'No-shows' at apartment rental viewing

LollipopJimmy

chicorytip wrote: »

Given your experience what would you say are the major differences between a letting which is being handled by an Estate Agent and one where the property owner themselves is the first point of contact?

As a rule I never rented from an agency where possible. I did once and swore I'd never do it again, it was only freak luck that got me in touch with the actual landlord and he was like a demon when he saw the numerous issues with the property that I had been trying to resolve through the agency. One was a fairly substantial leak, he actually stopped dealing with the agency after that and asked me to pay him directly

py

Mrs Shuttleworth wrote: »

So have four viewings arranged between today and tomorrow.

Will post back on how it went - or not!

A little late this round of viewings (hopefully there are no more) but I had 3-5 people come to same viewing after going through the pain of no shows at individual viewings. Saves you time and answering questions for one can be overheard by others too so prevents you repeating yourself. Might also show that there are other people interested in it.

mel123

The ones who ring you or even go to the bother of texting, are the serious ones I find. They ring and ask the questions they want to know, and either want to view it or say I'll get back to you. These emails with absolutely no effort boggle my mind. I used to set ads up for a family member that used to be in the game of renting, and ive been on the other side looking to rent also so i know what id write if i were to email, but 'hi when you viewing' and thats it were some of the types of emails i used to get!

OP, maybe set up viewings and give people times? Couple a 6pm, couple b 6.15, and so on. A bit more time consuming as you may spend an hour or so there, but at least you will know who will show if they make an appointment with you and think you are going there specifically to meet them.

bucketybuck

mel123 wrote: »

OP, maybe set up viewings and give people times? Couple a 6pm, couple b 6.15, and so on.

I don't know why this isn't standard. An appointment for 6.15 is an actual appointment with a commitment in a way that an open viewing after 6pm is not.

LirW

If you think that's bad, have you ever tried to hire a plumber? :pac:

server down

bucketybuck wrote: »

I don't know why this isn't standard. An appointment for 6.15 is an actual appointment with a commitment in a way that an open viewing after 6pm is not.

Open viewings are a sign of high demand. In a different era, a mere 5 years, ago I came back to ireland and had company paid accommodation for slightly more than a month. About the 3rd weekend into that I decided to look for a rental and got in touch with an estate agent. We arranged an actual day to meet to see two houses. We took our time deciding. Both were empty.

Obviously in those cases I made an appointment. There was nobody else looking at them as far as I could see.

So complaining about no shows at an open viewing isnt much of a complaint. The place will be rented out. The fact there are multiple people turning up, even if not all of them who say they will do, shows high demand.

Bushmanpm

stevedublin wrote:

okay, did you set up another viewing with her?

Er no, we got the impression from her original emails lack of detail she was just emailing en masse. Sorry but if you make an arrangement, keep to it or at least have the decency to make contact to cancel.

pilly

I had the same issue the last time I showed my house, I went to the trouble of screening people beforehand, gave them actual appointments, not just an open viewing and 50% didn't turn up despite some begging me to rent the house before they'd even seen it.

I don't know if it's because people feel that they won't have a chance or what but I like to give everyone a chance based on a face to face meeting.

Some emails I didn't bother replying to though because they were either BOTS or not reading the ad. "I'm interested in your apartment" was quite a regular one.

Bigmac1euro

Maybe drop the price and see how many people turn up. I’m guessing your letting it at the “going rate” which is far too expensive in the first place. If your upset that 2 people of the 10 only turned up it’s because they couldn’t afford it.

Lux23

Heres Johnny wrote: »

I believe this homelessness crisis is mainly an exaggeration by the media. If a person can't get the exact location and type of house they want they go into temporary accommodation and are classed as homeless.

Well, I believe you're quite wrong. Try visiting a homeless help centre and see for yourself before spouting nonsense like that.

pilly

steo_magra wrote: »

Maybe drop the price and see how many people turn up. I’m guessing your letting it at the “going rate” which is far too expensive in the first place. If your upset that 2 people of the 10 only turned up it’s because they couldn’t afford it.

