Your most funny and ridiculous tenant / showings stories!

Your most funny and ridiculous tenant / showings stories!

Specialist · Honolulu, HI · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes

Would love to start up the discussion where we share our funniest/craziest/most shocking tenant stories and conversations. I'll start (paraphrased a bit).

So I am showing a small unit to a few folks. Attractive lady in her late 20s shows up, I meet her and a guy downstairs. The guy basically did not say a single word during the showing, and was clearly and painfully "friend-zoned" like you wouldn't believe, it was kind of hilarious yet sad. I guess he was the guard because the showing was during dark. So after she looks into the the unit, she says she's interested. I asked her where she was staying, and she replied in an area all the way across the island. I asked her if it was just her who would be moving in, she kind of kept dodging the question.

After much questioning, she finally says "actually I won't be moving into the unit". Me: "Excuse me?" Lady: "I was going to get the unit and just rent it to tourists." Me: (laughing) So you want to rent the unit to tourists for $150/day, and make 3-4 times the rent, and pocket the rest?" Lady:  "Well, is there any other arrangement we can come to?" Me: "I don't know. Let me think about it. You should get going."

Some people! Let's hear yours folks.

6Reply
325 views

Most Popular Reply

Investor · Freeville, NY · Member since 2014 · 131 posts · 37 votes
11y

Id have some if people actually showed up to their appointments. 

See this reply in the discussion

32 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Investor · Freeville, NY · Member since 2014 · 131 posts · 37 votes
    11y

    Id have some if people actually showed up to their appointments. 

  • Rental Property Investor · Winona Lake, IN · Member since 2013 · 26 posts · 29 votes
    11y

    Not long ago I got a call at about 11:45 PM on a weeknight. Being a landlord, I always answer the phone:

    Me: (groggily) Hello?

    Caller: Hi, I was calling about the apartment for rent, is it still available?

    Me: Yes... 

    Caller: Can you tell me more about it? When can I see it?

    Me: (thinking maybe she didn't realize about different time zones) Are you calling from out West?

    Caller: No, I'm right here in town.

    Me: I don't normally take calls this late.

    Caller: Oh.... Should I call back tomorrow morning?

    Me: No thanks. Goodnight

    If she calls at all hours before she even sees the place, I suspect she's the kind of tenant that calls at 3AM when she sees a spider.

  • Specialist · Honolulu, HI · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    11y
    Originally posted by @Chris Volkers:

    Not long ago I got a call at about 11:45 PM on a weeknight. Being a landlord, I always answer the phone:

    Me: (groggily) Hello?

    Caller: Hi, I was calling about the apartment for rent, is it still available?

    Me: Yes... 

    Caller: Can you tell me more about it? When can I see it?

    Me: (thinking maybe she didn't realize about different time zones) Are you calling from out West?

    Caller: No, I'm right here in town.

    Me: I don't normally take calls this late.

    Caller: Oh.... Should I call back tomorrow morning?

    Me: No thanks. Goodnight

    If she calls at all hours before she even sees the place, I suspect she's the kind of tenant that calls at 3AM when she sees a spider.

     Haha, that's truly hilarious. I forgot what podcast it was, but they basically talked about how there really are no true emergencies that can't wait until the day hours.

  • Rental Property Investor · Winona Lake, IN · Member since 2013 · 26 posts · 29 votes
    11y

    Maybe if you have a property manager, most things could wait. I used to have a boiler that would occasionally quit. I once had a water heater go nuts and the pressure relief valve spewed nearly boiling hot water everywhere, flooding the apt. Oh, and my office building had a minor fire and the firemen came and broke out EVERY window.... All of which I was glad to hear about right away.

  • Dawn AnastasiPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2013 · 6k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    11y
    Originally posted by @Chris Volkers:

    Not long ago I got a call at about 11:45 PM on a weeknight. Being a landlord, I always answer the phone

     I'm a landlord / property manager too, and if someone called at 11:45 pm, my phone would be shut off and I would be asleep.

  • Investor · Middletown, NJ · Member since 2008 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    11y
    Originally posted by @Dawn Anastasi:

    I'm a landlord / property manager too, and if someone called at 11:45 pm, my phone would be shut off and I would be asleep.

     Same here.

  • Investor · Middletown, NJ · Member since 2008 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    11y

    We once had a tenant do occasional showings of the SFR she was moving out of. She kept the house immaculate. After one family came by to see it, she texted me and told me to tell all future tenants "to wash their kids before they come here....I don't want no dirty kids in my house".

