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I'm in the market and seeing a lot of places (which is why I have other posts on renting). I had a fun one last night. I originally called a week ago about a place I saw on CL. Was told they were showing it on Sunday (yesterday) and to come at 5:30pm. The place is in a desirable area and listed a bit below market value but nothing too great of a deal. House was listed at 1,000 sq feet. The ad had 1 picture of the exterior and said to come and see the rest. Annoying but I took a chance.
I arrived pronto at 5:30. There was a man with a clipboard directing traffic where to park. There was about 20-30 other cars in various stages of parking/entering/leaving already. Apparently he told EVERYONE to come at around the same time. There were 15ish stairs to enter the front door. There was a line of people waiting to see the place. Once I finally got in, the line of people snaked around the house. We moved conveyor belt style slowly until the snake led us out the back and to the garage.
The house was about 500-600sq feet (not 1,000 as advertised). Once the conga line got to the garage another man with a clipboard was "interviewing" candidates. Asking if we were interested, took our name and email to email us the app. Then he asked how long we'd be staying, what length of lease we'd be up for. He said, the longer the lease, the better your chances. He asked when can you move? If you can move tomorrow, you have the best chance. His final question was, anything else you can offer to make me want to rent to you? I heard people offering money to secure the place. The guy in front of me said he'd sign a 5 year lease and move in tomorrow.
I told the guy I wasn't interested due to the circus atmosphere. He just said ok bye then. This seems like such an odd tactic to get renters. Almost like they are only interested in getting long term renters who move in tomorrow and give them a bit of cash on the side. They don't care about anything else or possibly being stuck with bad tenants. This was one of the odder experiences I have had when touring a rental.
Anyone else use to seeing this Disney style approach with lines snaking through houses? I'm in a hot market in Southern California but I did a ton of research and this places wasn't priced THAT great (especially since it was a 500sq foot house and not 1000 as advertised).
That's just outrageous. I carefully screen interested parties and then make only three appointments, each spaced apart. Who has the kind of time to deal with mountains of people, and how disrespectful of others!
There are all kinds of people that try "creative" ways to "beat the system" from both a landlord and tenant perspective. What works for one person may not be reproducible and it makes a lot more sense to stick to methods that have stood the test of time.I've seen LOTS of tenants that can put a good "interview" but have details in their background that suggest they'll not be the smartest people to rent to and I've seen a few folks that present themselves as a neurotic mess when asking to rent that have a nice clean record of paying on time and causing no problems. Putting on a "renters fair" is not going to be useful to most landlords or tenants.
I went through something similar when we were looking at homes here in the Phoenix area. Arrived a few minutes prior to our appointment time to view the home and saw someone was already there waiting and another person was already inside viewing the home and filling out an application. Shortly after we arrived another couple arrived. While I waited in line my wife began to have a chat with a neighbor and found out that the house is constantly changing tenants and it seemed like they only stick around for a few months before the next tenants come. Once inside you could see the place was an obvious rental house. The smell of fresh paint was so strong I was afraid to touch anything because it might still be wet. The place just looked abused, like the landlord just did the basic minimum to keep the place rented. The price was good but something just seemed a little off about the whole thing.
Afterwards we contacted a realtor and had a more traditional version of looking at rentals, mainly clean and vacant without anyone else around "competing" for the property. Much more relaxed and enjoyable experience.
There are all kinds of people that try "creative" ways to "beat the system" from both a landlord and tenant perspective. What works for one person may not be reproducible and it makes a lot more sense to stick to methods that have stood the test of time.I've seen LOTS of tenants that can put a good "interview" but have details in their background that suggest they'll not be the smartest people to rent to and I've seen a few folks that present themselves as a neurotic mess when asking to rent that have a nice clean record of paying on time and causing no problems. Putting on a "renters fair" is not going to be useful to most landlords or tenants.
Yet it is surprisingly common. My brother said that nearly every apartment he and his wife looked at in Wicker Park involved him walking into the apartment and seeing a half dozen folks filling out applications and him filling out one as well. These aren't scrubs of tenants either; he's a banker and she is a licensed professional in the medical field, and the same appeared to be true of the other potential tenants. I've seen it myself looking at a place in Minneapolis. I walked in and there were three other people in the apartment filling out apps. My ex's neighbor did the same thing when renting her townhouse.
I know a lot of landlords who just do an "open house" and the house is open for viewing between specific hours on a specific day. If you are interested, show up during those hours. I suspect that the landlord was not expecting such a big turnout. It sounds to me like the place was under-priced to bring out so many hopefuls.
From the landlord's side of the equation, showing a vacancy is a huge time waster. Easily 50% of the people who make appointments will not show up and don't bother to call and cancel. You can call and confirm the appointment 10 minutes before and they still don't show up.
I do all my showings on the same day, scheduling them 15 minutes apart. Half the people with appointments never show so I rarely have more than one group there at the same time.
It's common to have applicants offer me more for rent, but I tell them that the advertised price is the rent and that they will have to apply just like everyone else. Oddly enough, those people never fill out and application which leaves me believing that they are tenants that no one will rent to, hoping to bypass the screening by paying more money-- at least for the first month.
I've heard of a landlord having a bidding war for the rent. I suppose that would work as long as you screen the winner carefully. Also, as long as the ad stated that the rent goes to the highest bidder. It seems a bit unethical to advertise one price and then to take higher offers.
Got a 5 year lease at his/her rates and conditions. And for the 5 year renter - he/she gets fixed rent for 5 years.
Win/Win.
I have to agree. What a great way to weed out potential tenants!
Only the ones who need it the most, for the longest, have cash, and able to move right now need apply.
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