I got one of my houses in Tucson rented over the weekend! Yay! The more I learn about this market the more interesting it gets.

I was at this house a week ago and saw one of the neighbors out so we talked. She told me about how she moved from Illinois to Tucson several months ago and how difficult it was to find a place to live. From Illinois she and her husband were doing internet research looking for rental homes and property management companies that could help them find a house to live in. She made many many calls and the management companies were not calling her back. They were down to the week before the move and still nobody had called her back. They were getting very frustrated and worried about where they would live.

Finally, at the last minute, a management company called her back. By this time she was ticked and used her energy to her advantage (smart woman). She told them she would pay $950 for a house and whoever agreed to take that first would get her business. That day. She ignored the asking prices and was shopping new homes only. They rented a house next to ours and says the management company has been terrible to deal with. She’s paying $950, another neighbor is paying $875, and I’m not sure about anyone else.

When we were scouring around for a property manager, we looked and interviewed, and talked to several managers. We found terrible contracts and managers that wanted you to rent low just so they could get it rented fast. Some companies charge you whether they get it rented or not. I am still amazed at the one-sided contracts and what appears to me to be lazy management! We found an awesome woman to manage for us and she has proven to be a dream.

Fast forward to about 2 weeks ago. I did some market research to see what homes in the area were renting for and I spoke with our manager. Then I decided to ask $200-$300 more than anyone else and see what happens. I put the house on www.rentclicks.com which has been quite effective for us. Low and behold, we rented our house for $1,200 and the man who’s taking it says he’s willing to pay that and move in because nobody else would call him back! Their loss is my gain. I feel bad for the investors that don’t shop the management companies and either suffer vacancy loss, receive low rent, and/or get the first tenant that the manager speaks with. Once again, it PAYS to know the market, and to understand what’s going on behind the numbers!