What am I doing wrong when I reply to viewing requests?

Question

I started seriously posting to zillow and trulia and I keep getting the same message which I'm assuming is a automated request by people interested in the rental:

"I am interested in this rental and would like to schedule a viewing. Please let me know when this would be possible."

So I reply to this request with something along the lines like:

"Hi (their name),

I can schedule a viewing tomorrow. Will 6PM on Thursday work for you?"

Am I doing something wrong?

I throw out this time because I'm trying to set up a time so that I can bunch up all the viewings around the same time so I don't have to drive back and forth and to let the applicants see that there are other applicants interested too.

And, I'm responding to the email within a few hours after the request and try to set a viewing for either tomorrow or that day if I have already have set up a viewing for that day.

But, after I respond, most of the time I don't get a response back. Maybe, 1 in 4 will confirm that they would still like to schedule a viewing.

Should I be responding in a different manner or something to get more people to follow through after their initial request? When they respond, their telephone is also given. Would calling them to schedule an appointment rather than replying via email make a difference?

Account Closed · Answer

ADVERTISING YOUR RENTAL UNIT

Once the rental unit is ready to show, meaning the unit has been freshly painted, the repairs all done, the carpeting cleaned and everything shining, it’s time to advertise.  And there are many ways to do it.  There is

1.Phone Message Recording

2.Craig’s List

3.Rental Agencies

4.Realtors

5.Newspapers

6.Green Papers

7.Laundromats

8.Web Page

9.Word of mouth and

10.Flyers

When I advertise in the newspapers I keep my ad very simple.  (the more lines you use the more expensive the ad).  I say something like this.

7778 Archdale, 3-bedroom bungalow $700 call

6127 Chopin, 2 bedrooms flat $500, call

When caller’s call my office they get tons of information and I never have to say a word, and this is because I leave everything to my recording system which is “Vonage Phone”.

This is what a caller will hear when they call my office.

Thank you for calling Lakeland Rentals. If you are calling regarding our vacancies, you may tour them online by visiting our webpage at Lakeland Rentals.net.  Our vacancies are:

7778 Archdale is a 3-bedroom bungalow located 1 block east of  Tireman  and 1 block south of the Southfield Expressway.  For more information regarding this home, please press one now.

8254 Wisconsin is a 2 bedroom flat located in a 4 family flat and is located 1 block  south of Joy Road and 3 blocks east of Wyoming.  For more information regarding this home please press 2 now.

6127 Chopin is a one bedroom flat located in a 3 family flat located 5 blocks East of McGraw and in between Cecil and Tarnow Streets. For more information regarding this home please press 3 now.

If you are calling for Nancy, please press the pound key and leave your name and telephone number and I will call you as soon as I can.

Thank you for calling Lakeland Rentals.

If the caller presses one now, this is what they will hear.

7778 Archdale located 1 block east of Tireman and 1 block south of the Southfield Expressway is a cute and cozy three-bedroom bungalow. This home features a bright and cheery kitchen, a  finished basement with a wet bar, a fenced in backyard and a garage and rents for $700 a month.  This home will be shown on Sunday, June 22 from 2pm until 3 pm.

Please be advised that a $25 application fee, per adult person, is required upon filling out an application, but will be applied to the move in fee once you qualify.

Thank you for calling Lakeland Rentals.

------------------------------------------------------

If the caller presses two now, this is what they will hear.

8254 Wisconsin Street, located 1 block South of Joy Road and 3 blocks East of Wyoming is a cute and cozy 2 bedrooms flat located in a 4 family flat and features a nice size dining room and a huge walk in closet and rents for $500 a month.  This home will be shown on Saturday, June 21st from 2pm until 3pm.

Please be advised that a $25 application fee, per adult person, is required upon filling out an application, but will be applied to the move in fee once you qualify.

Thank you for calling Lakeland Rentals.

If the caller presses three now, this is what they will hear.

6127 Chopin located in between Cecil and Tarnow Streets and the corner of Burwell is a cute and cozy furnished one-bedroom apartment and is truly a must see.  This home features a sunroom and your own private entrance and rents for $500 a month.  This unit will be shown on Monday, June 24th form 6pm until 7pm.

Please be advised that a $25 application fee, per adult person, is required upon filling out an application, but will be applied to the move in fee once you qualify.

Thank you for calling Lakeland Rentals.

Once again the caller gets all the information they need to know.

