Investor · Skagit County, WA · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 807 votes
I own a rental, my dad owns and manages many apartments, and I am looking for a new place to rent. So I have been talking to many property management companies looking for a place to rent, and also evaluating them as if they were to one day manage my properties.
I want to go view potential rentals, but the lady told me she doesn't show in the evenings, and maybe can do Saturday. Is this a common practice? I work during the day, and if she were showing my rental, I hope she could do evenings to cater to the pool of applicants that also work full time jobs. I understand that they have to set hours for themselves, but should they show rentals during the evening too? This is a customer service business. Is not showing in the evening standard practice?
@Julie Marquez showing units isn't the funnest task of a PM but you are vastly limiting your tenant pool by only showing units during "working hours" when most tenants are at work. We typically schedule viewings or hold opens between 5:30 and 7pm on weekdays then in the morning/afternoon on a weekend. It does get a bit tricky in winter months when it gets dark so early. During that time we try and schedule between 4:30-5:30p on weekdays.
A PM's job is to have their clients best interest in mind, not their own. Inconvenience comes with the territory.
@Steve Jones Yeah, I'll just ask her. Maybe in this smaller town (90 minutes north of Seattle) they don't move quickly. I don't ever see open houses in this town like I do in Seattle. I just know if I were showing my property, I'd be available after work. Maybe not after dark, for safety concerns, but more available for folks who work.
It sounds like that particular property manager doesn't have the drive or availability you are looking for in someone to manage your own rentals. All the effort you put into finding a property manager that meets and exceeds your expectations will reap you many benefits for years to come. Keep searching and don't settle!!
A lot of times I'll do an open house during the week, usually around lunch hours. In Seattle it's pretty easy to find a tenant so I haven't had too many issues. There were a couple of times where it took longer than a week or two to find tenants, and that's when I flexed my schedule and start doing showings on weekends.
I'm happy to schedule individual appointments if a prospective tenant applies and passes our screening process before hand. I learned pretty quick that there are a lot of tire kickers out there, and try to find ways to limit my having to deal with them.
@Account Closed So do you make sure people pass your screening first before individually showing them a unit? Does that include the full application process?
I'm happy to schedule individual appointments if a prospective tenant applies and passes our screening process before hand. I learned pretty quick that there are a lot of tire kickers out there, and try to find ways to limit my having to deal with them.
ME TOO! I vet the application info as a condition to pulling the CR/BG reports. Then and only then do offer a showing. By this time, I'm ready to sign if they are :)
Most of the time, yes. We have an online process so it's fairly simple if they want to apply beforehand. Unfortunately I can only dedicate about 15-20% of my time to property management, so if they can't make it to an open house, I need to know they are actually interested. I spent a lot of time with "potential" tenants only to never hear back from them again.
Again, in this market there's a ton of people looking for rentals, so I have been doing just fine. If it gets a little harder to find a tenant I would have to make some changes.
@Julie Marquez I think this just depends on your market. If you have a lot of demand for properties, then the agent can be a little more selfish with her time, knowing she can show the house during an open house at lunch and get a few applicants.
In a slower market, you would have to put in more time to do showings, and you would also have to accommodate the times people are willing to come and see the place.
So, if you are in a slower market AND the agent isn't willing to accommodate an evening showing, then you know she isn't great.
For what it's worth, when I have a new rental hit the market, I try to hold an open house for the first set of showings on a weekday from 4:30 - 5:30. More often than not, I have a good applicant from just the one day. Sometimes I have to do that more than once, and I'll vary the next open house, maybe do a Saturday or a lunch timeframe during the week.
@Julie Marquez showing units isn't the funnest task of a PM but you are vastly limiting your tenant pool by only showing units during "working hours" when most tenants are at work. We typically schedule viewings or hold opens between 5:30 and 7pm on weekdays then in the morning/afternoon on a weekend. It does get a bit tricky in winter months when it gets dark so early. During that time we try and schedule between 4:30-5:30p on weekdays.
A PM's job is to have their clients best interest in mind, not their own. Inconvenience comes with the territory.
Well, if the tenants I wanted worked during the day, what kind of tenants would I get if I only showed during the day? I suppose they might be executives or salaried professionals, but what's the likelihood of that?
Showings should at least be done on weekends if not evenings.
