Your last tenant just moved out and you’re ready to advertise your rental property. What price do you choose?
Here's how to get a free rent estimate & choose the optimal price
Go to Zillow.com and enter your property’s zip code
Make sure you’re on the “For Rent” view. Center the screen around your property and click “Remove Boundary”. Now you’ll see all the nearby available rentals.
Set the correct filters (beds, baths, amenities). To remove overpriced and stale listings, I like to do "listed in the last 30 days" (this is in the More filters)
Click on each of the visible rental comps. Is it of similar quality and size? If it is then look at the # of contacts compared to the days listed. More contacts/week mean that their pricing is generally correct.
After doing this you should have a good sense of rent prices near you. In the example above, renovated 2-bedrooms are averaging about $2,500/month
It’s smart to list 3-5% below this average. The average will include some properties that are priced too high and haven't been rented yet. By setting your price 3-5% below the market average, you will get more clicks and more leads, which leads to much faster leasing.
👉 Watch the full tutorial HERE
When to lower your pricing
If you’re not getting many leads, you might be tempted to lower your price after just a couple of days. Assuming you followed the guide above, we recommend waiting 2-3 weeks before adjusting the rental price.
We made a handy guide for the number of leads you should be getting per week. If you’re hitting these numbers then you’re on track to get it leased quickly!
If you’re getting less than these then you should lower your price (and make sure your listing looks attractive). If you’re getting way more tenant leads, then you can raise the price by a little.
Timing is everything
Leasing activity is highest between the 13th and 25th each month. So don’t be alarmed if you’re getting fewer leads at the beginning of the month. But be ready to adjust your pricing by the 18th - so that you don’t miss the boat on this month’s leasing.
Don’t forget!
Most tenants filter based on the maximum rent they can afford and don’t negotiate. Looking at our RentEngine data, only 11% of properties were rented for less than the listed price.
Lower price doesn’t mean faster leasing. Combine good pricing with appealing photos and a well-written description. The prospects are judging your property’s quality based on the quality of your advertising.
A couple blocks can make a huge difference. While researching the comps, avoid properties that are in different neighborhoods (even if close by). Being on the other side of a highway or outside of your school district can make a huge difference in pricing.
You can use the same method for other websites (like Apartments.com or Zumper), but we find that Zillow has the most data and is the easiest to navigate
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