Sight unseen home renting - your experience?

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

I've both been a manager who rented to tenants sight-unseen, and I just rented an apartment in San Jose sight-unseen. Although, I did see a unit that had the same floor plan.

I was a manager of an apartment building in Silicon Valley next to a university. I would get relocating techies and students who would be interested in renting it without being able to come see it first. Once in a while, there would be a colleague or for instance an international student department rep who would come look at the unit and facetime or just recommend the unit to their colleague/student, etc.

For law students who were relocating, I had current tenants who would be willing to talk to the incoming students about what it was like to live in my building. I did give my tenants $100 rent credit if I rented to someone they referred, so it was worth it for them to take the time to talk to these incoming students or even their parents. And, since they would be a neighbor and fellow student, they weren't going to lie just to get the rent credit lol.

I also only rented with month to month agreements, so they could always look for somewhere else, if they didn't like it, once they were here. But, my average tenant stayed 3 or more years. Even the students.

As far as the place I just moved into, I took a chance I'd like the location in the building. It's a subsidized senior place, and they have to pass inspections, so I didn't worry too much about it being terrible. Turns out I love the location in the building, and it's a good place.

But, yes, it's a gamble. Many places won't show you the actual unit, because the tenant who is moving out is still in the unit. When I was a manager, we always got a place ready to show before showing it - vacant and painted, etc. And, figured a month's rent lost whenever there was a turnover. Just eliminated lots of problems. But, most apartment buildings don't do this. In an ideal world, it's always best to see a place first, if you can. But, depending on the market or circumstances, it might not be possible.

[chiluvr1228]

When we moved back to Florida from North Carolina in 1999 my mother who lived in Florida, found us a rental from the Pennysaver (remember them?). It wasn't easy as we had 2 larger dogs and a cat. The day we moved in, this area had the "100 year flood". The road the house was on was almost completely covered with water. We had to park on the street, hike up our pants just to get to the front door. The lanai was almost overflowing into the house and the carpet in one of the back bedrooms was damp. The a/c never worked well and we wind up buying two window units because the landlord was a cheap SOB.


But it was a roof over our heads and we wound up staying there almost 4 years until we bought our own house.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

I'm a landlord and I will not rent to anyone who has not physically viewed the house, the neighborhood, and, preferably, looked at other rentals. If there are roommates, all roommates must view the house in person and for couples both parties must view the house in person.

I've had far too much trouble from people who decide they don't like something about the house or neighborhood after they move in. Mostly, the issue is that they think they deserve a high end luxurious house for the same price as the inexpensive place. If they have gone around to see what they can get for their money, they are grateful to have my well maintained house in a good neighborhood for the low rent. They've searched and learned that they don't get a three car garage, granite counter tops, spa bathrooms, and a hot tub with their budget.

I also want to smell any cigarette smoke, alcohol at 10AM, see dirty clothing and unwashed hair, and get a feel for their personality.

Also, any dogs must be presented in person for the dog's interview.

[rezfreak]

The house we rent now we rented without visiting it. Fellow military family I friended on facebook met on the (new) local wives board for military. They owned the home and put it up for rent. It was right behind a really good elementary school, which was the selling factor for us. Couldn't be happier.

[old fed]

i have done it through CL for a townhouse. looking back i can see i was extremely lucky things didn't go south as the scam potential is always present in this type of situation. but for me it turned out well and i was actually lucky to find a rental property while my house was being built.

i had planned a short house hunting trip and didn't find anything i wanted. i left my future home city but had to scramble fast for a rental which was not my original plan. things fell into place, six month lease (perfect for my situation), they took pets, fenced yard, super nice owners. i got lucky.

[kodiakbearcountry]

We just did it and it's been fine. But you've got to do your homework. We created a 'short list' of properties about a month out. Then we sent family to look at the top contender. It was a bust, but we sent family to it because we had some issues with the types of photos posted, conversation with the realtor that was managing the property, and concerns about the property and size of rooms.

