When buying a property with no tennants in place, how long does it typically take you to find new tennants? I know this varies from market to market, building to building, but I’d just like to see what different people experience.
Once i’m done with any work, usually about a week of advertising (sign on the front lawn) and I have 20 or so applicants to chose from.
Keith
It usually takes me about a month to find a qualified tenant. On average, I get about 30 to 40 calls per day from potential tenants. However, here in Ohio we’re scraping the bottom of the barrel for tenants. Most have significant criminal histories, poor employment histories, or a history of evictions. I’m averaging one eviction per month even with a thorough screening. On the good side, I’m making some money on the application fees!!!
Mike
Oh yeah…most of my tenants are from the local military base…I use the base housing office some but most of the renters saw the lawn sign rather than my housing office ad…
Keith
One question I had… I just bought my second rental property (hooray). I have gotten 5 applicants this week (I tell you what… a $3 K-Mart sign in the window, and a posting on Craigslist have gotten me so many phone calls, I don’t see why to place any expensive ads in a big newspaper! but anyway…).
How do I turn down the other applicants? I think I found the one I want (She’s a Section 8 tenant… my first time with one… But you can have Section 8 tenants that are just as bad, or even better, than regular tenants, so what the heck).
How do I tell the other people no? What do you tell them if they ask “Why not me?” I mean, all their credit and histories were similar (in Baltimore City, so not dealing with 740 FICO scores here), so what do you usually tell the also rans that is safe from being sued?
Thanks.
Certainly you chose the best over-all applicant…? I just tell them that I leased it to a more qualified applicant. Keep all of your paperwork (background checks, credit reports, etc.)…
Keith
Well, of course… I just had other candidates who were also “good,” with decent credit/rental history/etc. The last time I did this (my first rental, back on October 05), I had 5 applications, and one was good (been a good renter thus far), and the others were so God awful, it wasn’t tough to tell them “I found someone better.”