Many landlords that are desperatly needing to rent their units are giving away freebies thus causeing competition for the rest although not as much as I expected (maybe that's why Craigslist hasn't worked for me lately). Keeping the rent reasonable is the ticket. I think advertising free months rent draws mostly PITA losers, most normal people will assume or know there is either a catch or the landlord is desperate and choose to avoid dealing with a landlord who may possibly have financial problems.

I have not had any problems finding a tenant for my most recent house. The problem was more in finding a qualified one. I rejected 6 applications before selecting a good one. Take advantage of the time of year you are looking for a tenant, it's almost over. For me personally, I got most of my calls on a newspaper ad and the sign in the yard. I got about 3 calls from Craiglist, one from out of State and the other 2 were obvious losers that were only shopping.

Stick to good tenants only, don't jump on the first one you see at the cheap rate.

In this business, you can always increase demand by lowering price.