    She was a PITA, but this was the one time she made me laugh.

  • Rental Property Investor · Winona Lake, IN · Member since 2013 · 26 posts · 29 votes
    9y

    I arranged to show a small 1 bedroom apt to a woman who was looking for something for just her, showed up, and the prospective tenant turned out to be my friend's wife... AWKWARD. 

  • Member since 2019 · 3 posts · 0 votes
    7y

    I usually don't answer after 8 pm either. But one night a tenant kept calling at 10pm. Turns out another tenants teenage kid had a fire on an upstairs deck (against the rules) and didn't put it out.

    Yep, burned the house to the ground. 

    I rushed over and was able to salvage items out of the attached garage. None of the tenants were so lucky. They all lost everything.

  • Rental Property Investor · Ankeny, IA · Member since 2017 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    7y

    Short version: 3 bed, 2 1/2 bath duplex, $1,400 a month plus utilities. Lady calls and makes an appointment to see unit. Her two kids show up, about age 21-25 I'm guessing, but she's not there. Me: Ummmm...is your mom running late? Daughter: Oh, she's not coming. It's for my brother (who reeks of marijuana). Me: Who else is going to be living here? Brother: Just me. 

    So I show the unit, quickly. Because there's no way any of them are getting an application from me. 

  • Rental Property Investor · TN · Member since 2018 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    7y

    I have a one bedroom apartment that is almost ready to rent.  Someone, reeking of smoke, just stopped by when we were working on it and wanted to leave a deposit for it right then.  I said no, we would accept applications when it was ready to rent.  I told him that there was no smoking on the property.  HE said they only smoke outside, wife too.  He said he and his wife were moving to the area from another state and they would take it as it was.  He said it was just the 2 of them.  I repeated that we would take applications when it was finished.  We are putting the trim around the new floor we just installed when they came in.  

    About that time, his wife walks in and she introduces herself.  She too smells of smoke, but they only smoke outside.  She said that they really needed a pace to live as they just got their kid back and can I help them out --they did not have deposit money.  She gets disability, he had not job.  Money was tight because they just got the kid back.  I told her applications when it was completed, and its only a one bedroom.  She said that is ok, they can manage.  I told her no only 2 people for a one bedroom apartment.

    Oh, then in comes the kid.  He asked when they could pick up the dog from grandmas to have it move in with them.  Mom immediately said it was being certified as an assistance dog--it was a puppy, not potty trained, but they are working on that.  Yeah, with my new floors???

    So they wanted 3 people and a dog in the tiny one bedroom apartment with no yard.  And no deposit.   

    They gave me their name and phone number.  Yep, I am keeping it, but not for the reason they gave it to me, just the opposite!

  • Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
    7y

    I had a woman call about a horse property. It was a 100-year-old farm house on 5 acres. She was starting a new job as a barista in a little coffee hut which means she probably wouldn't be making much. After talking to her a bit, she asked if it would accept animals. I asked what she had.

    Four quarter horses, ten miniature horses, four dogs, three cats, and a raccoon that lives in a cage 24/7.

    She was moving from Kansas to Wyoming with all those animals and expecting to find a rental that would take everything and be affordable on a barista salary!

    The DIY Landlord Book4.7243 Reviews
  • Rental Property Investor · Durham, NC · Member since 2016 · 7k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    7y

    @Nathan G. Do your rentals accept “large cats”? I’ve got a couple tigers. I hope that’s okay.

  • Specialist · Honolulu, HI · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    7y
    Originally posted by @Nathan Gesner:

    I had a woman call about a horse property. It was a 100-year-old farm house on 5 acres. She was starting a new job as a barista in a little coffee hut which means she probably wouldn't be making much. After talking to her a bit, she asked if it would accept animals. I asked what she had.

    Four quarter horses, ten miniature horses, four dogs, three cats, and a raccoon that lives in a cage 24/7.

    She was moving from Kansas to Wyoming with all those animals and expecting to find a rental that would take everything and be affordable on a barista salary!

     That is truly hilarious!

  • Rental Property Investor · Canton, OH · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    7y

    @Andrey Y.

    Not a "showing" story, but I recently had a tenant (who's rent was not in on time) tell me "I mailed it a few days ago, but it's still in the mailbox. I didn't know you needed a stamp for local mail."

