We can all feel how soft the rental market is in the Atlanta area. Since last year at this time, monthly rental prices have decreased about $200, and just since last month, rent prices have decreased about $50 – and we are coming into the peak season!
Our inventory of available rentals has slowly increased over the last few month. The main reason is that the economy is frightening to renters. It’s expensive to move and renters don’t want to use all their reserves just to move to another home unless they absolutely have to. Moving means a huge chunk of cash all upfront: first month’s rent, maybe the last month’s rent, security deposit, cleanup and trash removal of their current resident, moving trucks, utility deposits and maybe fees for broken contracts.
Our showings are lukewarm with a ton of no-shows. Potential renters that do show up are very particular and are evaluating every square inch of our homes to determine if the move is worth it for them. Renters that have chosen to move are asking for 1 year leases and don’t want to commit to our standard 2 year lease, and are asking for move-in incentives.
Right now, we see only continued softening of the market unless we can get this inflation under control. But as investors are well aware, real estate investing is risky and there will always be good times and bad. We’ve bought rentals at a low prices and made a killing. We’ve also bought rentals at a high price and over the long haul have made money and never lost. Our advice is to hang in there.
