When looking to fill vacancies at your property, there are a number of factors that need to be considered that impact how much you should charge for rent:

1. Competition The quickest way to get an average range of rent that you will be able to demand is to look at your competition in the local area. Search through the local newspaper's classifieds, on websites like Craigslist, or simply by using a search engine to look for homes to rent or apartments in your town. Once you identify the companies you're competing with, you can analyze their services, prices, and reviews. This shouldn't be the only indicator of what you can price your property at, but you can use this to get a starting point.

2. Demand The current economy can make a big difference in whether or not you'll be able to get tenants to fill vacancies. If there are not many people looking for a place to live, then charging a higher rent will not be feasible. On the other hand, if you are filling up quickly and there are still people looking for a room to rent, then it is a good time to bump up the rates.

3. Location Where your property is located can be of significant value to certain tenants. Being close to certain shops, parks, sources of entertainment, food, and city life can impact the value of your property. As a result, you have the opportunity to charge a little more than distant competitors. However, if you charge too much, a potential tenant may be willing to live further away to save money.

4. Season The seasons and the time of the year can also impact your pricing. Avoid keeping a "fixed" rate as desirability will go up for individuals or families looking to move during certain parts of the year. Even if your apartments are smaller, they can still be of value to anyone that is going through a hard financial time and needs to downsize into a smaller apartment.

5. Desirability The incentives that you or your competitors offer can be the difference between a tenant landing in a vacant home on your property or not. If your competitors are offering better incentives, like free cable or utilities, to their tenants in order to draw them in, then you may not be able to set a higher price for your apartments. An alternative is to keep the rent slightly below average and then offer paid services to your tenants to make up for the lost monthly income.

6. Test the Market The quickest way to see where your prices fall is to test the market yourself. You could begin by putting in an advertisement with a local newspaper or on Craigslist where your pricing is on par with other competitors. If you are filling open spaces quickly, then you may have set your pricing too low. If they are filling up slowly, then you will want to lower your prices instead. While there is no perfect formula to determine the exact rent that you should charge new tenants, the only way you can know is to come to a decision by considering some of the above ideas, testing the market, and readjusting throughout the year based on what works and what doesn't.

This entry was posted on January 28, 2015 at 5:09 PM and has received 5981 views. There are currently 0 comments. Print this entry.