Hot rental markets are spreading all over the country. With the stock market and real estate market both on fire, the rental market is also heating up.
More people are allowed to relocate to lower cost areas of the country thanks to the permanent trend of working from home. Meanwhile, the strong real estate market is pricing people out of buying.
Hot Rental Market In San Francisco
Due to the pandemic, there’s been a fanning out of residents in my city of San Francisco. Residents are moving from the more dense east side of the city to the less dense and more affordable west side of the city. As a result, the demand has been strong for my rental houses.
I listed my property on Craigslist and in two days, I received 36 serious inquiries. The address was left off because I wanted to weed out the looky-loos and those who don’t read and follow instructions. I also didn’t want any psycho-killers. As a result of the demand, I decided to have an additional open house on Saturday, instead of just Sunday.
Surprisingly, 10 out of 10 interested parties who said they’d come Saturday came. The world is full of flakers, and I was expecting at least 30% of them to not show up. Maybe penguins can fly.
Some people are still scared of buying and some are probably unable to qualify for loans given stricter lending standards. I worry about the sustainability of this rental market, but for now, landlords should be taking advantage by raising prices.
For those renters out there who keep missing out, here are some thoughts from a landlord’s perspective of what worked, and what raised red flags during the open house.