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Here I am with another rental on the market. One of the nice things about prospective tenants is how they literally do almost all of the legwork for a landlord.
Today I denied an application because his provided address did not exist and he had no landlord name. Yet somehow he blamed me for the denial. He told me that he lived there for 5 years so obviously the address exists. An hour later, another text comes stating that, whoops, he always mixes up his home address with work address. Yup, looks like your job address doesn't exist then, amiright...?
I made an accomadation on a holiday to show the house today dyer she contacted me yesterday. She didn't show. I sent her a message that rescheduling of the missed appointment is not available. She then proceeded to blame me for being inflexible. Really...? Lol!
I am waiting with baited breath for the next threat of lawsuit. It makes for entertaining dinner stories as well as saves me a lot of time and money when people so blatantly weed themselves out of the applicant pool. I'm still rather taken aback at how easy these folks make it.
Word to the wise, threatening a potential landlord, becoming aggressive and hostile, or accusing them of things after being denied a tour or having an application rejected does not cause a sincere reconsideration of your request. An application that is filled out completely and accurately is generally a requirement. If they can't do that, the odds of the tenant paying on time and not trashing the place decrease rapidly.
So a sincere thank you to all of the unreliable terrible tenants for making it easy for landlords. While your forthrightness and honesty about your true nature are good to know, you are not living here.
PS. I passed your contact info onto the landlord association so that the other business owners are aware of you. Happy house hunting.
We each have our system. I wish you luck with your system.
With my current tenants, I was getting anxious by having empty units for so long. I hate dropping rent levels but I hate empty units worse. The first tenants willing to sign a contract and pay money got in, for each of my four units.
I know one landlord who swears that he goes by how clean they keep their car.
Here I am with another rental on the market. One of the nice things about prospective tenants is how they literally do almost all of the legwork for a landlord.
Today I denied an application because his provided address did not exist and he had no landlord name. Yet somehow he blamed me for the denial. He told me that he lived there for 5 years so obviously the address exists. An hour later, another text comes stating that, whoops, he always mixes up his home address with work address. Yup, looks like your job address doesn't exist then, amiright...?
I made an accomadation on a holiday to show the house today dyer she contacted me yesterday. She didn't show. I sent her a message that rescheduling of the missed appointment is not available. She then proceeded to blame me for being inflexible. Really...? Lol!
I am waiting with baited breath for the next threat of lawsuit. It makes for entertaining dinner stories as well as saves me a lot of time and money when people so blatantly weed themselves out of the applicant pool. I'm still rather taken aback at how easy these folks make it.
Word to the wise, threatening a potential landlord, becoming aggressive and hostile, or accusing them of things after being denied a tour or having an application rejected does not cause a sincere reconsideration of your request. An application that is filled out completely and accurately is generally a requirement. If they can't do that, the odds of the tenant paying on time and not trashing the place decrease rapidly.
So a sincere thank you to all of the unreliable terrible tenants for making it easy for landlords. While your forthrightness and honesty about your true nature are good to know, you are not living here.
PS. I passed your contact info onto the landlord association so that the other business owners are aware of you. Happy house hunting.
And the point of this rant was...
You could have easily not post this and it would have the equalivant result
Some people most certainly do screen themselves out, mostly by being late or inconsiderate or hostile. Or reeking of cigarettes. I've had people standing there smoking in my driveway, waiting for their tour of a non-smoking property. I've had a few people that show up filthy, dirty clothing, dirty uncombed hair, ground in dirt on their skin.
The ones who apply with lies on the application, I actually have to do the screening, so they have screened themselves out, but still caused me extra work.
I get a lot of no-shows, probably about 50%, who are screening themselves out. For all I know, they found something else to rent and couldn't be bothered to cancel their appointment, but at that point, they are not my problem. No-shows are a common compliant among landlords.
Possibly the post might remind a hopeful tenant to keep their appointment and to fill out the application accurately. Many of the hopeful tenants who complain to me that they can't find a place to live are the same people who show up late and/or leave blanks on their application because they have not organized their information and taken it with them.
