One of the most common mistakes landlords make, especially accidental landlords, is setting rent prices based on their mortgage payment or monthly expenses. While it may feel logical to cover those costs directly through rent, the truth is tenants simply don’t care about your financial situation.
What Tenants Don’t Care About
- How much your mortgage payment is
- Whether your mortgage went up this year
- The interest rate you locked in, whether it’s 2.9% or 7.2%
- What you “need” to make the property habitable
- To tenants, these numbers are irrelevant. Your mortgage is your responsibility, not theirs.
What Tenants Do Care About
Competitive Rent: They want to know if the price matches the current market.
Clean, Well-Maintained Homes: A property that feels safe, comfortable, and cared for.
Responsive Landlords: Someone they can count on to address maintenance issues quickly.
These are the factors that shape a tenant’s reality and influence their decision to rent, or to move on.
The Risk of Pricing on Emotion
When landlords set rent based on their own bills instead of the market, the result is often the same: extended vacancies. A property priced too high won’t attract qualified tenants, no matter how nice it is. And a vacant property costs far more in lost rent than a property priced right from the beginning.
The Takeaway
Your mortgage is your problem. Their rent is their reality.
By focusing on what tenants truly value, fair rent, a clean home, and a responsive landlord, you’ll reduce vacancies, attract stronger renters, and protect your investment in the long run.
