Does anyone actually go and visit prospective tenants at their current resident to see what kind of shape it is in and how well its taken care of? I started doing this if im not 100% sure about them. Some of them don't mind me going over and others look at me weird when I ask to visit them.
Did you ever visit a prospective tenant before and do you thinks it a good or bad idea?
Does anyone actually go and visit prospective tenants at their current resident to see what kind of shape it is in and how well its taken care of? I started doing this if im not 100% sure about them. Some of them don't mind me going over and others look at me weird when I ask to visit them.
Did you ever visit a prospective tenant before and do you thinks it a good or bad idea?
...
What's the state of their current home going to tell you anyway? ...
Always visit, unless the applicant is living too far away to travel there.
The state of their current home tells you the state you will find in your rental unit in a month or two or three if you let that applicant move in. If you see a mess, expect your unit to look a mess soon enough; if it's neat and tidy, well that's what you're hoping for!
I've never heard of someone doing that before (I'm sure it happens however), also wouldn't they just clean their place before you came over so it looks like they're super neat and clean?
I would say if you are so unsure about the tenant that you actually feel the need to go inside their own home and look at it they're probably not the kind of tenant you want to have in your property.
It sounds like a great tactic, especially if it can be a surprise visit "I jut dropped by to pick up your deposit" type thing, but I haven't done it.
If that had happened to me while I was renting, I would be totally creeped out and not want to rent from that person. In my case, I am often renting to people with room mates, so they could easily blame the mess on the room mates (who aren't going to be moving to my apartment). I do take note of their car and what it looks like inside, though many walk to meet me.
Kelly
I have a question on the application that asks " Do you mind if I visit you at your current resident now" Yes or no. I never had someone say no on the application but realistically they probably figure I will never ask.
When they turn the application in, its a perfect time to ask to visit them if I have any doubts or if they have pets to see if the house smells like pets or if it looked like they did not vacuum the floors in months or dishes piled up for weeks just in general see how they live before letting them move in and find this out 1 month after they moved in and its to late.
Does anyone actually go and visit prospective tenants at their current resident to see what kind of shape it is in and how well its taken care of? I started doing this if im not 100% sure about them. Some of them don't mind me going over and others look at me weird when I ask to visit them.
Did you ever visit a prospective tenant before and do you thinks it a good or bad idea?
If I'm not 100% sure about them, I will move to the next candidate.
What's the state of their current home going to tell you anyway? And yes, I'd look at you a bit odd if you wanted to see the place I'm moving from. Think that's a bit creepy really.
You're a landlord, not a detective. Stick to what you do best. No offense meant but it seems a big waste of time, effort, gas, etc. If you feel uncomfortable then move onto the next applicant. If you feel the same way about all applicants then maybe landlording is not the right type of REI for you.
This is not a foolish thing to do @Jimmy S. I do it just as you suggest, in cases when you are a little uncertain about what condition the unit might be in if they lived there. I am concerned about them looking after the property but from a practical standpoint I am concerned that if the place was a complete mess it would interfere with showings during the notice period and so bring about lost rent due to vacancy. Here in Ontario tenants must give 60 days notice of leaving and that is meant to give landlords a chance to rerent the place without interruption of income. I work hard at marketing and have not had a vacancy under these conditions for some time. One key is having cooperative tenants who keep the place in good condition for showings.
This is another time at which having positive relations with tenants goes a long way. It is also a time at which doing what you can to avoid letting in tenants who will live in squalor goes a long way. I would say use an excuse to go over and bill it as a convenience for them. Say you need copies of recent pay stubs and that you can go over and photograph them with your phone rather than having them come over to see you. It works for me.
I have had some seasoned investors do it. In fact. some won't rent to a prospect without a visit to their current residence. Also, they like to follow the prospect to their car. They look for cigarette butts, trash all over the car, etc. They say this is an indication of how the tenant will treat the house. I have never gone to a prospective tenants house before, but now having one that appears to be pretty messy and having a TON of stuff I am starting to think I should have!
Does anyone actually go and visit prospective tenants at their current resident to see what kind of shape it is in and how well its taken care of? I started doing this if im not 100% sure about them. Some of them don't mind me going over and others look at me weird when I ask to visit them.
Did you ever visit a prospective tenant before and do you thinks it a good or bad idea?
...
What's the state of their current home going to tell you anyway? ...
Always visit, unless the applicant is living too far away to travel there.
The state of their current home tells you the state you will find in your rental unit in a month or two or three if you let that applicant move in. If you see a mess, expect your unit to look a mess soon enough; if it's neat and tidy, well that's what you're hoping for!
I do it 100% of the time (always by surprise) . It is the only true way to uncover the "true" tenant behind the ""potential" tenant that was presented to you. Anyone unwilling or uncomfortable with this level of due diligence will get what they get, and deal with it after it's in their property . I have turned down many "good" applicants after they failed this test.
Does anyone actually go and visit prospective tenants at their current resident to see what kind of shape it is in and how well its taken care of? I started doing this if im not 100% sure about them. Some of them don't mind me going over and others look at me weird when I ask to visit them.
Did you ever visit a prospective tenant before and do you thinks it a good or bad idea?
...
What's the state of their current home going to tell you anyway? ...
Always visit, unless the applicant is living too far away to travel there.
The state of their current home tells you the state you will find in your rental unit in a month or two or three if you let that applicant move in. If you see a mess, expect your unit to look a mess soon enough; if it's neat and tidy, well that's what you're hoping for!
It doesn't tell you anything because the tenant simply tidies up before you arrive! Lol
Their credit and criminal record tells you everything you need to know, and more than poking around their current home.