This is absolute bull. If you can't afford an apartment then don't ring up and make an appointment to view it, simple.

Bigmac1euro

pilly wrote: »

This is absolute bull. If you can't afford an apartment then don't ring up and make an appointment to view it, simple.

It was most likely a copy and paste to many different properties, I’m sure the people in question weighed it up with other places and pulled out. Can you blame people for not showing up at the way things are going. Are you LL ? ..... Thought so. You most likely have no idea what it’s like trying to find a place at the moment. In order to get a place that’s affordable to the normal Joe you have to broadcast emails to get something back. Your never going to turn down a viewing because your circumstances might change between the time your viewing on the time you’ve sent the email saying you would view. The idea is to leave all doors open.

Bigmac1euro

OSI wrote: »

"I'm getting bugger all interest in my apartment advertised at 2k a month that would need a salary in the mid 50ks to afford. Clearly this media stuff about poor people not being able to afford housing is bollocks"




Letting agents are pointless. They're pretty much a guaranteed sign that a landlord has **** all interest in a property beyond getting their cheque at the end of every month. You'll never get anything fixed or replaced, and the odd time they do bother to fix something they'll send their nixer bloke rather than hiring a proper tradesman.

This!

arleitiss

arleitiss wrote: »

I was recently looking for property and messaged over 30 ads.
Those who replied with generic message like:
"Viewing is on at 7 PM next Thursday/[Specific Date]" I just didn't bother, I knew I can show up and there will be 50 others and it feels like some sort of hunger games where you fight for your spot, so I didn't bother.

People who replied more directly specifically with directly targeting me - I attended.


P.S - I landed an apartment for a decent price and landlord was very flexible in terms of arranging viewing.

Maybe it's just me but I hate dealing with landlords who don't bother responding on individual basis and rather just send the copy/paste message, it gives me an idea that it's the kind of landlord who will take your money and just not give a single **** about issues in property.

Most LL are busy, have day jobs, family etc etc they don't have time for writing out loads of replies to different people contacting them when there could be 30 or 40 people emailing in a short space of time. Same for viewings they need to schedule it at a time that suits them.

I'm not a fan of email anyway for this sort of thing, a LL should have a burner phone for this sort of thing which is turned on for a few hours a day, any calls are answered anything outside of them hours leaves a message and their number. I've rented out many rooms in the house shares I've lived in and vetted plenty and as a rule I ignored all email enquiries as over the phone you can do the first cull of potential people as you get a feel for them, that's much harder to do over email.

PierreLeCake

Its always been the way that people don't show up for viewings. In the past when I gave out my phone number I had people swear they were 10 minutes away and then did n't turn up.
The last time 2 years ago I use email to filter out people just to keep the numbers down. The house was below market rates so there was a lot of interest. All the people I emailed turned up with one exception and even they had the decency to email and say they were n't coming.
My better half has just put a house on. Its in an expensive area of Dublin asking over 2000 Euro per month and we can't believe the number of HAP enquiries. Please tell me HAP recipients can't get up to 2 Grand a month for rent.
All the homeless charities email as well so I suspect people are just throwing out emails at every property that comes up on Daft. Somebody on this thread mentioned Bots which did n't even occur to me. Why would somebody set up a Bot to answer rental ads. Are they scammers or just being super efficient in their hunt for property.
Even though the ad said it was a house the amount of people enquiring about the apartment to rent is unbelievable. When you whittle out HAP enquiries and the "when can I see the property" type replies I would say about 10% gave enough information to warrant a reply back. It will be interesting to see how many people turn up to the viewing.

arleitiss

What's HAP?