  • Specialist · Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2019 · 9 posts · 6 votes
    7y

    @Andrey Y.

    I had a gentleman the other day keep offering me a massage. While showing his focus wasn't looking at the apartment, instead kept asking if I would like a "butt naked massage". I was pretty freaked out. By the end of the showing I had at this point, became extremely frustrated and told him if he asked me again. I was going to flip out.

    For some reason this prompted him to start massaging my shoulders.....at this point I was by far violated, and now really angry. I shrugged my shoulders and pulled away. Telling this guy that, this was no longer a professional showing and that the situation was no longer professional, and he needed to leave.

    I do not know but after I said that it prompted him to then grab my *** and ask if i wanted my *** massaged........I had no choice but, I turned and hit this guy so hard I felt his jaw pop. He then looks at me holding his face and says "I still want to give you a massage" I ended up having snatch this guy up by his shirt and pretty much threw him out of the door bouncer style.

    The only time a situation has ever ever become violent and I literally took the harassment wayyy longer than I should have. I hope this never happens again.

  • Rental Property Investor · Canton, OH · Member since 2017 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    7y

    @Spencer Faulkner

    And now you're living together with both of you having found true love.

    Just kidding, if that story is true, it's messed up on some many levels.

  • Specialist · Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2019 · 9 posts · 6 votes
    7y

    @CJ M.

    Very true have messages to prove it after wards he kept texting me until I blocked his number.

  • Rental Property Investor · St. Petersburg, FL · Member since 2017 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    7y

    I had an open house for a rental this past March. We had a great turnout, and at one point there were 4 or 5 couples on the property walking around.

    Another couple comes in, I introduce myself and hand them a pamphlet of the property info. They start walking around, and I hear the husband on the phone in the bedroom. All I here him day is "go ahead, now is a good time". Didnt think anything of it.

    About a minute later, he storms out of the house yelling "someone is stealing my car!" He and his wife run out as his car is driven away by the thief.

    I call the cops, they show up about 5 mins later, and as I'm talking to them, I see their car pull up and park at the park across the street. I tell the cop that their car is across the street so he calls another officer.

    They get the guy, and it turns out that it was all a setup to scare people away from my rental so they would be able to rent it.

    They were all arrested at myproperty, and needless to say, I declined their applocation.

  • Rental Property Investor · Durham, NC · Member since 2016 · 7k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    7y

    @Jason D. I don’t get why you denied them. Clearly they’re just thinking outside the box!! *face palm*

    That story is so ridiculous on its own, but what I find even more ridiculous is imagine the thought process/decision making leading up to that??

  • Patrick HancockPro Member
    Real Estate Broker · Orlando, FL · Member since 2018 · 101 posts · 108 votes
    7y

    I was showing a property one time which was owner occupied and required an appointment to provide the Seller with time to leave the house. While heading up the stairs we startled the teenage son who was skipping school. The best part about the story is his girlfriend was there too and he was trying to hide her in the bathroom. The excuses he was giving as to why we couldn’t see the bathroom were priceless.

    - Pat

  • Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2019 · 512 posts · 301 votes
    7y

    @Andrey Y. I’m rather new but it’s either been sad or embarrassing...people begging they need to move in ASAP or can afford it when they clearly can’t.

    Silliest one tho is someone saying their credit was bad and they were consolidating because they maxed their credit cards out on their wedding...

  • Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2019 · 512 posts · 301 votes
    7y

    @Jason D. And the award goes to you. Holy crap that’s insane.

  • Rental Property Investor · Ankeny, IA · Member since 2017 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    7y

    @Andrey Y.

    So, I’m looking for more properties to buy. During several showings the tenants are home. Ok. Fine. Kind of dumb, but ok. But why are they still watching tv at full volume while I walk through? Why are they in the middle of making or eating dinner? Why has there been two separate situations where people are sleeping in bed in the middle of the afternoon with a scheduled showing?! “it’s ok. Go right in. She won’t wake up”.

    Or the guy that said; “I’d really rather you didn’t open the door at the end of the hallway”. Why?! Is that body not “sleeping”?!

    Look, these places are going to sell. Being a crappy tenant or trying to sabotage the showing just means you’re the first lease I terminate.

  • Rental Property Investor · St. Petersburg, FL · Member since 2017 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    7y

    @Caleb Heimsoth I suppose it's sort of a compliment that they would go to so much trouble for one of my rentals....

Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.