I'm a landlord, not their house maid, I don't care if they make their bed in the morning.
I do it 100% of the time (always by surprise) . It is the only true way to uncover the "true" tenant behind the ""potential" tenant that was presented to you. Anyone unwilling or uncomfortable with this level of due diligence will get what they get, and deal with it after it's in their property . I have turned down many "good" applicants after they failed this test.
You wonder why we have laws that limit the rights of landlords. If you think surprise visits to potential new tenants and looking to see if they cleared the breakfast table that morning, then expect more laws. It's practically an invasion of privacy!
@R J Drahcir
Be very very careful. You may be treading a fine line with regard to housing discrimination.
Seems in this thread we have lots of posts from those who don't do this and those who don't know how to go about doing this - so maybe it's better to read a thread where the majority of posts are more "educational":
http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/1682...
Talk of this practice being discrimination is nonsense, because even the Housing Authorities will do this!
I know a guy who does this, but he generally rents in lower income/section 8 areas where tenants tend to not be as good. He just asks if can come by this weekend for example and doesn't say exactly when. People will tidy up, but the fact that they care enough to tidy up shows at least some motivation, and you would be amazed at what some people consider "Clean" living conditions even when they know you're coming over. He has definitely shared some horror stories.
I suspect that this is likely to be one of the many, many, many things in real estate that is dependent on region.
If I tried that here, I....I got nothing. I cannot even imagine. Having the prospective tenant laugh in my face would probably be the best response I could expect.
But I have seen many posts on here from people in other areas of the country, where people apparently passively accept things that would never fly here.
So I expect that whether or not you can do this probably depends on local custom. Perhaps a local REI or landlord group would be a good place to ask.
P.S. I also think the "look at their car" things is absurd. My truck hasn't seen a carwash in several years (that's why God invented rain.) My house is spotless.
Does anyone actually go and visit prospective tenants at their current resident to see what kind of shape it is in and how well its taken care of? I started doing this if im not 100% sure about them. Some of them don't mind me going over and others look at me weird when I ask to visit them.
Did you ever visit a prospective tenant before and do you thinks it a good or bad idea?
Hello Jimmy,
This is a very good strategy especially as a landlord. It all depends on the type of tenants. Most will think that it is a little weird especially if they are not familiar with you. I really like the concept, though.
I always do home visits. And it's always unscheduled. I tell them I want to confirm that there not lying about pets, smoking and that they haven't damaged their current property. Their current state of housing is the single best indicator of how someone will treat your property, IMO. I did the same with my commercial tenant by touring their current space before I rented to them as well. I hear all kinds of nightmare stories about bad tenants and the damage they do but by and large I don't have any of that. Knock on wood...
Honestly, I can't imagine NOT doing this now. I remember I had a great mother/daughter pair that came to look at a house I have. I really liked them both and they came back the next day with the application (my permission to investigate). I drove to their current house (SFH) later that evening and didn't even make it to the front door. The state of the front yard and porch told me everything I needed to know. If I had just based my decision off of their personal presentation and references I might have ended up with a small disaster. Looks can be deceiving...
Likewise, I've met tenants that I immediately fell for and they passed the home inspection with flying colors, only to find that they were trying to snow me with bogus landlord references. I never take a tenant applicants word for references but rather use PVA data to find the owners information on my own.
All of this combined has led to some very long leases and very happy relationships for us.
If you can't visit in person, you can try things like Skype or FaceTime where the applicant uses a mobile device to take a tour. But going in person gives you one thing that pictures can't: you can use your sense of smell. If they just tidied up in a rush, the smell doesn't just go away ...
...Think that's a bit creepy really.
You think a home visit is creepy? I had one rental house filled with trash, feces, mice, maggots and flies. No THAT'S creepy. We took a huge dumpster full of trash out of that place. A quick visit to her previous home would have saved me thousands of dollars. If her current landlord had visited MY place it would have save him the thousands of dollars he'll have to spend in the future. Another of my tenants had walls that were full of golf-ball-sized holes. Another tenant kept getting in fights with his girlfriend and kicking down doors. A home inspection would have prevented all that grief.
If any prospective tenant of mine claims they are creeped out by a home inspection and they decline, I figure I dodged a bullet.
Their credit and criminal record tells you everything you need to know, and more than poking around their current home.
The hoarder who left my house full of feces, maggots, mice, and flies had good credit and no criminal record. If somebody can tidy up, that's good. This mess took weeks to clean up.
Honestly, I can't imagine NOT doing this now. I remember I had a great mother/daughter pair that came to look at a house I have. I really liked them both and they came back the next day with the application (my permission to investigate). I drove to their current house (SFH) later that evening and didn't even make it to the front door. The state of the front yard and porch told me everything I needed to know. If I had just based my decision off of their personal presentation and references I might have ended up with a small disaster. Looks can be deceiving...
Likewise, I've met tenants that I immediately fell for and they passed the home inspection with flying colors, only to find that they were trying to snow me with bogus landlord references. I never take a tenant applicants word for references but rather use PVA data to find the owners information on my own.
All of this combined has led to some very long leases and very happy relationships for us.
Always at least do a drive by. What if there's 7 junk cars in the yard?
Or 15 people living in a studio? Broken windows? You'll be glad you did.
Below where they put their address, have your application say that one of your agents always does a drive by.
please circle: prospective tenant - will / will not - allow an inside inspection.
Does anyone actually go and visit prospective tenants at their current resident to see what kind of shape it is in and how well its taken care of? I started doing this if im not 100% sure about them. Some of them don't mind me going over and others look at me weird when I ask to visit them.
Did you ever visit a prospective tenant before and do you thinks it a good or bad idea?