I would think it would be helpful for tenants to know what a landlord is looking for and what is going to get them rejected. In some areas it is not easy to find a good rental and it doesn't take much to get your application rejected when there are lots of applicants.
I help renters screen themselves out by stating clearly in the ad that I require deposit, references and credit check. The deposit is about 80% of the rent so that helps people screen themselves out if they don't have a cushion.
I don't usually advertise around the first of the month as that gets people who are disorganized or who plan on stiffing current landlord and moving without paying. For me the 15th to 22nd is the sweet spot. Other landlords might prefer someone who is more organized and looking farther in advance.
Sometimes emergencies come up so if someone calls to cancel I am happy to reschedule. I make a point of asking prospective renters to drive by the outside before our appointment. That lets the snobs screen themselves out. I turned the property that appeals to snobs over to property management... let her deal with them.
Quote:
I was getting anxious by having empty units for so long. I hate dropping rent levels but I hate empty units worse. The first tenants willing to sign a contract and pay money got in, for each of my four units.
I would quote this as a recipe for disaster but if it works for you, great! My philosophy is you are better off with no tenants than bad tenants.
.... I would quote this as a recipe for disaster but if it works for you, great! My philosophy is you are better off with no tenants than bad tenants.
We just bought this building. The previous owner had the building vacant for decades. We are remodeling two stories to become ten apartments and just wanted to get someone into the four existing units.
Possibly the post might remind a hopeful tenant to keep their appointment and to fill out the application accurately. Many of the hopeful tenants who complain to me that they can't find a place to live are the same people who show up late and/or leave blanks on their application because they have not organized their information and taken it with them.
I would think it would be helpful for tenants to know what a landlord is looking for and what is going to get them rejected. In some areas it is not easy to find a good rental and it doesn't take much to get your application rejected when there are lots of applicants.
OR,
That was my intent of this post so I apologize if it came off as a rant. I had an "applicant" today "self screen" himself via his father. His father inquired about my rental via trulia. I replied about my available showing times and explained that I screen every applicant via a background check including credit/criminal/eviction history and that the property is a no pet and no smoking property.
The gentalman replied back in a very hostile and rambling email about how he was a police officer and that his son made very good money and could easily afford my place. Additionally, he was "VERY OFFENDED BY MY RESPONSE!!!". Huh? What does being a cop have to do with anything? Color of Law, anyone?
After that email, I emailed him back saying that this property was not a good fit for his son and the showing was cancelled. Mind you, I never had any contact with his 40 year old truck driving son. He replied that his son would indeed be there for a showing. What....???
After a quick google search and two phone calls, I was in contact with his chief of police and explained the unusual emails and mentioned how I was uncomfortable with his communication. Being a small police department, I'm fairly confident my unofficial complaint hit home.
I'm really excited about my next threat of being sued. Haven't had that happen on this rental yet. Threatening to sue us also not a great strategy to employ in securing a rental.
Some people most certainly do screen themselves out, mostly by being late or inconsiderate or hostile. Or reeking of cigarettes. I've had people standing there smoking in my driveway, waiting for their tour of a non-smoking property. I've had a few people that show up filthy, dirty clothing, dirty uncombed hair, ground in dirt on their skin.
The ones who apply with lies on the application, I actually have to do the screening, so they have screened themselves out, but still caused me extra work.
I get a lot of no-shows, probably about 50%, who are screening themselves out. For all I know, they found something else to rent and couldn't be bothered to cancel their appointment, but at that point, they are not my problem. No-shows are a common compliant among landlords.
Around here, landlords holds mass showings at a time of their choosing and plenty of people show up. You snooze you lose.
Around here, landlords holds mass showings at a time of their choosing and plenty of people show up. You snooze you lose.
That's exactly what I do. I give everyone the same showing time. Then I don't care if one shows up or ten show up. It's the same amount of time out of my day.
I usually don't inconvenience myself for a prospective tenant because the odds are they won't show. People are flaky in general but renters are generally less stable than homeowners so that flakiness is magnified to some degree.
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