Interesting that many owner landlords want their property managerrs to start showing a rental home before a tenant moves out, or as soon as the tenant moves out with the expectation of getting the property rented earlier than if we wait until the property is in pristing renting condition. What do you think? What are your policies? Is this an ethical issue?
My first internship had me showing apartments while they were occupied... this is student housing... needless to say the places were always a DISASTER. At my second internship, the company had a policy that apartments were not shown until the resident moved out. I much prefer this. Sure they might be losing a bit of rent but it's such a better show.
Kat, I am increasingly learning that my experiences are pretty much like those everyone has handled. My bigger concern is that when I show a unit with a tenant in it, I am losing a great renting opportunity because once a tenant leaves, they might not come back, especially if they have a bad perspective of the rental. Jerry
We only show occupied property to approved applicants (the application has been processed and the people are qualified to move in). Once vacant, we show if the property is showable.
Jerry - start taking interior photos of vacant units. I have been doing it for 6 years and now have photos of all my properties EXCEPT ones that currently have the owners living in them (once owners leave and unit is cleaned, I'll take vacant pics)....THIS is crucial and is easy to upload to a website....if my 8g jump drive with photos goes down, I still have them in my INACTIVE properties on my HR website which stores 99 property photos....
Wallace, You have hit on the problem I first bumped into -- storage space. I like the backup idea. Thanks for sharing. Jerry
we mostly manage condos in Myrtle Beach, in our area it is tough to get an application from people before they see it.
Plus what do you do if the tenants living in the property decide they are not going to leave? It could take any where from a couple weeks to a couple months to get them out?
Its our policy not to show properties unless they are empty, in certain circumstances we will put them on our website and start doing some light marketing
From our perspective up in Buffalo, a tenant that cannot wait to get in to see an apartment until it is vacant is generally RUNNING from somewhere else! This is the first indication from me that they may not have the best rental history.
My other thought on showing the property before it is ready is that A) The person wanting to move in may not wait around for the current tenant to move out and repairs to be made and that B) A prospective excellent tenant is turned off by the status of the occupied unit and moves on.
Jerry - I use an 8G Lexar jump drive for photo storage and I only keep active property photos on it....I cull old listing photos onto a smaller jump drive at the end of the year with a copy of the current year's photos on my hard drive also titled at the year photos. I am working on Photos 2009 this year.
Jason, You have hit a couple of the issues that I have run into. Thanks for your input. Jerry
Todd, I wholeheartedly agree with your observations. Mostly, however, I am having a problem with owners who want to show the unit early and they simply will not believe that the rental gets "stale" and seldom gets rented until it is ready anyway. Jerry
Wallace, I am impressed with the extent of your professionalism and organization. You set a hard pace for all of us. Thanks for this great suggestion. Storage is always a problem; getting time to purge old photos is a pain. Jerry
I have found that it is very difficult to show occupied units for a number of reasons.
However, I believe that addresssing this issue up front during a move in will help with the future showings.
Thank you,
Kenneth M. Kujawa, CCIM
http://www.c21signaturerealtycommercial.com/
Aloha Jerry -
Once we receive written notice of the tenant's intention to vacate the property, we schedule a 'pre-move inspection' of the property. In addition to giving us a heads up on issues needing attention at move out, it also allows us to determine if the property is showable. If it is, then we place a yard sign and begin advertising. Of course, we always give the tenant the 24hr notice required in the lease unless they waive that. Thankfully we haven't ran into a problem with the old tenant failing to vacate as agreed and the new tenant being unable to take possession.
If the property is in need of much in the way of repair or painting, then we wait to show it. Most of the time tenants do not have the ability to accurately envision the property as it will look rather than as it looks.
Give all my NARPM Ohana there a big Aloha from me!
Sorry guys - it must just be TOO early here! Didn't realize that I had already responded to this blog earlier. Please forgive my lack of focus this morning.
Hi Betty, It is never improper to respond to a Blog, even several times. So, I will give everyone in the Oahu Chapter your kind aloha and wish you a great day. Jerry
I don't have any rentals at this time, but as long as the owner realizes they may get less per month in rent because of the condition of the property, then I say go with the owners decision.
Todd, I agree with you, but as a last-resort as in when I simply can't change the owner's mind. The problem from my perspective is that the easiest time to rent a home is the first couple of days after it is advertised. When I have a bunch of perspective tenants look at the home and turn it down because they can't imagine it without the tenants stuff in it, the listing gets old. So it doesn't improve the timing of the rental and the owner still has to take a reduced rent. Jerry
Michael, I am uncertain as to what is going on. It seems that you are a tenant in a home that is being sold? Is that correct? Under any circumstances, you are not obliged to give out information on the rental home, and to do so might open you up to a lawsuit. If the property manager or owner is selling the home, your occupancy might be pretty limited. Just take this into consideration. As for people knowcking at the door, if they are there to ask questions about the home being for sale, or to look at the home, just give them the realtor's phone number. The main thing is to be uninvolved with any person looking to buy the home. You may want to talk with a lawyer. If the home is not for sale, my answer will change. Just let me know. And thanks for your question. Jerry
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