Is it a good idea to follow up w/ prospective tenants?

Question

Hi,

I recently had a very large pool of tenants during the recent turnover.....including one person that was very nice, but aggressive (ie. called me when my agent was 1 minute late (literally) arriving at the house for the showing (emails twice/day).. and others that were very polite - should I respond with a quick thank you note for looking at the home, yet letting them know they were not selected? I do not feel obligated to let those know that did not actually come see the house, otherwise, I'd be writing 100 notes..

What are your suggestions for letting people know they were not the tenant selected?

Thanks!

Michael Plante · Answer

Nathan,The value you bring to this forum is nothing short of incredible!

So often I find myself skipping to your posts because of how concise and knowledgeable they areThank you for all of your input

Nathan Gesner · Answer

When someone is aggressive or rude, I shut them down. If you don't feel comfortable telling them to leave you alone, just block their email and phone.

I would not respond to everyone and I don't think it's expected. If you do want to respond to all of them, create a simple generic message you can cut/paste to save time.

Adam Martin · Answer

I don't follow up with people who just reached out but did not tour or those that did but didn't submit an application, but I feel if someone was interested enough to pay for a background check I owe them at least a quick text. I keep things brief and just text them thank you for your interest but I have selected another applicant who has already put down the deposit to move in. This is about as final as it gets since someone else already paid. I don't get into why they were not selected since it doesn't matter there is no debate and most people don't ask anyway. I also only have 6 houses and have never had several vacancies at the same time so as I scale this may need to be adjusted but it really doesn't take much of my time and is the polite thing to do. It's a small world and especially if they were just not the most qualified we may meet again.

David Lee Hall, III · Answer

When I was using Tellus for all of my screening I would send a quick thank you but the unit has been filled. Easy enough with copy and paste and I could hit 100 people in 10 minutes. If it wasn’t for the ease no way I would have responded to them all.

Bruce Woodruff · Answer

+1 on Nathan.

Re the follow-up, I would never do that. None of their business. And you open yourself up to the inevitable whiney questions, like "Why didn't I get the house'?

Theresa Harris · Answer

I definitely wouldn't follow up with any that were rude or aggressive and that you wouldn't want as a tenant. I don't follow up with any. If they want to rent it, they can let me know.

Is it a good idea to follow up w/ prospective tenants?

Is it a good idea to follow up w/ prospective tenants?

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