As a property manager, you might sometimes have difficulty in fixing a rental price for your property which is appropriate for your property. Of course, it’s easy to say that you can simply check the pricing of comparable units in the area. However, the trick to that is in identifying exactly what ‘comparable’ means, because it’s entirely possible that most of the units available in your area are quite different from those which you are managing.
If you make the mistake of charging the same price that other apartment complexes charge in your immediate vicinity, you could be over-charging or under-charging significantly. There is no way to get around the fact that you will have to do some homework and determine how your apartment units stack up against others in the area. That will then give you a solid basis for knowing what you can charge for your own units. You can start by listing all those features of your own units, and then doing some research to find out how similar units are being priced in your neighborhood.
Safety issues
Tenants often perceive ground floor units to be less safe than those on second or third stories. This is because it’s much more likely that burglars can break into ground floor units, whereas they are more inclined to leave upper floor units alone. This means that any unit situated on the first floor should probably be priced lower than second or third story units. When you’re comparing your apartments with those of other complexes, make sure you’re matching up against similarly situated units.
Neighborhood
Being in the same city or even in the same section of the city, is not really the same as having a similar neighborhood setup. For instance, even a nearby apartment complex might be in a very busy area with lots of traffic, and some of that could even be commercial traffic. Rental price for your property and your apartment complex which might be situated nearby, could have minimal traffic and be located on a very quiet street. You should be able to charge more for being situated in a quiet neighborhood because it’s more conducive to privacy for your tenants.
Bedrooms and bathrooms
Bedrooms and bathrooms are always some of the most important amenities that any apartment can offer, and that’s why you have to be sure that your units have the same number of bedrooms and bathrooms that comparable units do. For instance, there’s a huge difference between what you might charge for a one bathroom, one bedroom unit, as opposed to two bathrooms and three bedrooms. This will have a big impact on how many tenants can comfortably be housed in the unit, and it will make all the difference in the world on what you can charge.
Other amenities
If your apartment complex can offer other amenities besides what’s actually contained in the apartment itself, you may certainly be entitled to charge more for your unit. As an example, you may have a community pool, basketball courts, a community workout center, or tennis courts which are available for all tenants to use. You might also be near a lake or the ocean, so that tenants can easily arrange to go swimming or sunbathing. If your complex is located near an area where there are several good restaurants, that’s also worth a slight increase in what you can charge. Consider any amenities which are available to tenants in your apartment complex, and add in the value of those amenities to your rental charge.