I have not changed tenants lately. I am assuming that the demand for rentals has increased due to the struggling housing market (ie. foreclosures etc.). Has anyone noticed a more saturated market of renters lately?
Fewer renters around here. Too many nice houses being offered for rent because they won’t sell. Tenants associated in any way with the construction or housing industry are losing their jobs and havng to move out.
I have not yet received any applications from anyone who is getting foreclosed on. I don’t know where they are going, but they aren’t coming to me.
Even the sludge pool of dopers and losers is greatly reduced-- which certainly makes being a landlord with a vacancy more pleasant. However, vacancies are taking a lot longer to fill, and the majority of inquiries are from tenants who want short term while they look to buy.
Demand is great here in Raleigh for my low income rentals. Leased up a mobile home last month before I was even close to being finished with it. They looked at it with dead bugs everywhere from the raid I just sprayed, floors were ripped up and had to play hopscotch across the trusses to get to the bedrooms, but they didn’t care. They needed a cheap place to rent. Historically, low income rentals are always in demand, no matter where the economy is heading, that is one of many reasons I deal with the crap associated with them. People always need a cheap place to live, and always will.
In the summer doldrums with 5 clean and vacant units, 2 dirty and vacant. This happens every July and December. But I hate it no less.
I want to try a German website to get European tourists for next July, and a snowbird website to get Canadians for winter.
I just hate vacancies, they are like a cancer on the business. I know it is normal to have a certain percentage vacant–5-20%. Hotels plan for vacancies. It just seems wrong. Maybe I’ll barricade the street in front of my office, THAT’LL make them come in the door.
Furnishedowner
I am getting nominal rental increases from my Section 8 tenants and from one of my mainstream tenants that was below market average. For all my other rentals, I have renewed leases without an increase.
In my SC market (Myrtle Beach to Pawleys Island), there are almost 15000 listed properties on the MLS. With so much retail competition, sellers are not getting their price, so the owners are converting their properties to rentals. Right now my market is flooded with available rental properties. Landlords are offering incentives to potential tenants (mostly one month free rent) in addition to reduced rental rates just to fill vacancies.
The rental markets in both Dallas and Austin are much better this year, as agreed by other LLs in the areas. We get more calls from better qualified people because they can’t buy houses anymore–this is esp. true for rentals w/ higher rents.
Also, we get quite a few calls from renters whose LLs are being foreclosed on–in fact, we’re renting one of our rentals to such a couple. (Many of those LLs were CA speculators.)
We raise the rent every year anyway, but it’s been easier to do this year.
We love this market and hope it will continue for a long time 
We’ve had increased demand here for the past several months. There is more demand for rentals now than there has been in the past 5 years! I only have ONE rentable unit vacant (with a couple more being readied) and people are renting them as fast as I can get them ready. I am also getting a lot of calls (and new tenants) from people who have lost their home to foreclosure.
There is even beginning to be a little pricing power. I just raised the rent on a 2-bedroom house by $50 per month and didn’t have any trouble getting it rented.
Mike
Thanks. Lots of good information here. :beer
I have seen a small increase in demand and have been able to raise rents for the first time in about 4 years.
we are getting better tenants than we did a year or so ago, but we have had to go down on rents because there is so much inventory available in our market
Philly rental demand is great! I place an ad in a once a week circulating newspaper and recieve more tenants than I can handle. I can’t get em ready fast enough.
demand is high here in Pittsburgh as well,… I’ve been getting calls within 10 minutes of posting a place on Craigs list … my new technique - if i have notice of an upcoming vacancy - has been to serach craig’s list for comparable units…and then price mine a little ABOVE the highest available unit, just to see what happens… (my plan being to drop to market within 3 days if I dont get any action ) 2 times in a row I have snagged a tenant for ABOVE market.
One extreme example- -renting a 3bed/2 bath apt to old friends for $750 (a deal for sure …but they took it last winter when I had no people calling) they just moved out, and I raised the rent to $1050 - just to see what would happen - 4 calls in 2 days,and rented it !!!
And the higher asking rent gets me a better tennant.
Important to mentino that I make my places nicer than the avg place - hard wood, nice bagthrooms and kitchens,and instead of using the same old off white I use a tan and light greenish color on all of my places so they have a little style…