Also been wondering (since there seems to be quite a few of property owners here):
Do landlords get calls from orgs/gov asking if they are willing to let out property to homeless for cheaper? (or some other type of scheme/thing)

jim-mcdee

Why don't you use an agent? Then you don't have to worry about it. What experience do you have with renting apartments? Do you know the laws inside out? Would you service your own car if you didn't know one end of a spanner from the other?

pilly

PierreLeCake wrote: »

Its always been the way that people don't show up for viewings. In the past when I gave out my phone number I had people swear they were 10 minutes away and then did n't turn up.
The last time 2 years ago I use email to filter out people just to keep the numbers down. The house was below market rates so there was a lot of interest. All the people I emailed turned up with one exception and even they had the decency to email and say they were n't coming.
My better half has just put a house on. Its in an expensive area of Dublin asking over 2000 Euro per month and we can't believe the number of HAP enquiries. Please tell me HAP recipients can't get up to 2 Grand a month for rent.
All the homeless charities email as well so I suspect people are just throwing out emails at every property that comes up on Daft. Somebody on this thread mentioned Bots which did n't even occur to me. Why would somebody set up a Bot to answer rental ads. Are they scammers or just being super efficient in their hunt for property.
Even though the ad said it was a house the amount of people enquiring about the apartment to rent is unbelievable. When you whittle out HAP enquiries and the "when can I see the property" type replies I would say about 10% gave enough information to warrant a reply back. It will be interesting to see how many people turn up to the viewing.

Depends how many kids you have how much you would get on HAP but if they're going to 2k I think they'd need about 8 kids or something, not an impossibility I suppose.

arleitiss

jim-mcdee wrote: »

Why dont you use an agent? Then you dont have to worry about it.

I would assume agent isn't a free service.

jim-mcdee

arleitiss wrote: »

I would assume agent isn't a free service.

Correct, it is not a free service. If someone offers such a service for free, I would advise not to accept. Same can be said for all professional services. Is it a good idea to hand a stranger the keys of your property, with little or no letting or vetting experience, just to save a few quid ? If you think it is, fair enough.

jim-mcdee

jim-mcdee wrote: »

Why don't you use an agent? Then you don't have to worry about it. What experience do you have with renting apartments? Do you know the laws inside out? Would you service your own car if you didn't know one end of a spanner from the other?

It's not free and I'd want to be doing my own vetting and looking after my own property. I wouldn't dream of using an agent if I was letting property.

Mrs Shuttleworth

Property got let this afternoon. Professional man from the UK for six months less one day.

Very happy - that was close!

arleitiss

tbh I am 24 and I had tough time finding place, most landlords asked if I party and if I have friends over often, everybody seems to be stereotyping by age (even though I am a computer nerd who works full time as software engineer), if I party - I go to city centre and cause havoc there

So yeah, I think it's definetely worth looking at persons background and references more than jumping to conclusions.

(This mostly happened with agents).

Claw Hammer

Mrs Shuttleworth wrote: »

Property got let this afternoon. Professional man from the UK for six months less one day.

Very happy - that was close!

What is the point of six months less one day? A Notice of Termination cant be served during a fixed term lease and if it is served the day after it ends Part 4 will have kicked in.

Mrs Shuttleworth

Claw Hammer wrote: »

What is the point of six months less one day? A Notice of Termination cant be served during a fixed term lease and if it is served the day after it ends Part 4 will have kicked in.

The landlord can issue a notice of termination during the six months if the tenant breaches the terms of the lease. The tenant also has to inform the landlord of his intention to stay beyond the fixed term a minimum of one month before it ends and the landlord can refuse to enter into a new lease.

Claw Hammer

Mrs Shuttleworth wrote: »

The landlord can issue a notice of termination during the six months if the tenant breaches the terms of the lease. The tenant also has to inform the landlord of his intention to stay beyond the fixed term a minimum of one month before it ends and the landlord can refuse to enter into a new lease.

A landlord can terminate any lease for breach of condition. If the tenant does not inform the landlord of his intention to stay beyond the term of the lease there is little or nothing the landlord can do about it. I have yet to see any landlord succeed on that point. Once part 4 kicks in the tenant does not need a lease. Landlord refusing to renew means diddly squat.

ballyharpat

arleitiss wrote: »

I was recently looking for property and messaged over 30 ads.
Those who replied with generic message like:
"Viewing is on at 7 PM next Thursday/[Specific Date]" I just didn't bother, I knew I can show up and there will be 50 others and it feels like some sort of hunger games where you fight for your spot, so I didn't bother.

