I know that this topic has been discussed before in some sense, but I don't think I've seen this situation described.
We have a 2BR nice apartment for rent now. In 2012 we were seriously undercharging at $800 + utilities. We did some work on the unit and rented it after the project (in 2013) for $1000 + utilities. At that time we asked a realtor friend how much we should be charging, and she thought in the $1000-1100 range. So that's how we decided to rent it for $1000. Our current tenants decided to downsize and move over from this 2BR unit to a 1BR unit in the same building. So now we had it advertised for $1100. We have two good applicants and are continuing the screening process now. They both appear to be qualified. I checked in with our realtor friend and just yesterday she got back in touch (after we've shown the place and started to process these two applications). She said (and we gasped) that we should be charging $1300 to $1400.
We find it hard to believe. Maybe we'll get a second opinion, too. But - have any of you landlords been renting in a city where the rents have increased that much in a short time? I actually would rather have a slightly lower rent and keep a good tenant (this topic has come up in many other threads)... but when you're knowingly a bit under market, are any of you 20% under market, as this apartment appears to (maybe) be? We're still surprised by this and haven't decided what to do. We could come up some this summer, perhaps. We like to have our leases renew Aug 1, and these applicants know this...
Anyone ever been in this situation?