If I were looking for a place to rent, the last thing I would do is give a sob story. At least this forum of LL's aren't going to fall for it!

I have a really good group of people inquiring about my MTRs.

By tomorrow I'll have them (all 3) filled and another resident already on deck for 2 of them.

Double what the rent would have been as a regular, SFH rental.

I sent three “pay or quit” notices in the past week.

One was to a section 8 tenant. Her portion of the rent increased significantly his month since she is now working. Her response was “I don’t have to pay rent”! She will end paying when she realizes she will loose the section 8 voucher if she is evicted.

The second notice went to a tenant that has been short a couple hundred dollars a month for the past couple months. He said he “will catch up next month”. He will end up being evicted.

Have a house that I've been renting out for 7 years to the same family. They finally pulled their money together and purchased a house--3 generations of family members.

They were paying the same rent $2,500 a month. But over the last 7-8 years, the new market rent should be between $4,500 to $5,500 per month. No way am I going to charge that price. I've owned this home since 1978, some 46 years. But 8 years ago I completely remodeled the place. Windows, Roof, Kitchen, baths, stucco coating, flooring, painting, appliances, etc.

So I put it on the rental market for a good lower rate than market, $3,600, for a fast rental, not $4995 as brokers se-guested. I got the same issues as you, drek. Those who want what they can't have. No savings, bad credit and short term employment.

So I pulled my ad. Relisted the rental. Now I was saying my asking price was $5,500 per month, with discounts for those who pre pay and have stellar credit. Now those who come by have money, long term employment and excellent credit.

DJ, congrats on filling all plus back-ups!

Still considering MTR. I need to figure out which place would be best and who to target.

There are fewer folks who want to move between Halloween and New Years. It's colder, kids are settled in school, etc.

That said, there are some and your job is to find them. What kinds of units are these: blue collar, white collar, executive? "Nice" doesn't tell me much.

Be sure you're advertising toward your target tenant type. Are you looking for anything specific like traveling nurses (if so, be sure you have ads in and around your local hospitals)?

I recently filled a place for 6 months at a 25% rent premium over the normal monthly rental price. Two well-qualified tenants with credit scores over 680, which would make them eligible to buy a house once they have a higher income. When they contacted me and filled out my pre-screening questionnaire I was pretty thrilled, but then they said they were looking for something with a shorter than 1-year lease term. I agreed to 6 months and with the rent bump it will come out to 7.5 months of rent. Assuming all goes well, they are welcome to renew their lease. By that time they'll be used to paying the higher rent price, so if they don't say anything about it, neither will I. Worst case is we go back to the regular monthly rate and I'm ahead 1.5 months of rent for the year.

One other thing that sweetened the pot: they paid 3 months of the lease in advance at move in and just made their first normal payment for December. Everything is going well so far.

In summary: Consider offering flexible leasing terms if it benefits you sufficiently. There are good people who need flexibility. Just don't fall for sob stories that offer you no benefit and only put a high-risk tenant in place.

SID---Nice rental for me is---

1. You can walk the neighborhood day or night without fear

2. Owners tend to stay for 8-10 years before they move

3. Most of the people living in this neighborhood are employed or self-employed

DJ,

How and where do you market for MTR's? Are you targeting a certain group, such as visiting or traveling nurses?

melinda,

It's the economy. The super smart analysts say inflation and maxxed credit cards have finally caught up with the middle class. They don't have any money.

The last 3 homes we leased out required 30 day payment plans for the move in money - and we only have one month for the Rent Discount Program Fee (no sec deposit) and prorated or even one WEEK on the PayDayPlan.

The last two In Home Visits last week don't have ANY money, even tho we ask about funds before doing the visit.

One SAYS he has money but I did a quick drive by and it's a no based on junk, muddy ruts in the yard, etc.

Lots of factors at play.