These last two weeks of the year, I have had my real estate agent hat on. To see if I could pick up a few quickie rental commissions and generate some future business, I advertised some of my company's rentals. The idea being that if they call me, I show them and the property management company does the rest.
So far it has been abysmal, as the number of people looking for a place to rent in North Central Mesa the last two weeks of December is less than four. And, those three have called me.
The last call I got was a beaut. Wanda wanted to know if I could check to see if the landlord was giving away "free rent" for two months. When I asked her what "free rent" meant, she explained apartment complexes, in order to lure in potential tenants, are waiving the first two months' rent payments if the tenant will pretty please pick them.
I asked Wanda, "If you move in and don't pay, how will the landlord pay the mortgage? Aren't you worried about the landlord going into foreclosure if you aren't giving them rent money?"
"That's not my problem. If a landlord wants me they should be willing to match the free rent I can get at the apartment," she replied.
Of course, the major difference between the apartment complex and a single landlord, is the apartment complex works in volume--if one unit is vacant, they have 200 others to cover it. But, I didn't explain that to Wanda. I doubted she would care. I could almost guarantee if I told the landlord about this scenario, he would rather the place stay vacant a little bit longer.
Monday, December 28, 2009
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3 comments:
Thinking like a landlord are we?? Wanda was absolutely wise to ask that question. There are landlords of single family dwellings out there who do try to compete with complexes. I myself have rented a house wherein I was given the first and last month's rent free as an incentive to rent from this particular landlord and although this particular house was, in my opinion, overpriced I rented it anyway because it saved me money upfront which was greatly appreciated with all the other expenses of moving. It turned out that I stayed there 3 years. Smart landlord. If you don't ask, you will never know.
I am thinking like someone who sees the warning signs of trouble. This woman hasn't seen the house. She is already negotiating when she has nothing to offer. She wasn't willing to see the house, fill out an application or let the landlord learn anything about her. I don't mean just run a background check, I mean take the trouble to put out a decent first impression.
I will go to lengths to attract good tenants, but I am not giving it away.
And, I did pass on the info the owner. He wasn't impressed either.
Some people want something for nothing it seems.
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