Tulsa Rental Still Empty

The tenants in my Tulsa rental property moved out on November 1. While I was glad to see them go, I was not particularly thrilled about the timing of their notice. I didn't really expect to get new tenants around the holidays and, sure enough, I didn't. The good news is that now when new tenants finally do move in, their lease will not expire during the holidays.

Back when the tenants moved out, I opted to raise the rent from $750 a month to $775 a month. I've been monitoring my property manager's website to see if the property has been rented yet and also to verify they listed it at the correct rent. I was surprised yesterday when I checked their site and saw, after being listed for two months at $775, the rent was now listed at $800!

Now I'm no property manager, but it seems to me that if a house wasn't renting at $775, it's not going to rent at $800. But, to be fair, it was the holiday season and even I didn't really expect to fill the property then. Anyway, I called the management company because I was curious as to the reason behind their change. (And why didn't they tell me they thought it could rent for more when I suggested the $775 rent two months ago?) It turns out the person I need to talk to was out of the office and might be out the rest of the week due to some medical emergencies in her family. But I did speak to the bookkeeper and he said he would investigate for me and send me an email when he discovers something. I won't turn down the higher rent, but I also would rather have the property rented at $775 than have it sit empty another couple of months waiting for $800. I was also told that rental activity should be picking up a bit now that some storms have passed, so hopefully it will be rented soon.

On a related note, I finally got a bill for the repairs after the last tenants moved out. I had a $85 bill for a leak under a vanity, a $165 bill for carpet cleaning, and a $180 bill for cleaning and trash removal inside and outside the house. The tenant had a $200 security deposit, which was not returned to them, so I have to pay the additional $230.