FRBO
I own a condo in Greenpoint that I am trying to rent out. I’ve had it listed with one of the major agencies around here for the last six weeks and nothing. I’m thinking about renting it out myself, in the interest of attracting potential renters who maybe don’t want to pay a fee. Is…
I own a condo in Greenpoint that I am trying to rent out. I’ve had it listed with one of the major agencies around here for the last six weeks and nothing. I’m thinking about renting it out myself, in the interest of attracting potential renters who maybe don’t want to pay a fee. Is there any way of promoting the rental outside of advertising it on Craigslist that I should do? Anything else I should look out for?
You are welcome to email me and i will be happy to give you a second perspective on the marketing of your property and suggestions on how to go by owner if you choose to.
OoI am a broker and disagree about it being slow or needing to offer a month free. We have rented out studios, 1 bedrooms, 2 bedrooms and crazy duplexes in the last 30 days and the only flexibility our owners have needed to show has been on extending the move in date after christmas. All the apartments have been full fee and split evenly between private owners and mgmt companies. It is a slower sales season so you better believe i give rentals my full attention.
To the original poster, there is no magic to it. Have great photos, easy access and a good salesperson who is not creepy representing your property aggressively and it will rent.
is there anyone actually looking to rent in greenpoint willing to pay full broker fees? would seem to me everyone looks on craigslist looking for no fees. other than that, nyt is the only thing worth paying. hold an open house if you need to move it.
A lot of good advice above. Here are some other thoughts you may consider:
-Offer 1/2 month free, and give it in terms of time, not money. Meaning, give the new tenant 2 free weeks but have the lease start 2 weeks later. So really your lease reads for 12 months; but the actual term that the tenants are IN the apartment is for 12 months
2 weeks. For a few reasons–
-it keeps your rent roll higher should you re-fi or sell your property,
-when you re-rent the property you can adjust the increases by percent of rent,
-this also backs your next lease date closer to spring’s busy season.
If a broker brings you a qualified tenant, you can give them a commission worth 1/2 month’s value , which lessens the burden on the tenant.
You could offer to pay the cooking gas and hot water. You probably pay hot water anyway, but it sounds more inclusive when expressly stated. (rent includes heat, hot water, and cooking gas!!) Gas is not that expensive.
Another thought would be to offer it to 3 brokers, only. Give them the keys/access,
and they can co-broke w/ other brokers, post their own ads, etc. There’s nothing
like a little healthy competition, eh?
Also, by using brokers that you know and have a relationship with you save yourself an awful lot of time. They will also run your credit checks, draw up leases/riders, and etc.
Reevaluate your ads copy. You don’t want to run ‘stale ads.
Hope this helps– Good luck!
My broker told me that winter rentals are hard. Jan 1st is the best time to rent because people are coming to start school and new jobs, and then it dies down till April or so. Perhaps that doesn’t help a bit. I agree that no fee will help move it. NY Times might be worth it. My broker used that and I got some nice tenants. Good luck.
Brokers are fairly useless for small owners, esp. one unit. They don’t try too hard, giving their best renters to their best owners and that’s if they actually bother to show the unit. I spent a weekend sick in bed below one of my vacancies years ago. Come Monday, the broker told me about the crowds that looked at the apartment but that I needed to lower my price. Suffice to say, I never heard a single footstep and rented it based on showings the next weekend at the original price.
Just because your tenants paid X in 2009, doesnt mean that X was the fair market price. Your tenants may have been overpaying without knowing (as some unfortunately do). Look at what else is out there, know the market, and price it right. Post it on CL with good pictures, good description and make sure that it is clear from the ad that you are the owner and its no fee. There are too many bulls–t ads posted by brokers. If that doesnt work, then something is wrong with your post or price or apartment.
Are you saying “outside of advertising it on Craigslist” because you already listed it there, or because you don’t want to?
I’ve had good results with CL. Price it right, take decent pics, give a decent description of the apartment & any amenities in the bldg and/or neighborhood, and make it clear it’s no-fee / by owner, not by one of the many shady brokers, and you should be able to get it rented.
The last 6 weeks includes the holiday period where not much gets done. Right now you’re going for a 2/1 lease start, and maybe price it at 8-10% less than what you thought was the market rent to try to get the next 12 months of a lower rent rather than holding out and getting a higher rent and not getting a tenant til March 1 and losing another month’s income.
Hmmm, well first off, it is the slow season. However, if it is priced aggressively, you should have gotten some activity on craiglist.
I have no idea what “major” agency you have been using but my experience is that giving an exclusive RENTAL listing to a “major” firm probably means that it will be under-marketed or simply ignored as their focus is on sales.
Put it as an open listing, use a few brokers, including local ones.
If you want to list it yourself – make sure you take sunny, well angled pics, make sure to describe all the positives about the apt, building, neighborhood – proximity to subway etc. MAKE SURE IT’S PRICED REASONABLY.
It’s always best to have an open house once or twice a week – evening/weekend as opposed to going back and forth with appointments. Make sure to do your own credit/housing court checks. Good Luck.