Anecdotally, it took me 6 months and 2 weeks to find a cooperative, non-militant tenant for a 3 bdrm 1 bath, completely remodeled downstairs apt with washer/dryer hook up and offstreet parking at slightly below market price.
Only 2% of the applicants were able to produce a credit score of above 600, have 3X income to rent ratio, non smokers. I had well over 200 responses. Again, the leftist legal orgs want to ban the above mentioned screening criteria EVEN THOUGH HUD states that tenants shouldn’t be paying more than 30% of their gross income for their rent and utilities.
Everyone has animals these days, but when they start spewing “Emotional Support Animal” that is always a red flag.
This is in a rust belt town once bedroom community for Xerox. It is the county seat so very “RURBAN” (rural but with negative urban influences).
The majority (98% of tenants in this are) are low performing if not downright militantly litigious “housing is a human right” type that are just looking for a nice place to destroy and stop paying rent for.
I have twenty rentals in the county seat of a liberal county in a liberal state. So far, I haven’t had much trouble with tenants, though I recently had a tenant refuse to pay a pet deposit because she got some online quack to give her a letter saying her dog was an “emotional support” animal. The key, as you know, is to be patient to find good tenants. Fortunately, in rejecting prospective tenants my hands aren’t as tied as they are for landlords in other jurisdictions.