COVID-19 - Tenants don't want an Appraiser to Enter
I am in the process of refinancing one of my rental properties and need an appraiser to enter. The tenants do not want the appraiser to enter due to COVID-19 concerns. There is a multi-generational family living in the property so I do understand their concerns, but I am also in a tight window to accomplish the refinance. I use a professional management company for this property and they are making every effort to be respectful and work around the concerns, but this could cause my refinance to fall through if I can't get an appraiser inside the property in the next 2-3 weeks. Any advice?
thats tough. i had mine done last week before all that is going on. maybe offer a cleaning crew or some supplies for the trouble and make sure they are out of house.
Hi Emily,
Given the gravity of the situation (virus issues),
Maybe offer them $250 cash in $20 dollar bills, and a 2 cases of beer (to hang out in the backyard) while your appraiser is there, along with some spray Lysol disinfectant to use once they get back in.
If they turn that down, you are up against a tough wall.
Good Luck!
@Emily Beatty it's a tough situation, but I am sure a common one right now. I would ask the appraisal company what their updated procedures are to ensure safety for all parties.
I would offer them a $100 gift card to the local supermarket to reimburse them for supplies to clean after they leave, and guarantee only one person will be entering the apartment to limit concern (assuming that's true).
You could then consider increasing value or switching to cash if necessary. Or offer a professional cleaning service with cash on the side.
Thanks for the advice everyone! I like the 100 dollar gift card for reimbursement of supplies idea and will try a few other options that may help them feel better. Going to get on the phone with the appraiser and see what they can do to be extra cautious as well (i.e. - wear gloves and mask if they have access to those things, don't touch anything on the property unnecessarily). If there's any other ideas out there I'm all ears!
@Emily Beatty Please keep us posted on how this option turns out. I find it to be reasonable and hopefully worth their time so you may move quickly with your appraiser.
@Emily Beatty so next time their toilet is clogged you dont send the plumber right? Since nobody should enter the home?
#3 Managing Your Property Contributor
@Emily Beatty Good luck. I was going to suggest you could give them a mask and gloves for the appraiser to wear. If the appraiser puts them on when he (not sure why I assumed it was a man) gets there, it should be fine-plus they can go ahead of him and open and cupboards or doors that he needs opened minimizing the need for him to touch surfaces.
We've pulled all the stops with the tenants. They're terrified. I'm not going to push them during a time like this. Maybe it seems crazy. The full story may be that they moved to the area from Washington state about four months ago. It was hit so hard by COVID-19 in nursing homes and I understand their perspective.
Next step will be - working with the appraiser on their end to see if they can do this appraisal from recent photos taken of the unit post-renovation. Compare with the appraisal prior to renovation done in September 2019. Allow them to walk the outside of the property and see where we get. Obviously with full disclosure and permission from the bank doing the refinance.
@Account Closed of course a plumbing issue/emergency has different circumstances and I'll let my PM handle this convo when it arises or allow my tenants to pay for any extraneous circumstances if they don't get things addressed in a timely manner - per my lease agreement :)
These are surely strange times for landlords - and really all people. Tenants have a lot of control and we sure don't want a vacancy to ensue unnecessarily. These are good tenants who have cared and loved our property as their own & pay their rent on time.
@Emily Beatty There is reasonable caution and insane paranoia. We should not let the latter affect our business. You have every right to have your property appraised. I am in the process of selling one now and the appraisal just happened yesterday. The tenants cooperated fine but if not Id make sure my PM handled it and got it done either way..good tenants not withstanding.
@Account Closed I can agree with you that perspective is key and business must go on.
I'll follow-up once more as we come to a solution.
I'm from WA and know how serious this is to a lot of people. But they need to realize that life has to keep moving forward. We dont know when this virus will stop and even worse we dont know when people will stop fearing it and over reacting to it. 3/6/12 months AFTER the virus is gone? Who knows. It could easily be 12 months or more before they have settled their own fears down enough to let other people inside. The news that the entire state of CA just enacted self quarantine doesnt help to settle nerves.
I dont know what you have offered them or talked with them about. But have you suggested having the appraiser wear gloves/masks/shoe etc.? Pay for a deep clean afterwards? You could walk the property with the appraiser and ensure (the the tenants) the appraiser wont touch anything. Have the tenants open all the doors to every room before they even enter the property? If the appraiser
You have a right to enter your property and get it appraised. The problem is I dont think even the police (if it got to that point) would help enforce it at this point. There so much hysteria (founded or not) at this point they have better uses of their already restricted time.
Another thing I just thought about....since its been stated that this virus could live on surfaces for up to 3 days (if uncleaned) you could try putting them up in a hotel for 3 days? Give them a mini vacation at a nicer hotel...even out of town at this point. Plus hotels are hurting atm so they could give cheap rates I'm sure. That way they are out of the house completely. It lets the appraiser do their thing. You clean it afterwards. And so even if there was anything that you missed while you cleaned it would not have the ability to support any virus by the time they get back. This is also assuming you can find a hotel. Just a last second thought.
