How to Estimate Your Rental Rate
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How to estimate your rental rate?
Pricing your rental property appropriately is a key factor in determining whether your property rents right away or takes months to fill.
But where do you start?
There are basically four steps;
1. Check comparables
Browse through online platforms such as Rentboard and Rentfaster, or popular rental platforms to look at comparable properties in your area and surrounding areas.
For example — if you have a 3-bedroom, 3.5 bathroom, unfurnished house for rent in the SW area of your city, check out other 3 bedroom 3.5 bathroom houses in the SW to see how your property compares — is it in better shape? Older, newer, etc.? Be honest with yourself and set your price realistically.
Rentfaster’s Pricing Tool
Rentfaster has a helpful feature called a “pricing tool” which provides a report indicating current listings and prices in addition to average days on the market. It’s an excellent source of information on rental rates for similar properties listed on their platform.
2. Post your ad
Before you jump into listing the features and benefits in your property advertisement or begin taking any of the necessary steps to rent out your property, do this first. Think about the type of tenant/tenants you want to live in your property.
The minimum housing standards outline the maximum number of allowable people in your unit, however; you decide your tenant preference. If you have a bachelor suite condo in a university area, it’s logical to assume you would be looking for one university student, at maximum, two. If you own a large house in suburbia, with a fenced yard near schools, parks, shopping, and community centres, you would most likely be seeking a family.
Before advertising our property, determine who is the best fit for your rental unit. A retired couple? A family of five with two cats? A single professional woman with no pets?
Be specific and write the ad to that person/people.
