I know I know it only takes one to fill a vacancy but I am having ZERO POINT ZERO luck at finding that one right now. Tough time of year, yes, but people ARE still looking. Just not at my stuff.

But combine the quirky exterior of my place (Trailer, with stick-built additions...) with the bad time of year and worse, the bad APPLICANTS and OY! My Preview Questions spreadsheet is full of NO's.

62 inquiries, 12 possibles (I would offer a viewing based on preliminary info) but only 4 showings and no takers.

A full 50 were disqualified in seconds and for all the same reasons: mostly income, but also non-neutered animals, evictions, criminal history...

I’m finding the same thing.

Just curious-- why do you have a vacancy now? Don't you schedule your leases for YOUR time? I know sometimes we get unexpected vacancies but renewals and new sign ups should have expirations fit for us.

Two older ladies, MYOB. Oldest one was the former MIL of the younger one (yes EX Mil, they were friends.) MIL is in her 80's and SUDDENLY went downhill very fast mentally. So they agreed to split up and older MIL went back north to her own kids and Main Tenant has gone to be close to HER kids...so had to break lease, yada yada.

I hear ya.

Last vacancy:

73 inquiries,

3 Qualified to see SFH,

2 showed up, late.

1 applied and then pulled out.

The next day:

A Unicorn stepped out of the woods

and the rest is history.

Ya never know.

I feel a little bit better after reading this thread seeing others are facing the same thing. Especially knowing that you all do the best you can.

Frustrating slow here too. And Facebook Marketplace is a joke. I rewrote the ad to put the requirements FIRST and people who respond still don't read these. When they answer with the "want to view the place" I respond by asking if they meet the criteria for income (3 times the rent), credit history and previous rental history. Crickets.

Just had two women view, provide an application with the red flag request that I run their credit check quickly because their current lease is expiring at the end of this month. A red flag because this typically means they've tried to rent other places and been turned down. And yes..despite the ad AND me telling them an eviction history is a screen out a review of our Marshal's data base shows both have been evicted before (one 6 times). What a time waster for me.

I'm no genius at this but folks some things wrong.... WHY are u having problems?-- After reading here for many years I've noticed one thing change lately..... you all are looking to hard for that perfect tenant app. Many will be upset I said this but your getting to picky for perfect. There is no money in perfect tenants.

I saw this early on in my start with investing. We had people in our R/E club who belonged for years and NEVER PRUCHASED A PROPERTY? WHY because they were waiting on that PERFECT deal to cross their table.

Widen the lens on your blinders-- use the Columbus theory of putting tenants in place-- remember Columbus took a chance.

Not to sound like Chicken Little but I believe it’s here. Renters are the canary in the mine, affected before anyone else notices.

I’m seeing the same problems we had when the Great Recesion hit.

We ran a $99 rent for October special alll month and only rented 2 in Oct. Our average is 4 per month. One of thise was approved before the deal but I gave it to them because it was on all our marketing, so the deal brought only one.

10 vacancies. Normal is 4.

Tape up!

More stats: apps are still coming in but only for low end rents.

NONE for the higher rents.

Factories are having job fairs and still cannot get enough workers to staff the plant so current workers are swamped with overtime. That SHOULD mean they have more cash.

MYOB, I'm not being too picky, trust me LOL! At this stage I only look at three things: income, criminal and non-neutered dogs.

I'm not even being that picky about income right now, not to just show the place, but when they only make $1600 a month for a $1200 unit, it's just not going to work!

And I'm pretty lenient on criminal as half the beach has DUI and possession charges. But when I find a guy (as I did yesterday) with a long history of Grand Larceny charges (felonies) and several evictions...nope. I'll wait for the Unicorn.

There's a Big difference in finding (Qualified)

Yep. Signs are here.

Another reason to automate low-value processes like detailed responses to "I'm suuuuuuper interested" click responses and calls from deadbeats. All calls go to voicemail. Everyone gets the same copy/paste canned response. All applicants must fill out the on line pre-screening form. Less than 5 seconds per inquiry. There simply is no time to WASTE with looky-loos and when that good applicant finally shows up, be ready to SNAG him/her/them!

Don't make applicants wait for YOU to find time to show: give them a combination code to get the key and go NOW, today, this minute! Run the app today. Approve (or reject) within 24 hours or they will go somewhere else that has a full-time staff to show the property and process their app and you will sit vacant wondering why you cannot find good renters.

Laura, "tape up" means get ready for the game. Athletes put support tape on their fingers, wrists, knees, elbows: areas where a lot of physical stress are anticipated. They "reinforce" their joints, because those are the most likely places to break, strain, or sustain injury.

For real estate, "tape up" means reinforce the areas of your business that will experience the greatest stress during a downturn.

Reduce or eliminate stress points:

* Get rid of outdated processes. I'm sorry, in-person showing is old-skool! I know, I know, I know...you will say "it CAN'T WORK in my area...squatters, vandals, and thieves, OH MY!"...but you've never TRIED IT, so you DON'T KNOW! Find a way to make it work.

* Pay down/pay off debts, especially those that are getting ready to start adjusting rates. Interest rates are going UP, not down. Banks may tighten credit, making it difficult to refinance if fall prices clobber your LTV during a market downturn. Refi into fixed-rate products wherever possible, or get the longest rate lock you can and an aggressive payoff timeline (no more than 15 years). Debt = risk in a down economy, more so than usual.

* Zero tolerance on late rent! Establish your policy and stick to it. Train your tenants that rent is the #1 priority.

* Get properties fixed up. Be in the top 80-90% of units in your market and price-point. There are good tenants even in bad economies. You want them, but don't overspend. "Safe, clean, functional" has long been our model. There's always a market for that!

We just took a holding fee for a property that we've been showing since Oct. 22, for a Nov. 15 move-in date. Not too bad. Another, our worst property in the worst neighborhood, has been vacant since Oct. 7, has been shown 17 times, and we've only gotten one application, from a couple living with his mother while he makes $10.50/hr working almost full-time.

The good news is that all 17 of those showings have been via lockbox, so it's wasted minimal time. We're resigned to waiting until warmer weather to fill it.

Well, sent out a lease today. Retired couple who live in an RV in the summer and used to move to a long-term hotel here in the winter, for the past 7 years. Hotel was sold and renovated and rent is now almost double. Campground was sold and is being turned into a KOA and rent is doubling. Can't find another near here as FEMA says no to their type of RV anymore.