“One month free” sounds generous until you’re the one paying for it. But holding out for full rent has a price tag, too. This week, we’re looking at when a leasing incentive beats another month of admiring your very empty property.

Story: The rental market has entered its coupon era. In August, 43.5% of listings tracked by Realtor.com offered incentives, up from 40.4% a year earlier. Free rent and waived fees are part of the negotiation behind the asking price. The report covers studios through two-bedroom rentals across the 50 largest metros, not just rental houses. Translation: know what the competition is actually charging, not just advertising.

So What? Your asking rent doesn’t pay the mortgage. Collected rent does. Take a hypothetical $2,000 lease: one month free leaves $22,000 over 12 months. Charge $1,900 without the freebie and you collect $22,800, assuming every payment arrives. The “lower rent” wins by $800. Meanwhile, another month empty at $2,000 costs the same in missed rent as that free month. Pride is an expensive tenant.

What’s Next? Check comparable homes, their specials, and how long they’ve been sitting. Then compare a targeted offer with the cost of waiting, using realistic move-in dates. Keep screening standards consistent, and don’t assume today’s discount disappears at renewal. The goal is a lease that works, not winning an argument with Zillow while your property hosts dust.

Source: Realtor.com

Should You Allow Pets In Your Rental? (Here's The Truth)

A blanket no-pets policy might be costing you more than any pet ever would, because it filters out most of your applicant pool, responsible and irresponsible tenants alike, before you ever see a single application. In this video, Matthew Whitaker, founder of Evernest and author of How to Rent Your Home, runs the actual math on pet rent, pet deposits, and screening the animal instead of avoiding pets entirely, plus why pet-friendly rentals often lead to longer-staying tenants. He also covers the legal line that trips up a lot of landlords: service and emotional support animals aren't pets under federal law, so a no-pets policy, pet fees, and breed restrictions can't apply to them. Evernest manages this decision across thousands of leases, and the real numbers rarely match the fear people have about pets.

Top Weekly Stories:

1️⃣ Housing: Pending home sales fell 3.5% week over week in Redfin’s four-week measure ending September 13, hitting their lowest level in nearly three years while median sale prices remained 2% higher annually. Apparently, asking prices haven’t read the room. 🪺 More

2️⃣ Build-to-Rent: RealPage projects 40,800 rental-home completions in 2026, falling to 33,100 in 2027. Owners could face fewer shiny new competitors, but shouldn’t retire the leasing specials just yet. 🪺 More

3️⃣ Mortgages: Freddie Mac’s average 30-year fixed mortgage rate climbed to 6.95% from 6.76% the previous week, keeping “we’ll refinance later” firmly in the wishful-thinking column. 🪺 More

4️⃣ Interesting Trends: Redfin’s newly published analysis of 2024 migration found San Antonio gained a net 10,678 Gen Z residents, while Houston gained 16,365 millennials. Both generations picked Texas, just not the same group chat. 🪺 More

5️⃣ Policy Changes: A federal appeals court temporarily cleared the way to redirect $1.3 billion in homelessness funding toward transitional housing and supportive services while the legal challenge continues. 🪺 More

The 10 Brutal Truths About Owning Rental Property

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