We just got our new tenants signed their lease, and received a message that they would like to do a walk through a week before move in. I have never had this before, I told them they will have 7 days to report everything once they move in and we can do a walk through on the same day that they are moving in.
Maybe I am overthinking too much. But there are cosmetic issues in the house, like small crack on a window, tiny stain on carpet, and so on. I am afraid that they may ask me to fix those things before they move in and hold it against me on the day of move in.
My approach is, the rental comes in the condition they saw it in when they viewed it and signed the lease. If you want something additional then don't sign the lease. You don't sign the lease then start negotiating what else you want done
Some tenants get “cold feet” after committing. Sometimes they continue looking for apartments and find a ‘better deal” so they lean on you for either improvements to their current agreement or enough annoyances for you to release them from the current agreement. The apartment is as/is when you agreed to the lease.
Have back up prospects so that you can EASILY replace them. I’ve noticed that when you’re hardline on pettiness, tenants usually assuage. This does not mean that you don’t attend to reasonable requests, but you know when a prospect is being petty. Better to let them go now than to bug you for a year.
Is it a trouble to let them in to view early? If not, let them through, but also let them know that they have a week, or whatever you allow, to inspect and note any issues. You may also want to stress that the walk through is only to protect them when they move out, it us not a wish list for repairs from them to have completed before move in.
Think it like this. The tenant comes and points out the little details that might be a spot on the rug or a crack in the wall.
Best to document those things and note them down on the walk thru so the tenant is protected from having to pay for that when they move out.
You could offer to fix some or all of it, but advise them that the process of them moving in will delay and we will have to postpone the lease to make sure that the items are corrected before they move in.
I’m sure that’s not what they want. So let it play out and at the very lease let them know how you will handle the situation and get back to them.
This will give you sometime to think and come up with the best resolve.
I agree with the others above who said it sounds like you have somebody who actually read the lease and are trying to get things taken care of so they can move in.
If the rental is 100% ready then I dont see any issues with having a walk through now. I would manage expectations beforehand and let the tenants know that they can do a walk through, but it is not a request for repairs walk through.
I have to tell you that people expect the world when they're renting. You really need to be confident in your rental and set expectations. Is your property a property you would rent? If so, you as a landlord should conform to ONLY health code and codes by your municipality.
I think they were being very cautious, and overall they were reasonable with their requests. We did set the expectations right, and they were also happy with what they saw, everything went well.