It is a numbers game... And it is not easy to find a match. There is always an interested “other” party, but do you want to settle? If you settle, how long will the relationship last? Will your property and assets suffer damage if you choose unwisely? Will you end up with a long term headache? Will you get lucky???
Depending on your goals, chances are that you know what you are looking for. When you are young and inexperienced, you may just be trying to get lucky… When you are older, but not necessarily wiser, you may just want to avoid headaches… Regardless of where you are in your investing career, the wise landlord does not settle and does not compromise their gut.
If you are like me, you are finding today’s rental market a bit soft. Prospects are making the usual inquiries, and often times they like what they see, but that is when business-as-usual comes to a screeching halt-
“I like your unit, but I have 12 more to look at. I will get back to you.”
We are in the business of renting apartments, not just showing apartments. So when this happens, what do you do? Renovate? Clean? Lower the rent? Include heat or other amenities? Change or otherwise improve your advertising? The answer is yes. Do it all, but do not compromise your tenant screening. A wise landlord once told me that every time I compromise my gut in the selection of a tenant, that it would come back to bite me. He was right. Only twice have I done it, and while I have been involved in many evictions, only twice have I evicted tenants that I screened.
In order to be successful in a soft rental market, you need to maximize your numbers. How many inquiries are you fielding per day? Are you available to show your unit when the prospects want to see it? Are you overlooking good prospects, by pre-screening too strictly? The next time that you have a unit to rent, remember that renting an apartment is like dating- in order to get lucky you have to meet many different players.
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