issue, no one is calling on your listing.

You can also figure this out by checking out the other listings nearby. Are they renting out? How long are they taking to rent?

If there are more properties in your neighborhood that aren’t going very quickly, it may be the location.

Location Solution

Unfortunately, there isn’t much you can do about the location of your property.

BUT, before you consider giving up, see if you can do something about the other two issues. Every house has the potential to find a tenant. If location is the issue, you will have to create more desire in your property in other areas.

You may have to consider dropping the price or offering move-in discounts in order to create more interest. Or maybe updating your property to be the nicest house on the block will do the trick.

If location is the reason your property isn’t renting, then you will need to work harder to boost the condition or the price of the property.

Condition

The condition of the property is a huge factor in getting it rented out. The property can be in a great location, but if the condition is poor, no one will want to live there. That is why it is one of the top 3 reasons your property isn’t renting.

If you walked into a house and it smelled bad, and the bathrooms were really dated, would you want to live there? Probably not.

So, if that’s your property, you may want to consider fixing this. Tenants want a place where they feel comfortable. Not a place that feels dirty and old.

Is it the Condition? How Do You Know?

I’m sure you would know if your property is in bad condition, but maybe you’re not sure. Maybe you feel like it is a pretty reasonable place.

However, are there a lot of people calling on your listing, then coming to view the property, and then never calling back? Do they tour the property very quickly and leave without any comments? This is usually how you can tell if it is the condition.

Condition Solution

Luckily, if the condition is the issue you can do something about this! Maybe you need new carpets and paint. Or maybe your property could use some updating in the kitchen and bathrooms.

Try asking for feedback from the prospective tenants who have viewed it and didn’t apply to live there. You may be surprised to hear that everyone thought there was a strange smell in the basement!

Also, make sure your property is nice and clean when you start showing it. If the bathrooms are dirty and there’s tons of dust around the house will give off the vibe that it isn’t well taken care of. Always put your best foot forward during showings!

If you aren’t able to make the fixes necessary in order to get your property in rentable condition then you will need to reduce the price. If you reduce the price you may see that there are people who are willing to compromise on the old carpet and dated bathrooms.

If you make any updates to the house, be sure to mention them in your listing. Updates attract tenants!

Price

Price is typically the first thing that potential renters look at. If they see that a property is out of their price range, they won’t even consider it!

Also, if you are requiring tenants to have 2 to 3 times the monthly rental rate in income, it could be difficult for potential tenants to even qualify to live in your property.

Is it the Price? How Do You Know?

If the price is the issue with your property, you won’t get very many phone calls on your listing.

I used to coach landlords and tell them that if we don’t get a lot of serious interest in the first week, we need to lower the rent.

When tenants are looking for properties online, they will typically set a maximum rental rate into their parameters. If your property is above their maximum desired rate, they won’t even see it!

Occasionally you may have someone come to view it. But if they seem disappointed it’s probably because they thought the house would have some sort of a wow factor with such a high price.

Again, you can ask for feedback from the prospects who have come to view the property.

Another way you can figure out if the price is the reason your property isn’t renting is by checking on other listings in the area. What are comparable homes near yours asking for? Did one rent out recently? Ask them what they rented it for. You can also use tools like Rentometer to help set rental prices.

Price Solution

If the reason your property isn’t renting is the price, just lower it!

The biggest expense as a landlord is vacancy. You will end up paying for everything yourself until you find tenants: electricity, gas, water, the mortgage, insurance, etc.

No rent is worse than low rent. So bite the bullet and lower the rent so you can find tenants sooner.

Or if you are adamant about getting a higher rental rate you will need to update your property somehow. You will need to make it worth the price you are asking.

Location, Condition, and Price are Connected

Typically when one of these things is the reason your property isn’t renting you can fix the issue by changing one of the other two things.

If location is the problem then adjust the price or update the property.

When the condition is the problem you can lower the price as well.

If the price is the issue, you can update the property in order to validate the high rental rate.

Again, your biggest expense as a landlord is vacancy. So don’t let your property sit vacant for long! Prospective tenants will see the number of days on the market and assume something is wrong with the property.