People who replied more directly specifically with directly targeting me - I attended.


P.S - I landed an apartment for a decent price and landlord was very flexible in terms of arranging viewing.

Maybe it's just me but I hate dealing with landlords who don't bother responding on individual basis and rather just send the copy/paste message, it gives me an idea that it's the kind of landlord who will take your money and just not give a single **** about issues in property.

If I am letting a property, then I put the ad up there, I send everyone the same message, because nothing is different about my property for any of the prospective clients, so why would I send them separate information. If they care enough about getting the property, then they show up at the agreed time-which is based to suit them, after that, I don't do anymore.

If I want a car, I see an ad for it, then I may ask a few basic questions, if they are not already written on the ad, then I go see the car and make my decision on that, I don't expect the seller to chase me down, or to go into the details of what is in the house, if I already have the basics, and the rest is going to be there when I see the apartment/car-your statement makes zero sense , if we are in the homeless crisis that the media says we are.

arleitiss

ballyharpat wrote: »

If I am letting a property, then I put the ad up there, I send everyone the same message, because nothing is different about my property for any of the prospective clients, so why would I send them separate information. If they care enough about getting the property, then they show up at the agreed time-which is based to suit them, after that, I don't do anymore.

If I want a car, I see an ad for it, then I may ask a few basic questions, if they are not already written on the ad, then I go see the car and make my decision on that, I don't expect the seller to chase me down, or to go into the details of what is in the house, if I already have the basics, and the rest is going to be there when I see the apartment/car-your statement makes zero sense , if we are in the homeless crisis that the media says we are.

Car is a product you buy for personal use and take full responsibility for it's maintenance.

Property is rented, maintenance is done by another person (landlord), and if it takes 2 weeks for landlord to sort something basic that can be done in few hours - I would really think if I want to bother with that property at all.
+ Can't fix something yourself as it will pretty much give grounds for landlord to deduct your deposit. (No adjustments without permission).


I am not part of homeless crisis so I can't say for others but that's my opinion anyway.

tl;dr: I rather move into hotel for 2 weeks to keep on searching for property with decent landlord than land a property I like with landlord who gives 0 ****s.

ballyharpat

Ive had people wait 2/3 months for my properties, and give me a deposit as soon as I tell them that they have the house, I offer below the regular rent as I think it builds some goodwill between me and the client, I do all the maintenance-except for plumbing and electric and I have done all the renovations and let the client decide location of shelves etc.

They show up after a generic email or phone call and I give very little detail except number of bedrooms and general location of the house..... after that, they see the house and raise any concerns and I do the same, I rarely check references, but I know a lot of people in the towns I rent, and from that, I can judge whether or not I think they would enjoy ;living in and taking care of my investment.
I expect them to do general maintenance of the house, like opening windows and weeds in gardens etc-so it is for their personal use and I expect them to take responsibility for the maintenance.

It's my investment, I am on top of all repairs that need to be carried out if its my problem and I take care of all teething issues, and there are always some.

arleitiss wrote: »

Car is a product you buy for personal use and take full responsibility for it's maintenance.

Property is rented, maintenance is done by another person (landlord), and if it takes 2 weeks for landlord to sort something basic that can be done in few hours - I would really think if I want to bother with that property at all.
+ Can't fix something yourself as it will pretty much give grounds for landlord to deduct your deposit. (No adjustments without permission).


I am not part of homeless crisis so I can't say for others but that's my opinion anyway.

tl;dr: I rather move into hotel for 2 weeks to keep on searching for property with decent landlord than land a property I like with landlord who gives 0 ****s.

TrustedApple

When I was letting out my extra room in my apartment.

The oddballs who ware trying to rent the room were priceless. One guy asked can We share a bed and another asked was I cute. Another wanted to bring a big huge dog into an apartment !!!.

The add clearly said you must be a none smoker and a working young personnel like me. !!!