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I am 23 years old and shopping for my first apartment. But there's seem to be a continuous break down in communication with real estate professionals that has caused my apartment hunting to be much longer extended than originally planned. Three times so far after seeing For Rent signs in locations I was interested in, when I call and after they answered my initial questions, and they seem to not have any issue with my qualifications: I request a showing of the apartment and I am told that the apartment won't be ready for that for at least a month from now at some future date. So I give them my name and phone number and they promise to call me when the apartment becomes available so I can see a showing of the apartment. A month passes and I don't ever here from them again, they never follow up. Yesterday on the virtual website version of my local newspaper, a studio was posted for the most amazing price I've ever seen in my area. I started to dial the number immediately to quickly snag this amazing deal from other apartment hunters, but than I saw the last sentence in the ad: "Available 1/1/14" -- A month from now. I put down my phone upset than I am unsure how to make any arrangements with this apartment/landlord if its not immediately available. Since my past 3 attempts all fell through and I never received a follow-up. If I call, ask typical rental questions, than request to see the apartment again, only to be told what I already read in the ad "Its not available right now / That won't be possible for a month" I don't want to hear again: "...you can leave me your contact information though and I will call you back when it is available" only to never hear back again.
I asked this question on Yahoo Answers today and someone said I need to call only when the apartment is available not right away, but than despite the fact they payed for a temporary newspaper ad a full month before the apartment unit is actually available, instead of calling the number while its being publically posted - should I just copy down the phone number so I don't loose it after its no longer being advertised than wait and don't call the number until its actually available ( 1/1/14 )? Holding off signing a lease with someone else who currently has an apartment available I can see right now but at a more expensive price? Someone else cannot in someway "call-it" in the weeks prior if I hold off and employ this strategy instead?
I've developed a "I have to act quickly" mentality because besides the fact alone that all newspaper ads need to be renewed and most posters do not bother paying for that, in a couple pass cases where there was fantastic apartment deals in the local paper but I procrastinated and called later in the week only to be told those apartments have already been leased or I called, no one picked up, I left a message asking if the apartment was still available and no one ever returned my call which I took as a hardly professional way of implying the apartment was taken. Since I already feel like all the best deals so far have slipped through my fingers when they were posted in the local newspaper, I feel very anxious. My past experience with calling numbers on "For Rent" signs is my contact information being taken than receiving a promise that it never followed through upon, my experience so far with replying to newspaper ads is being told I'm too late or the phone not being answered... or the ad simply disappearing because I didn't call fast enough.
Okay, I just relooked on my local newspapers website and it says that the ad expired (removed). It was only posted yesterday. But I looked on the dial pad on my cellphone and realized I still had it typed in, despite never making the call. So the phone number isn't lost. What does this mean? Am I too late?
One way to reduce your irritation is have your first question be: Is this unit available to view right away?
If it isn't, but you're still interested, find out when it will be available to view. Then ask, may i call on X (a few days BEFORE the ready date) to set up an appointment? I'm really interested. My name is Susie Q and i'll call you then. If it is available before that date, can you call me, and give them your number. But YOU should be the proactive one. Follow up at the appropriate time.
In all matters in life, if there is something important to you, Don't rely on others to "get back to you." DO IT YOURSELF!!
It sounds like to me that your initial phone 'interview' didn't go as well as you thought. ::::shrug::::
I can't imagine them listing a unit a month out, taking apps and not showing the unit to people. Did you ask for a showing of the units you were looking at? They can, and often do, show units while the current tenants are still living there.
I started to dial the number immediately to quickly snag this amazing deal from other apartment hunters, but than I saw the last sentence in the ad: "Available 1/1/14" -- A month from now. I put down my phone upset than I am unsure how to make any arrangements with this apartment/landlord if its not immediately available.
I have no idea what you're "upset" about. The ad is clear and you're simply assuming it's not available to view because it's not available to live in until a few weeks hence. Kim's response was right on the mark. As is Okey Dokie's, "In all matters in life, if there is something important to you, Don't rely on others to "get back to you." DO IT YOURSELF!!"
I don't know you and can't answer directly on what you do wrong but perhaps it may be how you respond in the phone call.
Some people call and are very friendly when we pre-screen and other are real jerks and obnoxious. You can guess who will get a call back...
Yesterday someone called to ask about rentals in our area and we just rented a couple within the last week and I told him we only had one left but that one is double the rent due to size and amenities of the property/community.
The guy told me he is from out of state and wants a realtor to drive around for rentals so I explained that in. Florida it is different than in NY and we only can help with our own listings unless he is willing to pay us a flat fee commission but that is not a normal thing in Florida and it would be better and cheaper to check on certain websites and he started to rant and being a real jerk.
It seems being honest is not appreciated by some.
We even had one guy put on our phone providers block list after he kept calling and being obnoxious and after at least 8 x being told to call the listing agent and provided with the correct number to schedule an appointment. In between he kept emailing about rentals that were already rented in the week he called and taken down the day we received the security deposit. Than he emailed us he was approved with a different brokerage for a rental but that he still was interested in our rentals so again he was told to contact the agent for a showing, etc. He kept calling and started to become more obnoxious and we blocked another of his phone numbers and than his phone provider started to call to see if our phone was working...again he called from a different number to schedule a showing but who on this earth wants a lease with a person who acts like this prior to even becoming a tenant!
Its kind of like looking for a job. Just keep plugging away at it, be very nice to everyone you talk to, be prepared. As a potential LL, I would want to know about you and have a good feel for you because I am a small time/private operator...
Do you know your credit rating? Are you employed and have you been employed for at least a couple of years? Have you had long periods of unemployment.....if so, why? Where have you been living up until now? Do you have a love interest who you mention that would be visiting alot? Do you have a criminal record? These are the kinds of things I would want to know. If I didn't have a good gut feeling in the initial phone visit, I'd move on cause I have very few properties and many applicants. In the past I once took a chance on an applicant who absolutely loved the place and had no real rental history, a past felony for having pot in his possession, but a decent long term job. I'm not much of a gambler, but he was soooo nice on the phone and very interested. So I showed him the place and he could hardly contain his excitement. He just signed his 4th lease renewal with me. It happens!
I know you are just 23. Here in my area, it would be very easy for to find a place in a mega apartment complex with an on-site leasing office. That's where newbies to the area or rental world usually start because they have inventory and staff full-time dedicated to the leasing function.
A month passes and I don't ever here from them again, they never follow up.
Sounds like you are in a very competitive rental market. Why would anybody bother to call you back again a month later, when their phone is ringing off the hook?
You gotta stay on top of it, don't expect the call back, unless its for the same day or the following day.
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