Notice that I mention a $25.00 non-refundable application fee.  This is the fee I charge to run a credit check on the applicant.  The credit bureau that I use charges me $12.97 to run a report and sometimes more depending on the type of report I’m  requesting.  You may charge whatever amount you want for a credit check, (according to your State Law) but be reasonable.  I find $25.00 is a fair amount.  And you  ALWAYS WANT TO DO A CREDIT CHECK!!  NO EXCEPTIONS!

Also notice that I say if they qualify it will be applied to the move in fee. YOU do not have to do this.  I prefer to do this because it encourages every adult person who will be living in the dwelling to apply.  Whereas if you don’t say the application fee will be applied to the move in fee, the main applicant may lie about how many adults will really be living there.  But this is entirely up to you.

It is very important that every adult person who will be living in the dwelling be on the application as well as  on the Lease /Rental Agreement.  NO EXCEPTIONS!  Whether  they work or not.  There are many reasons you do a credit check.  Not only to see if their credit is good but also to see if they have any Landlord/Tenant judgments or evictions against them.  Plus, it tells you what type of character these people have.  If they have rotten credit, they’re not very responsible people.  I want to know what type of people I’m renting to.

MAKE SURE THEY ARE COLLECTIBLE

Not only do you want to know if your new tenants will be decent people, but you need them to be ‘COLLECTIBLE’.  This means someone you can sue.  If they don’t make any money and are on Section 8, they are not collectible.

If a tenants has been employed for more than a year, they most likely won’t leave their jobs.  They are “collectible”.

Keep this in mind; you are entrusting your home, worth thousands of dollars to a stranger.  So screen thoroughly and make sure your tenants are collectible.  You can sue them by putting a Judgment on their income tax returns, and their properties, (according to your State Laws).

By having every single adult listed on the application and on the lease it also assures your chances of getting money owed to you. The more people held responsible for back rent or damages the more chances you have of collecting your money through garnishments, or collection agencies, etc.

WORDS AND PHRASES YOU CANNOT SAY

If an advertisement states “perfect for couples first starting out”, is it discriminatory?

The answer is YES

It could be a violation because the ad could imply that “couples first starting out are childless and therefore, families with children may feel excluded.

Starter home or first time renters would be a better choice of words.

Which terms are acceptable to describe a prestigious community location of a listed rental?

*Exclusive?

*Gated?

*Private?

*Restricted?

The answer is:  Gated is the only word you can use!

If an ad refers to a church or synagogue as a geographical point of reference to help people find your rental property, can that be discriminatory?

Yes.  This may be interpreted as recruiting persons of a particular religion at the exclusion of other faiths.  You should use words like “Walking distance to shopping”.

Steve Vaughan · Answer

@Bill S. - 4) Do some pre-screening. I have a canned set of questions which I have people respond to before offering a showing.    Yes!  This is where it's at, Bill.  Well said.

With all the laws (maybe just here in WA) requiring us to screen applications in order received and emotional support/therapy/comfort/service animals and whatever else, my goal is definitely not to bring in every un-screened applicant I can. Open houses?  When can I see it? It it still available?  Over and over answering the same thing?  No way.

My CL ads do not include addresses, just cross-streets.  Pics, but NO phone numbers.  I wouldn't be able to establish an elaborate phone tree if I had a month to do it lol.

They have pictures and a property description, followed by 5 important questions - like How many people?  How many animals?  Does anyone smoke?  How soon would you like to move?   If the questions aren't answered, they don't get a reply.

You're going to end up with no free time and a family of 10 with 3 pit bulls.  Or the perfect applicant who can't move in for 3 months.  Pre-screen.  Free up your time and stay out of hot water with someone looking to be offended.  Cheers!

Bill S. · Answer

@Josh L so 1 in 4 from Zillow is actually fairly good response. A few thoughts

1) Someone told me that getting a response from Zillow is very common because people send the auto email in the same way they select the "like" button on Facebook.

2) Most forms of online advertising don't limit the number of words. Be as descriptive as possible. Use lots of pictures. They are quick and easy for people to process.

3) The long phone tree proposed by Account Closed would be useful for inbound calls from a newspaper or for rent sign. For the rest of your marketing refer to #2.

4) Do some pre-screening. I have a canned set of questions which I have people respond to before offering a showing.

