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Nasty? Childish? No, I think not. The landlord imposing on you every week without fail despite you being good tenants and not 'allowing' you to skip one week as 'lab rats' is wrong.
However much they may not like having to show the place multiple times, when it comes down to it, they ARE renters. Look at it from the owner's perspective -- they've held up their end of the deal by giving the OP proper notice, and they obviously need to show the place in order to sell it. By telling a prospective client that they can't show the place, the owner may very well lose a sale.
The renter may not like having to show the place, but that's tough. It's not their house, and the owner has been good about informing them well in advance of the showings.
I'm not sure what your incoveniency is but a whole is very long if some one wants to sell and finaly gets a potential buyer to show the home to.
I had a tenant who had send me many emails stating we were the best Ll but when he gave notice of not extending his lease he didn't want to let me show the house to any one and his whole demenor changed and he and his family even vanished over night when I found out he was lying about not able to me showing the home since he told me he was going away for a couple of days and when I called to set up another appointment they completely went off at me...unbelievable...now they have a judgment they have to deal with since he didn't pay last month rent and vanished over night with a wife and 3 kids, 2 disabled...
Right now I have another rental coming free and the tenant is very helpful and we always had a good relationship...she is going to move in with her boyfriend into a big house and so both of them are moving from the same complex and they understand what it is...he has to sell and she will just move out. She is evn letting me show the house and even prefers to have me do it during the day when she isn't there. I try to have as little as possible people see the home so I won't invate her privacy too much.
I already had people who filled out the application and paid the fee but their application (financial side)turned out to be a little bit worse than they had told me so I requested a higher sec. deposit upon moving in....which I know will be hard for them but the risk is too high specially since they already stated not willing to pay for last months rent where they live right now. I guess they thought they can use it for the deposit and than pay the first month so they don't need anymore money and they probable don't have any more money at all....
However much they may not like having to show the place multiple times, when it comes down to it, they ARE renters. Look at it from the owner's perspective -- they've held up their end of the deal by giving the OP proper notice, and they obviously need to show the place in order to sell it. By telling a prospective client that they can't show the place, the owner may very well lose a sale.
The renter may not like having to show the place, but that's tough. It's not their house, and the owner has been good about informing them well in advance of the showings.
This is true, but the OP has rights, too. Sometimes it is exhausting to have people trample through the apartment.
This is true, but the OP has rights, too. Sometimes it is exhausting to have people trample through the apartment.
Yes, the OP has rights. And the landlord is not infringing on them by following the terms of the lease. The OPs rights also do not include the leeway to screw up a possible sale.
Please don't misunderstand. When the LLs informed us they wanted to sell the place (I'm surprised they didn't offer it to us first but that's beside the point), we let them know we fully supported them and would do what we could to help out. We offered to consider ending the lease early (if they would agree to such) so they could show/sell with no impediments, but, as I said in an earlier post, they declined.
We've sold several homes over the past few years so we know the kinds of things to do to help a showing along. We were willing to do that on THEIR behalf, even though we stood to gain absolutely NOTHING but inconvenience for the effort.
We did not ask for anything. We only assumed (guess one should never assume) that we'd be treated respectfully and that all parties would consider and respect each other's positions. They offered a small amount off the last couple months' rent as compensation for our inconvenience (later, they tried to say the small amount off was to "help US out"... yeah, right).
Zugzub, we did not try to "screw up a possible sale". Nor would we. They may have questionable scruples but we have our principles. We merely asked for one concession. Because they were unwilling to work with us, we had to scramble to modify our plans to accommodate them.
They had their showing. We weren't here and we left the place looking just fine. As far as I know, there has been no offer. The little petty part of me (and we all have that little petty part, don't we?) says haha, serves 'em right.
Nelly,
Unless someone has been there, don't expect them to understand.
So many landlords treat renters like servants--you know, lower than they are, yet they gladly take the $$ every month. I prefer renting in a complex. They are much nicer than the 'private owner!'
I'm with you on this one. I am a very private person and I don't like having people in my house. When renting a place I think it is *your* place, your space. I understand that allowances need to be made if the owner is selling, but it would really bother me to have to get my home in "showing condition" whenever someone wanted to look at the house, then let them wander around looking at all of my things. All I can do about that is hope my landlord never wants to sell, or buy a house myself; because really, it is a tough situation for both parties.
We went through this at our last place. The house was for sale, we rented the upstairs apartment and had a clause only to show Saturdays with prior notice. Anyhow, one day the landlady called up and said she wanted to have the real estate show the house on a Wednesday morning. My husband works nights and it was not convenient. I was also sick with the flu (something she later 'tried to confirm' with the downstairs tenant!)
