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A classic that always works - if your lease does not prohibit smoking, buy a couple of cheap ashtrays put on some gloves and go to a parking lot and collect as many cigarette butts as you can find. Make sure the ashtrays are stuffed full and in plain sight for the showings - the landlord will get a clue and wait for you to move out.
The OP has a toddler, this is a horrible idea.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lapetite
Wow thats when I cook and then we eat... hard to change with a toddler, could do that 1 or 2
Sounds like a great excuse to pack a picnic and go have dinner at the park.
If you put up with broken appliances, etc. Throughout your lease, well, that's on you for accepting it. And don't blame your LL because of your passivity and germophobia.
I quickly realized it was easier to use the lighter to light appliance than deal with landlord that will send a guy to "fix" stuff or is too cheap to really pay for what needs to be fixed (patio door, we paid ourselves once to fix it, guy said it needs to be replaced, LL send someone who said the same. So we can barely use that door, cause if we open it, we might not be able to lock it..). Told him multiple times about the sink that is now held with stuff underneath (seriously?)...
Its easier to work around those things. We dont have time for a LL that will send people here to disturb us and will not really fix the stuff... These are not small jobs either.
The list goes on, you guys dont even know all.
But in a sense he was lucky with us we did not bother him more. Now he should just fix all in one shut. How convenient is that! And let us have peace before we leave.
I do not plan on bad mouthing him (besides here ).
Strangers in your house walking everywhere with their dirty shoes, touching all. I might have germophobia but I also have a kid that spends a lot of time on the floor..
Whatever!
Quote:
Originally Posted by phxone
BTW, most of the posters here are landlords or property managers and their advice is skewed heavily against tenants.
Yeah, I could feel it..
cigarette, gross!! but no we will not play that game. Unless I get inspiration. I feel I will have to let you all know how it went
Quote:
Originally Posted by WorldKlas
And the landlord will give an awful reference in the future and nitpick the departure condition of the apt to retain as much security deposit to make up for loss. Bad plan.
I agree, I forgot about reference!
Quote:
Originally Posted by nightlysparrow
And playing the "mommy card" gets you no sympathy. Plenty of parents have it worse than you.
wow I dont know where you are getting with this but it made me smile.
Quote:
Originally Posted by WorldKlas
As a LL, I do my own showings. So I schedule all my (screened, pre-qualified) potential applicants for one showing on a weekend afternoon and inform my departing tenants there will be 3-4 coming thru that afternoon in the 2-3 hour period I have scheduled. I have been successful -- in my many years of being a LL -- in getting each place leased that way. But I do a lot of pre-screening to make sure only serious lookers are viewing the property. I also give myself about 45 min ahead of first scheduled view to walk thru and check the place out (sometimes I actually have to spot clean a bit or even secure items the tenant has neglected to put away -- like mobile phones out on counters, etc.)
So, if I were the tenant, I would have a friendly chat with the LL and simply ask if they just show the apt. To anyone or if they screen the people. You do have more than a minor interest in who is coming thru. You certainly do not want to be present when showings occur. What if someone creepy tries to make a connection with you? What is someone creepy falls in love with your baby. Get out of the place!
You also do want the apt. To have a new tenant in waiting beause it will motivate your LL to close out your account quickly. if the LL has another tenant waiting, things will just go much more smoothly for your move out with the LL.
THANK YOU SO MUCH! That was VERY helpful.
We will get out! thank you!!! And will try to ask more questions about how it will go.
THANK YOU!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lacerta
Look at it from the other side. If you wanted to rent a place, and the tenant wouldn't let you see it until it was vacant, you wouldn't want to commit and give your notice until you could see it, but the landlord isn't going to wait 30 days after you see it for rent to start. So you'd have to either not take the unit, or else pay rent at 2 places for one month.
We are the other side too. We visited a bunch of other rentals and they were all vacant. That is why I guess I was so surprised (and from all the other times I rented).
But thanks for all the other advices, it helps.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady
Does that put it into better perspective for you?
Nope. I guess I really dont see it the same. As I have seen other LL managing this differently.. they must EXPECT the unit to sit vacant for a little while, thus calculate in cost and raise rent a little bit.