5) Holding an open house can be good for your time but can also eliminate quality applicants that it doesn't fit their time frame. In a landlord market (more applicants than properties) where there are lots of quality applicants your approach works just fine. In a tenant market (more properties available than tenants), you might want to use the pre-screening to identify quality tenants and work around their schedule if an open house doesn't work for them. Open houses sometimes turn people off because they don't like to feel like they are competing for their new place.

JD Martin · Answer

I have someone call all parties that respond through Zillow or Trulia. Making phone contact will screen out a lot of the lookey-loos right off the bat. I agree with pre-screening; asking the right questions will usually discourage people who aren't going to be the right fit from proceeding.

We don't advertise our "open houses" as such - we tell prospective viewers that the property is available for viewing between X and X on these days, that someone will be at the property able to show them around and answer any questions. Then we just plan on someone being there, either to do minor work or clean up or just block out that time as unproductive.

Most of our places are rented after the first day of showings. Rarely do we have to do a second day. But we also maintain a strong web presence (hint: put your web info in your ad and on your sign) and answer most questions on the front-end through the web site. I love Nancy's "Movie Phone" strategy and may just steal that idea for myself (we use Google Voice to automate the office).

Ronald Perich · Answer

@Josh L. To get their actual email address, you need to go to your Zillow inbox. Next to their name is their real email address, not that fake Zillow one.

Svetlana Foley · Answer

Fully agree with @Jd Martin, I work with both Zillow and Trulia and people pretty much expect a call, preferably within 5 minutes of them contacting you, otherwise they are on to clicking on other properties.  Whoever TALKS to them first get the business.  It also is much easier to prescreen and weed out over the phone.  Once you have a larger operation, hire an assistant for this and other tasks.

Ronald Perich · Answer

First, don't beat yourself up about not getting replies. With Zillow, Trulia, and the rest, this is very typical. It's just too easy for them to click the button to send an email.

Second, when you do return the email, are you sending it to their Zillow email or to them directly at their personal email? The Zillow email almost always garners zero responses.

Third, when you do respond, make sure you include one a picture of your rental to quickly remind them of the property in question.

Fourth, I started putting in a property-specific email address and/or text number in all of the posts and telling them that is the best/only way to contact.

Fifth, for those who respond to the better channel, always do some kind of pre-screening on them before making an offer to show the place. Otherwise, you'll only get 20% who will actually show up.

Sixth, if you can afford it (how much is your time worth), see if you can't hire someone to do the coordination activities like pre-screening, answering emails, responding to texts, etc. A good VA might charge you $5/hr to do this task.

Hope that helps! Good luck with your investing future!

Account Closed · Answer

The reason one would go the route of a voice message stating property info and open house showings,  is to free up your time from having to be tied to the phone all day long.

Basically, when you run an ad for just one house that you have vacant can take up a few hours of your time in a day to answer the phone and show the house.  Gas cost money, and time is of the essence.

But when you have 40 rentals as I had, I had several vacancies at one time, which meant that I would be glued to the phone all day long and not get any work done if I had to sit by the phone to answer every call, not to mention driving to my rentals to show our places.

Plus, I hate having to repeat the same thing over and over and over again.  Thus the voice mail and Vonage phone.

The thing about an Open House, and as my being a Realtor as well, one can rent or sell their property almost in one day by doing do.  I've done many times.

People, as a rule, are competitive people.  You have a group of people wanting your home and saying so in front of a group of others wanting your home, has a tendency to make them go into a bidding war, wanting the house.  Therefore you can get your properties rented quicker by doing group showings.

When you do individual showings, you have pretty much a large turn out of "no shows".

Just a little bit more info to explain my MO.

Nancy Neville

Josh L. · Answer

How do you respond directly to their personal email? I'm looking at the email responses, and it seems like Zillow is hiding the person's email.

This is probably a big issue that I need to address because I've noticed that sometimes these zillow inquires get sent to my spam box and I have to assume that some of my responses are lost in the person's spam box too.

It looks like when people respond via Trulia, then you might see the actual email although Trulia says that his email address may be annonymized to protect the privacy of our users.

And, aren't these requests for a viewing already pre-screened to a certain extent via Trulia and Zillow when the request  also comes with information about the person's income, credit score, etc..

I guess the best way to respond to the person is by their phone number for something like Zillow to make sure your response doesn't get lost. But, it might be a bit awkward to make those calls when you're at work at non-landlord job.

But, even when you do respond by phone, I end up reaching the person's voicemail and leave a message. I'll have to experiment to see if a response by phone minutes after the initial request makes any difference.

What am I doing wrong when I reply to viewing requests?

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