I don't think saying no then was unreasonable.
We had allowed showings since the weekend we moved in in September. We were very nice about it and told her no, sorry, one time.
She b**ched me out on the phone for saying no. (so much for rental clauses...)
We were bullied, too.
She was a pain in the butt and nasty. Eventually we had the time changed to the afternoon and they showed the place. (they didn't buy it but some other guy did eventually).
We had the house shown so many times, I didn't care what I left out. I stopped scrambling to make the place look good. I suggest you let them see the place but hang around. Start hanging around at each showing. People will get uncomfortable and leave quickly with you there.
Cook up some curry or other delicious foods that linger.
Nasty? Childish? No, I think not. The landlord imposing on you every week without fail despite you being good tenants and not 'allowing' you to skip one week as 'lab rats' is wrong.
We rented a small house and had to clean it top to bottom when we moved in and always pd rent on time. Landlord was always nice and allowed us to have our 3 cats free of extra charge. Then put ad for rent after we gave notice and we had to show several times a day and make appointments and had several no shows. She gave potential renters our phone number.
When they got a special couple to rent after us showing them several times landlord said don't worry about cleaning as she would. But since we had cats we had carpet cleaned anyway and had carpet replaced in one room from spilled paint our fault.
She then after walkthru and said all was great sent us bill, came out of our deposit, for already cracked window, recleaning carpet, new toilet, etc. We were hurt that she did this but oh well.
Found out yesterday new tenents are both in jail and never paid rent so made me smile. Hope she has a hard time renting it out again.
We rent a small house. It was to be a short-term (9 month) lease, starting in August 08, ending June 09. In February, the owners decided to place the house on the market. We are to be given 48-hours notice before showings.
Having sold several homes, we know how inconvenient showings can be but realize they are a necessary evil. We know what it is to scramble and make sure everything is neat-as-a-pin. We know the how incredibly disruptive it is to have to stow all one's personal goods, especially sensitive information and prescription medications.
It is one thing to do all this when it is your own home and when you, personally, stand to benefit. It is an entirely different matter to have to do all this as a renter. As a renter, the renter takes all the risk with no potential reward.
We have already accommodated several showings. This week, the owners informed us that they want to show later this week. We asked if we could take a pass for thisweek because of circumstances that would make a showing highly inconvenient (more than the usual) and extremely uncomfortable for us.
The owners said "no". Their position is that they have given the required notice and they are going to show whether we like it or not.
I should point out that we've been good tenants. The landlord has said as much in emails. We have no pets (they had a dog). We are adults and we are non-smokers. We have caused absolutely no damage. We keep the place clean. Before moving in, we even hired professional house-cleaners (who also cleaned all the dog's slobber off the windows) and professional carpet cleaners (oh, how they needed it), all at OUR expense.
Probably most important, we have consistently paid the rent several days ahead of the due date (and I should note that the rent is much higher than most in this town).
The sad part is, until they decided to place the house on the market, we considered ourselves very lucky to have found great landlords. This is our first time renting in over 20 years and we were unsure of how the relationship might play out. We've heard horror stories about how awful landlords can be.
Bottom line: according to the lease, as long as they give the proper notice, they are legally able to show. I understand that. My question is, from a decency standpoint, are they being reasonable in refusing our request to not show for this one week?
I feel bullied.
Your landlord is within his rights. He could ask you to move. It is easier to sell a vacant house anyway. IMHO.
Then again, you could just buy it yourself. That would solve all these problems.
Your landlord is within his rights. He could ask you to move. It is easier to sell a vacant house anyway. IMHO.
From the OP:
Quote:
We offered to consider ending the lease early (if they would agree to such) so they could show/sell with no impediments, but, as I said in an earlier post, they declined.
I had a similar situation. I also was in an "in-between" rental situation. My lease was actually up (I was month to month at the time). My LL begged me to stay because I had great art/furniture and I kept the place clean. Looking back I probably should have charged him a "home staging" fee.
I didn't so much have a problem w/ the LL. It was the realtors; mainly the listing agent. He just couldn't quite get his little mind around the "24 hour notice" concept (helllllo, I have a dog???).
Things deteriorated rapidly and I eventually caught him lying to my LL regarding access to the property.
Bummer for him. Little did he know I was looking to both sell (another house) and buy more property in the area. Both houses were well worth double what the rental was. Guess which realtor I did not use in those transactions? In fact I refuse to this day to look at any of his listings.
Moral of the story: treat everyone with respect, always.
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Looking back I probably should have charged him a "home staging" fee. 
