How to avoid no shows for unit viewings
I have had a lot of trouble with no shows for unit viewings lately (mostly at multi-family properties, not big apartment complexes). I go through the process of initial contact with someone who puts in an inquiry (via email, text, or through zillow/trulia listing), follow up with talking on the phone and setting up a date and time for a showing. The evening before or morning of the showing I text them to confirm. I've had a number of people not respond (in which case I don't send someone out - usually the property owner - for the showing), but in many cases the person confirms and then just doesn't show.
How can I avoid this happening? It is such a waste of time and extremely aggravating.
Any input/ideas are greatly appreciated!
@Cassi Justiz
I also use the open house format quite often and don’t mind stacking the appointments. I also add one, and possibly a second subjective criteria depending on the market:
We process applications in the order which we receive them. However, if an applicant offers
1. More money
And/or
2. Longer term
Those get processed first.
@Dana Boyes you can’t, that’s life as a rental agent in NYC.
@Joe Splitrock I had a 5:00pm showing today with a Keller Williams agent...she stood me up! I texted and called her mutiple times, and she never showed up, never responded and never apologized. SHE was the one who made the appointment to see my listing, and then stood me up.
Originally posted by @Judy Parker:@Joe Splitrock I had a 5:00pm showing today with a Keller Williams agent...she stood me up! I texted and called her mutiple times, and she never showed up, never responded and never apologized. SHE was the one who made the appointment to see my listing, and then stood me up.
That's totally unprofessional and the only excuse would be if the agent had an emergency.
- Real Estate Broker
- 1658 N. Milwaukee Ave Ste B PMP 18969 Chicago, IL 60647
- 4,878
- Votes |
- 5,838
- Posts
@Dana Boyes I ask them things like "what is your credit score" and " what is your gross monthly income". It is great because you can avoid showing the apartment to many of the unqualified tenants. Again, I do this all through text message or email, so I eliminate around 95% of all calls.
Originally posted by @Dana Boyes:I have had a lot of trouble with no shows for unit viewings lately (mostly at multi-family properties, not big apartment complexes). I go through the process of initial contact with someone who puts in an inquiry (via email, text, or through zillow/trulia listing), follow up with talking on the phone and setting up a date and time for a showing. The evening before or morning of the showing I text them to confirm. I've had a number of people not respond (in which case I don't send someone out - usually the property owner - for the showing), but in many cases the person confirms and then just doesn't show.
How can I avoid this happening? It is such a waste of time and extremely aggravating.
Any input/ideas are greatly appreciated!
I do a open house and take applications on that day. It creates urgency and also limits my workload.
@Dana Boyes I know the feeling. We've started using Rently. :)
@Dana Boyes
Square appointment app. It’s free. Takes 60s to set them up an appointment. Set the Text reminder for 1hr prior and email reminder for 2hr prior. If they don’t confirm directly with your on-site, assume they aren’t coming. Set your different addresses as the “service” so if they click the reminder link they can get the address without contacting you again.
@Dana Boyes
The open house concept is slowly going by the wayside. Where ever you choose to advertise your property you should have a ton of pictures of the interior/exterior and some neighborhood shots also. You can also take a 5 min video walkthrough of your property, narrating as you go to point our the highlights.
We do not so open houses. We prescreen all prospects who call and only set appointments with those who qualify. Don’t have 5 minutes to answer some basic questions about yourself, then I don’t want you as my tenant. More than 85-90% of callers do not qualify for one reason or another and your # open house applications will likely support this. We also found that open house applicants would not want to pay the $35 app fee if they knew 5 other people were applying for the same place.
Once you found your qualified needle in a haystack. set the appt with a day/time and call 1hr ahead to confirm, then text them when you are on the way over to meet them. Set the appt as soon as you can and remind them you have other prospects coming and it’s first come first served as it creates urgency.
Depending on how much action we are getting on a property we may incentivize them a bit
1. Offer to waive the $35 app fee
2. Or credit them the app fee if they are accepted and sign a lease within 14 days.
You are competing against a lot of other apartment and living options. Many of the big complexes give away a 1/2 to a full month of free rent, with certain restrictions of course. A no fee application may not be enough incentive so consider offering something more substantial as an incentive. I heard of companies giving a free 55” TV with a 1 year lease, since the TV is only $300-400 When you have a 30-100 unit complex you need larger prospect volume and quality is secondary.
Basically with my method, your qualifying funnel only has you meeting prospects you would rent to if everything they told you over the phone is true. You still need to verify it al of course.