I'm still having a very difficult time renting the other half of my duplex. This has been on going since mid-March. I've changed the ad, updated pictures and lowered the rent slightly and the results are the same. I'm convinced that the problem is simply a lack of qualified applicants or my ability to attract them. I'm tired of slogging through them looking for a needle in a haystack. I've never had it this difficult.

I've decided to get professional assistance. It will cost me a month's rent but at this point, it will be worth it if I can locate a decent tenant. I contacted my realtor today to send me the MLS paperwork. If this works, I may continue using the MLS to fill my vacancies. I have a friend of mine who fills their vacancies exclusively this way and I may begin doing this as well depending on how this goes.

Here's an example of what I'm getting based on application I got through Turbotenant. I just got this app today:

Credit Score: 488

Criminal History: 29 records found. All were felonies including a couple of times where he was impersonating a police officer.

Evictions: 1 record from 2016

We are yet to use one. The 3 times we let one bring someone (years apart) despite whst we told them they each brought the same marginally/undesirsble susp...uh, prospects.

A friend uses them exclusively and has not so good luck. She's a shrink and he's a dentist so they can take [and have) the hit.

I thought of doing that before I placed my last tenant. Slogging through all the miserable people to find one I can work with is the most detestable part of the business, for me. Otoh, someone ‘I can work with’ is such a smarmy term, I doubt a realtor would figure out what I want, lol!

You consider yourself a rather good judge of your applicants, but have you considered what it is like to be a well qualified applicant?

I like Ray's perspective on this.

I left my response on the post "Rented the Unit".

I have a trick that sometimes works here. When a get a "good" possible applicant who seems to be responsible, I tell them about my advanced payment program.

If my tenant has their rent paid (in my hands) by the 1st of the month, and they can do this for 12 straight months, then their 13th month is FREE!

To follow up with WMH,

if the place is near an employment center and a nicer place - contact HR and let them know you have a place.

WMH,

We're in Eastern PA right over the NJ border and about 50 miles north of Philly. There's an influx of people here from NJ/NY/Philly but they're generally commuting back to jobs in those areas as local employment does not pay as well. This area is attractive for these folks as it's cheaper to rent and buy here. However, the folks with big money would tend to live in a more suburban setting. I rented half of duplex to some people who relocated here from NYC. They wound up getting jobs here locally and their plan is to try to buy a house here. It took me about a 1.5 months to find and settle on them.

The city the rental is in is gentrifying in the downtown area but the outlying areas are still in transition. My building is in a nice neighborhood near the downtown but is not gentrified per se. There's a mix of people in the neighborhood. I'd say it's a B- type of area. By way of example, there's a young guy who bought a duplex next door who became a tax client. He's making about 80K annually. My neighbor on the other side of me is a local radio personality and he owns his house. I bought this place pretty cheaply and probably overimproved it for the type of applicants I'm getting.

The problem is the applicants. I've gotten nearly 400 completed pre-screening forms and no more than 15 of those at best were invited to showings. The main problems are: 1) insufficient income 2) evictions 3) scant job history 4) inability to prove 6 months rent paid 5) inability to provide backup for income claimed 6) Credit scores. I'll accept as low as 580 which is on the lower end of a "fair" score per Transunion and few even have a score that high.

The rent I'm asking is in line with area rents as well. I lowered it slightly hoping to get more bites.

In a nutshell, it's the applicant pool. My rooming house is in a different area in the same town. The tenants in my rooming house are equivalent to and in some instances better than these applicants. (I placed someone in the rooming house a few weeks ago with a 636 credit score). The rooming house is far easier to fill and remains full. A lot of that is a function of affordability. That too plays into this.

I just got a pre-screening form from a mother and daughter who relocated here from NYC who are coming to see it this weekend. Income looks good. This may be the one, but what I've found is that the better qualified tenants have no shortage of options even in a market as tight as this one.

If I was in a new town looking for a rental I might contact a realtor. If I now wanted to rent instead of own I would look on line. I don't like to be "steered" by someone into something that is not my taste. Might think the realtor was getting a bribe to steer me somewhere.

But I can see where people are more affluent and don't like to do things for themselves or meet people, might see apartment searching as work that is beneath them. Some folks might see that the realtor is the high class way to handle the search for another apartment and anything else would be beneath their dignity.

As someone who moved a lot with military, we often used realtors to find a rental. For someone relocating from a big city, a realtor makes sense.

I've gone 5 months carrying an apt through winter but there were crickets. W my starter 1 br I had over 200 inquiries and showed to 4.it's the market now.

I don't outright base my criteria on credit score. High medical debt and school loans can be explained, and it's more about the pattern. Does the report show they ditch one phone provider for another and owe the utility Co money, for example.

Having been in a re office I know agents can't be as selective as you might want them to be because it could come across as discrimination. If their take is one months rent or 12%, how hard are they going to work for you? Being a rental agent is no fun. Good luck.

GKARL

Just be sure that you get the final approval. I've seen a lot of really horrid tenants placed by property management companies. They don't care much as long as they get their commission.

Oregon:

sales 101-- location location location. your trying to sell BBQ briskets in the middle of a forest. If you can't or won't do it-- why did you buy the table to place the briquets on???

follow the program set up in your states for 20+ years. FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE-- EVERYTHING IS FREE.

From Jack Nicolson-- truth-- you can't handle the truth.

I'll apologise for saying what so many are thinking.