Investor · The worst town to live in, KS · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
I saw someone put up an ad on CL for a furnished house about 35 miles away from my town. It's pretty obvious that they are new to this. She's charging $600/week for a Tiny Home (480 s.f.) I sent them a message Saturday morning, and it took them over 48 hours to respond. They wanted to know the duration of my stay and my email address. This was my response:
"Thanks Megan, but I found a furnished place in Coffeyville. It's closer to my work at a refinery. It's supposed to be for a few weeks, but sometimes a few weeks turns into 6 months if there are problems with the engineering or design."
Rental Property Investor · Bloomington, MN · Member since 2019 · 404 posts · 542 votes
6y
@Paul Sandhu You most likely didn’t have to lie. At a previous job I would call our competitors and get their pricing structure. Never had to lie to get it. They might have assumed I was a potential customer, but I never said who I was and they didn’t ask.
Rental Property Investor · Erie, PA · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
6y
Is Coffeyville near Donutville? If so I'm making a road trip!
I mean, it's not mean if you're messaging competitors to learn. I think a new landlord would be wise to see how a larger, more established landlord operates.
But it appears you're more established (by your post/vote count) and I reckon you probably saw the overpriced tiny home and wanted to interact with the landlord for donuts & giggles.
If you feel bad you can always message the tiny home landlord and offer the following snazzy catch phrase for their business: tiny homes and big profits
Rental Property Investor · Minneapolis, MN · Member since 2020 · 540 posts · 285 votes
6y
@Paul Sandhu
It’s not a terrible idea to call around, just don’t mess with them losing an actual potential renter. Finding out pricing, terms, etc is Market Research as far as I’m concerned
Rental Property Investor · Upstate, NY · Member since 2012 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
6y
We have done it many times when we see local for rent signs, just to keep abreast of the rents & demand.
Sometimes I can't believe what they get for such mundane apartments. We just saw a slightly rehabbed hovel rented for $975+utilities, still with the cloying odor of wet dog. No appealing characteristics at all, but it went fast.
I remember 7 years ago my sons friends rented a rehabbed 1.5 bedroom above a ghetto pizza joint for $850/month. The stairs up to it were so steep you got vertigo climbing them. The place smelled of pizza & the noise & heat from below was terrible. They stayed the year (lease) but had to turn their heat off & use electric/kerosene heaters because their NG bill was $425/month. The kitchen was barely the size of that on a aircraft & it had ONE drawer. We owned a 3 bedroom rental home a block away renting for a measly $775/month. We definitely don't charge enough!!
Doesn't seem mean to me at all. You didn't lead them on or take up valuable calendar space.
But I implied that I am renting from the guy that advertises to refinery contractors in Coffeyville (me). And I sort of led her on by implying that I could be here for up to 6 months. My ad was 2 ads away from her ad in Craigslist, so she probably saw it.
Olympia, WA · Member since 2016 · 8k+ posts · 7k+ votes
6y
Meh. If you want to feel bad about it, that's cool. You were just checking out the competition. You could also note that they could take your response and adjust their prices to beat yours. I doubt that they are competition for you. They are 35 miles away.
Rental Property Investor · Bloomington, MN · Member since 2019 · 404 posts · 542 votes
6y
@Paul Sandhu You most likely didn’t have to lie. At a previous job I would call our competitors and get their pricing structure. Never had to lie to get it. They might have assumed I was a potential customer, but I never said who I was and they didn’t ask.
San Jose, CA · Member since 2015 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
6y
Who cares? It's no worse than fake fair housing people wasting their time - and they actually show up and make you waste time by showing the unit. All's fair, right?
Plantation, FL · Member since 2009 · 329 posts · 119 votes
6y
If you do it on ABB, the host will see you're also a host and can see your current listings, so it pretty much gives you away. Unless you use a second account that is not linked to your listings. I pretty much get all I need to know from my competitor's listings, pricings, calendar, pics, etc.
I wouldn't do it. I look at ads to see what is available and how much rents are, but I wouldn't contact them pretending to be a renter...I wouldn't appreciate it if someone did that to me.