Nik - Thanks for your insight here. I agree things will likely only get more hysterical as time goes on in some areas. I have to weigh what the cost of the outcome of a refi is vs how much money I throw at these tenants to get an appraiser through the door. We have offered the following so far -
Appraiser to enter wearing gloves/masks/shoe covers and not touching anything (which most appraisers are doing now anyway)
tenants not being home during appraisal and having appraiser monitored by our PM
complimentary deep cleaning once appraiser leaves (this would mean more unknown people entering the property)
Gift card for cleaning supplies to be purchased
cash / discounted rent for next month
_______________________________________ Alternate route -
I've got a call in to the appraiser and the bank loan officer to see if they can negotiate an alternate appraisal method that the bank will accept in lieu of access to the interior. We are getting a commercial loan that is not sold on the secondary market. We may get some flexibility based on the bank's comfort level - but TBD. This may be one or a combo of the following -
outside review / measurement appraisal
desktop review - finding comps in the area and moving forward with some assumptions regarding the quality of the interior of this property while also referencing time stamped photos taken of the remodel of the interior.
Income based appraisal
You don't need permission to enter a property you own. What you need is to provide appropriate notice. You might need to show up with a key. Considering CA issued a state-wide quarantine today (haven't you heard?) I think you missed your window.
The PM ought to have been more assertive and met the appraiser with a key - you had your shot with that approach - water over the dam. Maybe your lender will allow a refi without an interior inspection (Exterior-Only Appraisal, also called a Drive-By). That would be my question to the lender at this point.
All said, obviously being nice and coordinating with tenants is the best approach. However, tenants try to refuse entry all the time, not just in times like these. That's when the owner must assert their authority to enter. The balancing act comes into play when you have a crazy tenant. I dunno, what's your financial situation? Will being nice result in losing your property??? I certainly hope not.
Good luck!
@Emily Beatty offer to deep clean the whole place after. I bet you could get that done for a few hundred bucks or less
@Emily Beatty
Just to add on..... any chance the lender/appraiser would be willing to use FaceTime with you or your tenants in the building to get current, visual access plus any specific measurements? Is it a hassle, Absolutely, but with technology seeping into our lives I can’t see how this wouldn’t be better than just using old pictures and running comps.
@Trever Good - now this is a great compromise that i feel would likely make everyone happy. I'll follow up.
I agree with @Anish Tolia 100%. Offering money/gifts would be a last option for me. Wearing a mask and gloves should suffice. You’ll be out of tons of money if everyone did this to you.
@Emily Beatty And those same tenants will get 6 months Free Rent from you later --- Welcome to Seattle.
City Council President M. Lorena González wants to extend Seattle’s moratorium on residential evictions until six months after the city’s coronavirus state of emergency ends, for some tenants.
The city already has an emergency order in place that says many residential tenants can’t be evicted for 60 days or until the emergency is over. The order covers all evictions other than those related to tenant actions that imminently threaten the health or safety of others.
González intends to introduce legislation Monday that would allow tenants to use the pandemic as a defense in eviction court. Landlords would be barred from evicting tenants able to prove a connection between their unpaid or late rent and their coronavirus struggles.
Her legislation would apply to tenants with unpaid or late rent due to a coronavirus-related illness; reduction in income; loss of employment; reduction in work hours; business or office closure; need to miss work to care without compensation for an immediate family member or child; or similar circumstance.
@Emily Beatty we dealt with the same issue. Our solution was to ask appraiser to conduct the appraisal via facetime. This only occurred on 1 of a dozen units so appraiser didn’t take issue with the proposal.
You are not evicting them, I think in the beginning the boundries got negotiated, and they became uncooperative and unreasonable. People are freaking out its going to get worse.
NAR and CAR suspended all showings and open houses.
For inspections and what not you would think social distancing would suffice. I cant imagine the appraiser is going to do a TiK Tok lick the toilet seat stunt.
Not sure how you can get around this without exerting a formal letter etc. But if they do not comply there are no evictions etc. Maybe a quick call to an attorney will give you some guidelines.
We are moving forward with video call for the interior and the appraiser will conduct an exterior-only walk. No compensation will be paid to our tenants, the appraiser will get the info they need, the lender has accepted this as an appropriate route.
After 3 business days I think this was the best outcome we could have reached, given current circumstances. This time around, there doesn't have to be a winner or a loser in negotiation - which is my favorite kind of outcome and why I come here, to BP, to hear from all of you and gain new perspective.
Thanks to everyone for your suggestions, experiences and insight.
Excellent, glad it worked out!
I am in the same boat. Time to sell. I texted my tenant as a quick note that I am listing next week and that I will follow up formally with a letter - stating the need for a professional photographer to have access. After several unreturned calls and texts, the tenant finally returned with the "I have 2 children, not letting anyone in during Covid". This is a difficult tenant with whom I have had several issues - he knows how to play the games and he knows that a new owner will most likely not keep him so I guess figures if they put up resistance, what - I won't sell? And, yea- being a thorn is always a great idea to get a recommendation from the current owner. I replied that they can be outside during the visit and the photographer will be masked and gloved. If they open windows, that will help air out, but I like the comments here that the person would not touch anything and doors should all be left open, and offering gift card for cleaning supplies (which guaranteed they happily accept to actually spend on booze) opposed to offering a cleaning crew (more strangers coming in.). Hoping the carrot works! Should I make that offer in a text or wait for the registered letter I send.