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Posted by Bryan on July 12, 2001 at 19:44:11:

This is a great forum! I've never seen on-line discussion that I've been interested in.

I'm curious can any seasoned investors allay my fears that I would buy a property calculating say a 5% vacancy rate and then 20 or 30 days or 3 months pass and the property is not renting. Doesn't that happen? Do newspaper ads and renter finder agencies really take care of this?

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Posted by Sean on July 13, 2001 at 18:04:07:

If your property stays vacant for a long period of time then the most likely cause is that the rent you're asking is too high.

It is not difficult to have a vacancy rate of zero by simply charging below-market rents. Obviously this is undesirable. You should carefully investigate the fair market rent amount before investing in a property. I believe this was covered in the course.