I would pay more for a lease (reasonably for a period) if LL promise to let me enjoy the place I pay for fully until I leave.
Quote:
Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke
You want us to disclose? OK, I'm a landlord and it is no secret to anyone who frequents this board. The law doesn't happen to be different depending upon whether it is a landlord or a tenant who answers, and the landlord is slightly more likely to know the actual law and not just tell you their opinion on how it should be in a rainbow and unicorn world. (with apologies to the tenants who do know the law, and there are some on this board)
The law is, OP, that you can not keep your landlord from showing your rental. The landlord has to give you proper notice and that gives you time to arrange your day to accommodate the showing. If you speak to the landlord, he might put it in the listing not to show during nap time or late at night. If an agent is handling the listing and not your landlord, agents can be rude and it is difficult to control them. So, you can expect that problem.
Here is my best advice. As soon as a new tenant is located and signed, the showings will stop. So it is to your advantage to clean up as best you can and to be pleasant. If you interfere with renting to a new tenant, the viewers will keep on coming and looking. For every viewer you drive off, another one will appear to take a look. The trick is to try to get someone to want the apartment and to sign a lease so that the viewings stop.
Also, at some point, you are going to want a good landlord reference. If you prevent the landlord from performing legal activities and prevent him from finding a new tenant, you can kiss your good reference goodbye. Your landlord will say, "yes, paid rent on time, but refused to allow entrance for repairs or showings, slandered the landlord, difficult tenant, I'd not rent to them again." In a tight rental market, you don't want that. You want your landlord to say that you were easy to rent to, kept the apartment nice, and paid rent on time.
There is actually no way to escape this invasion of your privacy. Even if you buy, at some point you will want to sell and here come all the realtors dragging all sorts of people through and not respecting your time frame at all.
If there are going to be showings, lock up your valuables and your medication. Agents re supposed to watch viewers, but sometimes they don't do a good job of it, or multiple viewers split up and head to different areas so they can't all be watched..
Nope. I guess I really dont see it the same. As I have seen other LL managing this differently.. they must EXPECT the unit to sit vacant for a little while, thus calculate in cost and raise rent a little bit.
I would pay more for a lease (reasonably for a period) if LL promise to let me enjoy the place I pay for fully until I leave.
In my market, there are more renters than available houses & I can get a higher rent for an empty/squeaky-clean/move-in-as-soon-as-your credit-check-is-done unit, so it seems silly to try to show a rented unit with tenants in it. But I think it may be a regional thing too - apartments won't "hold" a place for more than a few days, maybe a week until you move in - so if you plan ahead, you might be paying for an empty unit on the move-in side of the transaction.. that said, my lease does have a provision allowing me to show with 24hrs notice - and it is notice, not "permission of the tenant" .. it may sound crabby, but tenants don't cut me any slack when things that are my responsibility break & it is a business.
All toilet bowls have multiple to a lot of cracks, below water level. (old toilets)
That is why I rent, we know nothing and want someone else to deal with this stuff, at this moment.(but its the last time).
A friend told me our toilets were a disaster waiting to happen. I tell landlord. He comes take a look. Says ahh probably fine, I will have my guy take a look in a few weeks he will be back.. He finally came and in 2 seconds said oh yeah replace all!
We are lucky so far I guess!!!!
Took me 3 minutes to google it. Im telling you, that landlord is very relaxed or something!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zippyman
In my market, there are more renters than available houses & I can get a higher rent for an empty/squeaky-clean/move-in-as-soon-as-your credit-check-is-done unit, so it seems silly to try to show a rented unit with tenants in it. But I think it may be a regional thing too - apartments won't "hold" a place for more than a few days, maybe a week until you move in - so if you plan ahead, you might be paying for an empty unit on the move-in side of the transaction.. that said, my lease does have a provision allowing me to show with 24hrs notice.