Other homes on our short listed were ruled out due to location, though one was due to finding out the basement of the home was a separate rental so we'd have strangers living under us.

That left one option. The pictures were pretty solid. They weren't the wide angle fish lens trying to make it look bigger. The house size was the same as our current house, and being from the area I knew it was in a good location. We also did google street view to clear up any concern about a nearby highway. On the map we weren't sure it backed up to it or was offset.

We could have had family walk through it but honestly, we could see what we needed to see online. My husband moved in ahead of us two months ago and the house is lovely.

It's not ideal but a big of legwork can make a big difference. Also, the landlord is an important part of the equation. When I talked to him the first time to see if the property was available, he was fantastic, and has continued to be so. The couple of issues that were there on move on he took care of right away.

[indyrox]

I rented sight-unseen when relocating for work. I had no choice. I tried finding a real estate agent to help me, but due to me recovering from Identity Theft, I was advised to seek out private owners due to my credit (I got past it and am now a homeowner).

It turned out terrible. Of the ads I responded to, only 1 was the actual owner. The rest of the ads were homes that were for sale but the ads were swiped and people were posing as the owners to get deposits. On the home I actually rented I got a FaceTime walk-through, had a lease signed, and sent my deposit to hold the home while I traveled across the country. I looked into the owner, had him send me ID and verified with the tax office that he owned the home. I verified with a real estate agent that the home was not in default or foreclosure.

When I got to the home after 4 days of driving with my stuff, I was told that my deposit and first months prorated rent was not received. Funny, I thought. I had sent a cashiers check with tracking. I called my bank, which was not local to where I was going, and they stated it had been cashed. I showed the landlord the tracking information, he didn't care. I gave the new landlord an affidavit to sign from the bank saying he didn't profit or cash the cashiers check. I had to stay in a hotel another week to get paid again and pay the deposit again. I paid for hotel and rent that entire week. I thought that it was an unfortunate event where we were both victims. I went to the police and reported theft of the cashiers check.

That same month (May), the landlord said he was picking up rent for June on the 28th. It was a few days early, but I said OK. I paid cash because he said he wouldn't feel comfortable with a check. I handed over cash and got a signed receipt. June comes, end of month I get asked for rent early again, this time I give the landlord a check, delivered to him a few miles away. I felt bad for the guy because I completely thought he was innocent and that he thought I was trying to pull one over on him. A couple of days later I get notification from the bank that my claim for the cashiers check was denied because it was cashed (with a fingerprint) by the landlord. So now I am overpaid on rent and deposit. I was getting scammed. My check is cleared for July rent.

I contacted the landlord and advised of the letter I had stating he cashed the check, and advised that I had overpaid rent. I advised that he could keep the funds and apply it to August and September. I was calm and collected, very matter of fact about it. The landlord tries to tell me that my check for July bounced. He started yelling at me that I was a 'professional tenant'. I hung up on him. He filed for eviction the next day, without serving me. I found out because I got a call a week later from the officer investigating and was notified that this was part of a civil court case.

I showed up to court with all of my documentation (landlord was shocked), including proof obtained by the police that the landlord cashed the cashiers check months before (pictures, signature and fingerprint). I let the landlord and his attorney speak to the judge as he presented manufactured evidence including - a receipt showing that I only paid 1/2 a months rent for a single month, a document supposedly from my bank saying that the cashiers check never existed, a fuzzy copy of my cleared check with NSF stamped on the back, and a forged lease that started at the beginning of the month I moved in, when the lease started partially into the month... I was floored.

I presented everything I had - printed emails, texts, bank records, cancelled checks, copies of the cashiers check as cashed, letters from the bank, affidavit from the investigator at the bank fraud department, my lease... The judge basically called us both nuts, and asked me if I wanted to move. I said well, if he's not going to refund me the months I am overpaid, then I want the lease to end when I am no longer paid up, and the landlord is to leave me alone for the duration. The judge agreed, the case was thrown out, and since then there have been others posting cautionary tales of his business practices. I used that extra time to find another home, and left his place a month early. I called it a lesson learned.