Not enough rental info

[Donna Quixote]

I have a duplex in an area where there are VERY few sales, and most sales do not list the rental information on MLS. One of the five comps has rental info and both active listings have rental info. I was able to find one other one (searched the extended neighborhood for 24 months for active, pending, sold, expired and withdrawn) and only came up with one other property remotely similar with rental info. Not a lot of info on Craigslist, and if there were it would only be for one of the units and this is a cape COD style property.

In cases like this what is your opinion on using an active and a sold on the rental page. BTW, it is an FHA

Thanks

 

[HF Mudd]

I would look for single family rentals of comparable room count, GLA, etc.

 

[Scott R Marshall]

This may be a dilemma now regarding your agreed upon fee but in my experience a visit to a local management company and/or realtors who deal in rentals may be in order. They also may charge you for the information which may result in you either biting the bullet or calling up the client requesting an increase in your fee to cover these costs.

 

[Michigan CG]

I have a duplex in an area where there are VERY few sales, and most sales do not list the rental information on MLS. One of the five comps has rental info and both active listings have rental info.

Call the Realtors, go interview the owners.

 

[Donna Quixote]

Again, there are VERY FEW sales and VERY FEW listings, I am pretty much using every single one there is and some are outside subject neighborhood. Calling realtors is not really going to help on this one, and from my past experiences of trying to get this information through phone calls, I have been notified it is none of my business.

So are the comments listed above telling me that you would not ever use an active or sales comp for rental information?

 

[Thomas Fiehler]

Donna-You can only give them the data that you have. I have completed reports in the past with NO rental data and just explained that the directions call for info from the neighborhood and there is none. When the UW calls just say-read my report. If I put in data to fill in the boxes then it becomes a misleading report and I'm sure you wouldn't want that now would you? Sometimes the reports that have the least amount of data turn into the "easier" (for lack of a better word) reports because there just isn't any other information to give them.

 

[PropertyEconomics]

You do not need sales to provide rentals .. listings or properties which are not listed are perfectly appropriate for rental information. Sales and rentals do not need to be directly linked as they measure different things along the path to value.

 

[hastalavista]

In cases like this what is your opinion on using an active and a sold on the rental page. BTW, it is an FHA
Thanks

I've used an active rental as one of my rental comps before and have explained the situation. Its never been an issue. I'll throw other types of rental properties (SFRs, apartment units) in the narrative if I think they compete for a sufficient segment of the subject's likely renter market.

I don't know if FHA is specific on this or not (I don't think so, but I'd re-read the handbook).

Good luck!

 

[DMZwerg]

I've used an active rental as one of my rental comps before and have explained the situation. Its never been an issue. I'll throw other types of rental properties (SFRs, apartment units) in the narrative if I think they compete for a sufficient segment of the subject's likely renter market.

I don't know if FHA is specific on this or not (I don't think so, but I'd re-read the handbook).

Good luck!

Why would using active listings for rental info ever be an issue?

GRM comes from solds, rental are used for rent data, therefore actives and pendings would be more current than solds (which is what I was taught). Unless it is some FHA guideline or such I can't see the reasoning.

That being said, I would try using additional support for any GRM I used, such as a wider area or even looking backwards in time for support. Analyzing $/sf and $/BR may also prove useful for support of GRM when very few recent & proximate data points exist. I have noticed in some of the smaller cities to the south that although variance exists the GRM can end up much more consistent when analyzed in conjunction with the SF and BRs of the properties in question and city wide data helped support my opinion of GRM at times.

Good luck!

p.s. If there is some FHA requirement to only use sold then banging head into wall lightly can relieve some of the tension.

 

[Michael S]

Call brokers and property management companies. The worst they can do is say no. For some smaller apartment properties I've gone and knocked on the door to try and get contact information for the landlord, or what rent the tenants are paying. If it's a local owner they would probably be open to sharing the information in exchange for some information on recent sales. I've used that tactic successfully on many occasions. Bottom line the rent comps don't have to have anything to do with the sale comps.