Tenant Shopping

Vetting prospective tenants is like channeling a fickle shop-a-holic drama queen.

Monday it was Petunia Perfect and her charming e-mail. I called her back and left a message. She called me back and said, "Did y'all just call me on this number? Why did you call me? Who are you?" So... she can't listen to her voice mail? Not a good start.

Tuesday it was Virtuous Vera. She e-mailed me from her stable company. Her subject and verbs agreed. She used proper e-mail etiquette (spelled out words like "you" and "are" and did not type with all caps). She started with a greeting and ended with a closing paragraph. And, she included her name. I would have settled for just a first name, but no. I got both a first and last name. Generally prospective tenants like to be anonymous and use e-mail addresses like sweetbabymama(at)scaldmail.com

Wednesday it was Suave Sam, who told me his job was moving his family to the area. He could put the deposit down right away. And, would it be ok if he signed a two year lease? His wife apparently grew up across the street and they both grew up going to church the on the next block over. For some reason, prospective tenants wanting to impress like to tell me their church affiliations.

Thursday it was Delightful Dawn who asked for the property address to preview. She then called back on Friday to ask about the particulars. She is in a position to move in as soon as possible. However, she is more than happy to wait until Sunday--like everyone else--when Carolsue opens the house for viewing. However, she seemed a bit astonished that I would check her credit. "Is that really necessary?" She then quickly added, "I don't have anything to hide."

There are several more calls and e-mails on this property this week. But none of them match my accessories.