@Dawn Brenengen This property management company seems to have a handful of places to offer, but not availability to show them. As a renter, I wish they showed in the evening.
@Account Closed It's a customer service business. I like the idea of evening hours to cater to most people.
@Account Closed Right?!? I hope these renters have good day jobs and can't make a mid-day showing.
I don't limit showings to 9-5 because most people work 9-5. I will show into the evening, but I prefer not to show after it gets dark. That's a little harder in the winter. When I have multiple people interested in the property I will try to schedule several showings in a row so I'm not running back and forth.
I do attempt to pre-screen by asking questions that would alert me to anything that would keep them from qualifying. Unfortunately, most people seem to be oblivious about their own credit report.
@Julie Marquez I wish. The one thing I've noticed is that people seem to be oblivious about what's in their credit report. And I can't tell you how many times I've suggested that someone pull up their report on CreditKarma.com without success.
@Fred Heller I feel like I could have pulled my own credit report for the property manager and saved myself the $42 fee. I'd even show my pay stubs for employment verification and be on my way. But I'm sure most renters can't be trusted with this, so hence why we do diligent screenings.
What do you guys do about new tenants coming from out of town?
I am currently very frustrated with my potential renting situation. This professional property management company with 240 units is unable to show me properties after work hours, so I took off work early and drove 90 miles to view my future place. We filled out an application right there and turned it in. We passed our background check two weeks ago, and are still waiting to see a rental agreement. I am unable to make the drive to see her during her work hours, so I've requested an emailed agreement. I still haven't seen anything. We are moving in two days! Now she'd like me to overnight mail her the deposit and first month's rent and she will leave a key for me on moving day, because she is unable to meet us on Saturday. I still haven't seen any paperwork. Do I send her money? Do I need to take a day off work to go meet her? Why is this process so difficult. Now I'm leery starting a one-year lease relationship with this property management company.
@Julie Marquez Umm....that does NOT sound good. How can you mail her money if you don't even know what the terms of the rental agreement are? Why can't she send you an email? That's crazy. This is why I use Resident research, Zipforms, Docusign, and Buildium. You can apply, complete a lease, sign the lease and pay the deposit all electronically. Once I approve a tenant, I can have everything else ready within 30 minutes.
I'm sorry you're dealing with this. Moving is stressful enough without this piling on. I would probably just find an apartment complex and rent from them instead. It sounds safer than sending this lady any money.
If you must have this house, it sounds like you need to take a day off and see her in person.
@Julie Marquez You don't give them any money until you have a signed lease. Period.
It's funny because that issue just came up today with me. I had a potential tenant who had been approved, but I was still waiting for the owner to review the lease and give me the OK. In her zeal, the tenant called me and wanted to deposit the security deposit and first month's rent directly into my Chase account. I told her that she should absolutely not do that until she had signed the lease. I jokingly said that if she deposited that money in my account without a lease I could run off to Hawaii and she might never hear from me again.
Here's what I don't understand. Any Realtor (and the property management company is a Realtor) should have access to ZipLogix or some other e-sign program. You don't have to physically sign the lease. You can sign online. I have clients in other countries and we are able to conduct business with ZipLogix.
@Dawn Brenengen Thanks for the response. I think all this moving was making me crazy and I thought that I was in the wrong with this so-called professional property management company. I guess I'm hyper-critical with my own investor background and Bigger Pockets education, but I definitely agree that she could be doing things better, and I won't be giving her my business.
@Fred Heller That's funny that someone wanted to give you money right away, and thankfully there are good people out there that do things the right way on all ends. I just don't understand either, how this professional property management company with 240 units doesn't have a better way of conducting business in this modern era.
@Julie Marquez Yes it definitely is standard practice to show the properties in the evenings. I would suggest moving on to the next property manager who will be more readily available to show your property if you have vacancies. I am a more aggressive PM. I try to be available as much as possible for potential tenants. My goal is to keep the vacancy rate low as possible and to have a rate of on time rent collection. I would suggest looking for a PM that has those kinds of characteristics and behaviors. Never settle for mediocrity.
@Melissa Gittens Glad to know that there are great property managers out there doing good things for the property owners. I just feel bad for all the owners that entrust her with their investments. I know I wouldn't use her for my own properties, and I definitely won't be giving her my business as a tenant. Kuddos for great people like you!