Exactly!! Amen! And that is what I have seen while shopping! We had to move our butts fast!
the area I am actually too I would think. But if he does not fix it a bit, may be he will have a harder time.
i had to let my previous landlord show my apartment and i hated it too - only because i was concerned that someone would take my stuff while i was not there to watch them. so i asked the landlord to please watch the prospective tenants so that they would not take anything, that is what was on my mind. But i came home each day and nothing was gone. so i just had to suck it up and let the landlord show my apartment. it was something i had to get thru, didn't like it, but thats the way it goes.
Nope. I guess I really dont see it the same. As I have seen other LL managing this differently.. they must EXPECT the unit to sit vacant for a little while, thus calculate in cost and raise rent a little bit.
I would pay more for a lease (reasonably for a period) if LL promise to let me enjoy the place I pay for fully until I leave.
You may not see it the same because that means you might not be in the right, but it IS the same. You are asking the landlord to lose a month's rent because you don't want to obey the law and allow him to show the property because you are "uncomfortable" with something that every tenant should know is going to happen when they are going to move out.
You don't understand. If you want the privilege (NOT right) of requiring the landlord to hold the unit vacant for a month after you leave because of your phobias and convenience (because the world should revolve around that, apparently), you should expect to pay a higher rent the entire lease than more reasonable people. (And I say this as someone who has been a renter and recognized when I was the things that you clearly skipped right over in reading my initial response to you about the place you live in being someone else's property and you don't get to call all the shots.)
It's clear that you still don't get that you are asking for something out of the ordinary, or that you get that you are and you don't care because you want it and thus that is how it should be.
You sound like someone who needs to own a house so that you don't have to consider anyone but the bank and the tax man (and the HOA if you choose to live in one). Then, short of your neighbors, you can do whatever you want because you will own the property. (Well, within the ordinances and HOA rules.)
You got excellent advice about being accommodating of showings and having the unit appear its best so that it rents right off the bat and there will be no more showings until you move out. I suggest you follow it.
If you really have issues with people wearing shoes in your house, you can provide a box of booties at the door with a sign asking that they please wear them over their shoes, and have a chair nearby to sit in while putting them on. I assure you real estate agents are familiar with that concept, we use them all the time in houses for sale with new flooring. But since you have a toddler and are clearly a conscientious mother in that regard you might also want to read up on the hygiene hypothesis.
Nope. I guess I really dont see it the same. As I have seen other LL managing this differently.. they must EXPECT the unit to sit vacant for a little while, thus calculate in cost and raise rent a little bit.
The landlord expects you to follow the law, which allows him to show your apt with proper notice. Work with him and if he is a decent person he will try to make it easier for you when he shows the apt. Be confrontational and whiney and he will not.
"they must EXPECT the unit to sit vacant for a little while,", Your attitude shows me you will get nowhere in life unless you change. Get rid of your entitlement mentality.
The landlord expects you to follow the law, which allows him to show your apt with proper notice. Work with him and if he is a decent person he will try to make it easier for you when he shows the apt. Be confrontational and whiney and he will not.
"they must EXPECT the unit to sit vacant for a little while,", Your attitude shows me you will get nowhere in life unless you change. Get rid of your entitlement mentality.
I quickly realized it was easier to use the lighter to light appliance than deal with landlord that will send a guy to "fix" stuff or is too cheap to really pay for what needs to be fixed (patio door, we paid ourselves once to fix it, guy said it needs to be replaced, LL send someone who said the same. So we can barely use that door, cause if we open it, we might not be able to lock it..). Told him multiple times about the sink that is now held with stuff underneath (seriously?)...
Its easier to work around those things. We dont have time for a LL that will send people here to disturb us and will not really fix the stuff... These are not small jobs either.
The list goes on, you guys dont even know all.
But in a sense he was lucky with us we did not bother him more. Now he should just fix all in one shut. How convenient is that! And let us have peace before we leave.
I do not plan on bad mouthing him (besides here ).
Strangers in your house walking everywhere with their dirty shoes, touching all. I might have germophobia but I also have a kid that spends a lot of time on the floor..
Whatever!
You can't have it both ways. You want things fixed, but you've decided, before anyone even shows up to fix it, that you will be disturbed and it wont be fixed.
You're a landlords nightmare.
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